For millennia, humans have regarded snakes with an exceptional
combination of fascination and revulsion. Some people recoil in fear at
the very suggestion of these creatures, while others happily keep them
as pets*.* Snakes can convey both beauty and menace in a single tongue
flick and so these creatures have held a special place in our cultures.
Yet, for as many meanings that we attribute to snakes--from fertility
and birth to sin and death--the real-life species represent an even
wider array of wonders.
The Book of Snakes presents 600 species of snakes from around the
world, covering nearly one in six of all snake species. It will bring
greater understanding of a group of reptiles that have existed for more
than 160 million years, and that now inhabit every continent except
Antarctica, as well as two of the great oceans.
This volume pairs spectacular photos with easy-to-digest text. It is the
first book on these creatures that combines a broad, worldwide sample
with full-color, life-size accounts. Entries include close-ups of the
snake's head and a section of the snake at actual size. The detailed
images allow readers to examine the intricate scale patterns and rainbow
of colors as well as special features like a cobra's hood or a
rattlesnake's rattle. The text is written for laypeople and includes a
glossary of frequently used terms. Herpetologists and herpetoculturists
alike will delight in this collection, and even those with a more
cautious stance on snakes will find themselves drawn in by the wild
diversity of the suborder Serpentes.
