A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides) - Softcover

Collins, Joseph T.; Conant, Roger

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0395904528 ISBN 13: 9780395904527

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998

Synopsis

This newly designed field guides features detailed descriptions of 595 species and subspecies. The 656 full-color illustrations and 384 drawings show key details for accurate identification. More than 100 color photographs and 333 color photographs and 333 color distribution maps accompany the species descriptions.

About this title

About the Author:

Roger Tory Peterson, one of the world's greatest naturalists, received every major award for ornithology, natural science, and conservation as well as numerous honorary degrees, medals, and citations, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Peterson Identification System has been called the greatest invention since binoculars.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE Pls. 3, 9
Macroclemys temminckii
IDENTIFICATION: 15–26 in. (38–66 cm); record 311?2 in. (80 cm).
Weight 35–150 lbs. (16–68 kg); record 251 lbs. (113.9 kg) for a
specimen maintained in captivity for nearly 50 years; 316 lbs. (143.3
kg) for a wild-caught example. Look for the huge head with its
strongly hooked beaks, the prominent dorsal keels, and the extra row
of scutes on each side of the carapace. Likely to be confused only
with Snapping Turtles. Young (Pl. 3): Brown, shell exceedingly rough;
tail very long. About 11?4–13?4 in. (3–4.4 cm) at hatching.
This gigantic freshwater turtle, our largest and one of the
largest in the world, often lies at bottom of lake or river with
mouth held open. A curious pink process on floor of mouth resembles a
worm, wriggles like one, and serves as a lure for fish. similar
species: Snapping Turtle has a saw-toothed tail and a smaller head,
and also lacks the extra row of scutes be-tween costals and
marginals. range: Sw. Ga. and n. Fla. to e. Texas; north in
Mississippi Valley to Kans., Iowa, and sw. Ky.; an isolated record in
cen. Tenn.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0395904528
• ISBN 13: 9780395904527
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 640
• Editor: Peterson Roger Tory
• Illustrator: Conant Isabelle Hunt, Johnson Tom R.