The Ultimate Book of Snakes and Reptiles Discover the Amazing World of Snakes, Crocodiles, Lizards and Turtles, with over 700 Photographs

About this book

Please note that this is an unmodified reprint of the 2014 paperback.

This book examines the intriguing aspects of all kinds of reptiles. You will learn how their bodies work and where they live and discover amazing facts about their habits, life cycles, survival skills and ancestors. Did you know that a chameleon’s tongue is so long that it can be twice the length of its entire body, or that a large snake may have up to 400 bones in its spine? Close-up photographs reveal the advantages of powerful jaws and sharp teeth, how a hungry crocodile hunts down its lunch, how some lizards can grow new tails, and much more. Illustrated throughout with fabulous wildlife photographs and illustrations which show a reptile’s view of the world, this is an ideal reference for 8-12 year olds.

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Biography

Barbara Taylor is a full-time writer specializing in science and natural history books for children.

Mark O'Shea is a herpetologist, television broadcaster, zoologist, author, photographer, lecturer and public speaker, and was the Consultant Curator of Reptiles at West Midland Safari Park in the UK for 33 years. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Linnean Society of London, and Explorers' Club of New York. He was awarded one of only eight Millennium Awards for Services to Exploration, by the British Chapter of the Explorers' Club in 2000 and an Honorary Doctor of Sciences degree, for services to herpetology, by the University of Wolverhampton in 2001. In 2015 Czech herpetologists voted Mark "Snakeman of the Year". He became Professor of Herpetology at the University of Wolverhampton in September 2018 and was awarded an MBE in 2020 for services to High Education, Zoology, Reptile Conservation and Snakebite Research.

His life has revolved around snakes for more than five decades and is an advocate for snake conservation. Between 1999 and 2003 Mark presented four seasons of the internationally acclaimed O'Shea's Big Adventure for Animal Planet, co-produced with the UK's Channel 4 as O'Shea's Dangerous Reptiles. He has now presented over forty documentaries including films for Discovery Channel, ITV, and the BBC. Mark has conducted herpetological fieldwork, or made films, on every continent except Antarctica. He has authored seven books, including A Book of Snakes: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from around the World (2018) and Lizards of the World (2021), and is working on a slow burn revision of A Guide to the Snakes of Papua New Guinea.