The author of California Snakes and How to Find Them invites budding reptile enthusiasts into a wonderland of lizards.
"This guide joyfully celebrates the beauty and quirkiness of our native lizards." -John Muir Laws
Lizards: they are cute, endearing, and mind-bogglingly diverse, and yet they are so easy to overlook among California's natural abundance. Start watching them, though, and a wonderland of lizard life appears. In California Lizards and How to Find Them, lizard lover Emily Taylor profiles over 60 native and introduced species, from California's iconic Western Fence Lizard to the adorable Desert Iguana to the chonky Ringed Wall Gecko. With her expert knowledge and joyous, laugh-out-loud writing, Taylor provides tips for finding, watching, and responsibly catching lizards. She offers absorbing insights on lizard evolution, and she explains the toll of invasive lizard species on California's ecosystems. Featuring more than 100 full-color photographs, and designed for easy use in everyday life, this is the ideal guide for budding reptile enthusiasts and longtime naturalists alike.
Also available in the California Herping Guides Series by Emily Taylor:
California Snakes and How to Find Them
California Amphibians and How to Find Them
Rezensionen / Stimmen
Praise for California Lizards and How to Find Them:
"This guide joyfully celebrates the beauty and quirkiness of our native lizards. It makes you want to explore and watch these amazing creatures' wild behavior. It invites the naturalist to be both playful and rigorous. Learn where to go, how to explore, and delightful details to watch for." -John Muir Laws, author of The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
"Emily Taylor provides answers to any lizard questions you probably have ever had, doesn't use jargon so the content is easily understandable, and helps readers make informed decisions about whether to try and catch lizards or to leave them be. Even if you don't want to go looking for lizards, if you have a curiosity about the natural world this book belongs on your shelf." -Earyn McGee, herpetologist, science communicator, and creator of #FindThatLizard
"Emily Taylor's books are indispensable. What Taylor has done and continues to do for popularizing California herpetology is unparalleled." -Obi Kaufmann, author of The California Field Atlas and The Deserts of California
Praise for California Snakes and How to Find Them by Emily Taylor (2024):
"I've loved snakes since childhood and am thrilled to now have this gorgeous book as my companion to finding snakes wherever a walk on the wild side takes me." -Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club and The Backyard Bird Chronicles
"For anyone who loves snakes, or who wants to love them, Emily Taylor's California Snakes and How to Find Them is packed with facts in reader- friendly prose by one of the world's leading snake biologists and conservationists. The utility and emotional impact of this book are further enhanced by some of the most evocative photographs of snakes I've ever seen, spanning technically perfect closeups of heads to stunning images of individuals in their species-typical habitats. California Snakes sets a new high bar for nature education, and I look forward to future volumes about other animal groups." -Harry W. Greene, author of Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature and Tracks and Shadows: Field Biology as Art
"Emily Taylor's enthusiasm and love for snakes shine through every sentence of California Snakes and How to Find Them. Her engaging personal stories, authoritative information, and spectacular photographs will charm snake-lovers and future snake-lovers alike. See you in the field, armed with persistence, luck, and knowledge. Happy herping!" -Marty Crump, author of Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog, Adder's Fork and Lizard's Leg: The Lore and Mythology of Amphibians and Reptiles
Reihe
Sprache
Verlagsort
Produkt-Hinweis
Illustrationen
color photographs throughout
Maße
Höhe: 175 mm
Breite: 127 mm
Dicke: 10 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-59714-671-5 (9781597146715)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Emily Taylor is a professor of biological sciences at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where she conducts research on the physiology, ecology, and conservation biology of lizards and snakes. Taylor is founder of the community science initiative Project RattleCam (rattlecam.org) and owner of Central Coast Snake Services (centralcoastsnakeservices.com). Her first book, California Snakes and How to Find Them, was published by Heyday in 2024. She lives in Atascadero, CA. Follow her at @snakeymama.
Preface
Introduction
Lizards in Wonderland: Why California Has So Many Lizards
What are Lizards?
A Tale of Two Lizards
How to Find and Watch Lizards in California
Catching Lizards: A Cautionary "Tail"
Family Anguidae
Northern Alligator Lizard
Southern Alligator Lizard
Panamint Alligator Lizard
Family Anniellidae
Legless Lizards
Family Chamaeleonidae
Jackson's Chameleon
Family Crotaphytidae
Great Basin Collared Lizard
Baja California Collared Lizard
Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard
Long-nosed and Cope's Leopard Lizards
Family Dactyloidae
Green Anole
Brown Anole
Family Eublepharidae
Switak's Banded Gecko
Western Banded Gecko
Family Gekkonidae
Rough-tailed Bowfoot Gecko
House Geckos
Family Helodermatidae
Gila Monster
Family Iguanidae
Desert Iguana
Common Chuckwalla
Family Lacertidae
Italian Wall Lizard
Family Phrynosomatidae
Zebra-tailed Lizard
Banded Rock Lizard
Coast Horned Lizard
Pygmy Short-horned Lizard
Flat-tailed Horned Lizard
Desert Horned Lizard
Common Sagebrush Lizard
Desert Spiny Lizard
Fence Lizards
Granite Spiny Lizard
Fringe-toed Lizards
Brush Lizards
Ornate Tree Lizard
Common Side-blotched Lizard
Family Phyllodactylidae
Peninsula Leaf-toed Gecko
Wall Geckos
Family Scincidae
Ocellated Skink
Gilbert's Skink
Western Skink
Family Teiidae
Orange-throated Whiptail
Non-native Whiptails
Western Whiptail
Family Xantusiidae
Sandstone and Granite Night Lizards
Island Night Lizard
Desert Night Lizard and Relatives
Acknowledgments
Recommended Further Reading
About the Author