Frogs and Toads of the Southeast (Wormsloe Foundation Nature Books) - Softcover

Dorcas, Mike; Gibbons, Whit

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0820329223 ISBN 13: 9780820329222

Publisher: University of Georgia Press, 2008

Synopsis

With more than forty native and introduced species of frogs and toads occurring in the southeastern United States, the region represents the heart of frog and toad diversity in the country. Renowned herpetologists Mike Dorcas and Whit Gibbons provide us with the most comprehensive and authoritative, yet accessible and fun-to-read, guide to these sometimes wet, sometimes warty wonders of nature.

Dorcas and Gibbons enumerate the distinguishing characteristics of frogs and toads, including how they are different from other amphibians and the differences between a frog and a toad. Also discussed are the morphology of frogs and toads, the main groups to be found in the Southeast, and their habitats. Individual species accounts contain a physical description of the species plus information about distribution and habitat, behavior and activity, food and feeding, predators and defense, calls and vocalizations, reproduction and description of eggs and tadpoles, and conservation. Accompanying each account are photographs illustrating typical adults and variations and distribution maps for the Southeast and the United States.

Given the recent worldwide decline in amphibian populations and increasing scientific and popular concern for what these declines mean for all other organisms, Frogs and Toads of the Southeast will appeal to people of all ages and levels of knowledge interested in natural history and conservation. The guide will help foster the growing interest in frogs and toads as well as cultivate a desire to protect and conserve these fascinating amphibians and their habitats.

Features:Conservation-oriented approachApproximately 250 color photographsApproximately 45 distribution mapsClear description and photographs of each species in both tadpole and adult stagesChapters on identification, vocalizations, reproduction, global diversity (including remarkable species such as the gastric brooding frog, poison dart frogs, and saltwater frogs), and introduced speciesA selection of frog and toad vocalizations at www.ugapress.org/FrogsAndToads

About this title

About the Author

Mike Dorcas received a B.S.(1986) and M.S. (1990) from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Ph.D.from Idaho State Universityin 1995.  Mike is aFellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and hasreceived numerous awards, including the Senior Research Award from theAssociation of Southeastern Biologists in 2007 and 2012, Meritorious TeachingAward at the World Congress of Herpetology Biologists in 2012, and theOutstanding Mentor Award from the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) in2014.  Mike's research program isinterdisciplinary in nature and relies heavily on collaboration with othersincluding former students.  Mike haspublished more than 20 book chapters and over 100 articles on the biology ofamphibians and reptiles.  He is involvedin numerous research projects including studies of invasive Burmese pythons inFlorida, the effects of urbanization on amphibians and reptiles, and theecology and conservation of diamondback terrapins in South Carolina.  He frequently gives talks about his researchto the public and in academic settings.  Hehas published eight books, including InvasivePythons in the United States with JD Willson and Snakes of the Southeast with Whit Gibbons. 

Review

[An] exquisite book . . . on the herpetofauna of the southeastern United States. . . . High-quality, clearly written, with an attractive layout. . . . Has solid introductory information, detailed species descriptions, excellent range maps and color photographs, line drawings showing defining features, and a strong conservation message. There is an explanation as to how to use the species accounts which will be of value to the lay reader.

(Herpetological Review)

Good books provide fresh insight each time you pick them up. This is clearly true for the volume.

(Southeastern Biology)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0820329223
• ISBN 13: 9780820329222
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 264