Salamanders of the Southeast

by Joe Mitchell, Whit Gibbons

Overview

Describing 102 species of salamanders occurring in the southeastern United States, ecologists Joe Mitchell and Whit Gibbons provide us with the most comprehensive and authoritative, yet accessible and fun-to-read, guide to these often secretive, always fascinating wonders of nature.

Mitchell and Gibbons enumerate the distinguishing characteristics of salamanders, including how they are different from other amphibians and from reptiles, especially lizards. Also discussed are distribution, habitat, behavior and activity, reproduction, food and feeding, predators and defense, conservation, and taxonomy. Accompanying each account are photographs illustrating typical adults and variations and distribution maps for the Southeast and the United States.

Given that 17 percent of the world’s species of salamanders live in the Southeast and the scientific and popular concern for the worldwide decline in amphibian populations in general, Salamanders 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 salamanders as well as cultivate a desire to protect and conserve these fascinating amphibians and their habitats.

Features:
Conservation-oriented approach
More than 400 color photographs
77 distribution maps
Clear descriptions and photographs of each species
Sections on biology, worldwide diversity, identification, taxonomy, habitats, and conservation
Did You Know?” sidebars of interesting facts

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820330358
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	06/01/2010
Series:	Wormsloe Foundation Nature Books , #35
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	627,368
Product dimensions:	7.80(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

JOE MITCHELL (1948–2019) was a herpetology research associate at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida and author/co-author of numerous books including Reptiles of Virginia (Smithsonian) and Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Virginia (VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries), as well as approximately 500 papers on turtles, snakes, and conservation.

WHIT GIBBONS is a professor emeritus of ecology at the University of Georgia and author or coauthor of several books on herpetology and ecology, including Keeping All the Pieces, Snakes of the Southeast, Revised Edition, Frogs and Toads of the Southeast, Lizards and Crocodiles of the Southeast, Turtles of the Southeast, and Salamanders of the Southeast (all Georgia).

Whit Gibbons (Author)
WHIT GIBBONS is a professor emeritus of ecology at the University of Georgia and author or coauthor of several books on herpetology and ecology, including Keeping All the Pieces, Snakes of the Southeast, Revised Edition, Frogs and Toads of the Southeast, Lizards and Crocodiles of the Southeast, Turtles of the Southeast, and Salamanders of the Southeast (all Georgia).

Joe Mitchell (Author)
JOE MITCHELL (1948–2019) was a herpetology research associate at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida and author/co-author of numerous books including Reptiles of Virginia (Smithsonian) and Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Virginia (VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries), as well as approximately 500 papers on turtles, snakes, and conservation.

Table of Contents

Contents

All About Salamanders

Why Salamanders? 1
Defining the Southeast 5
Biology of Salamanders 5
Salamander Diversity around the World 18
Salamander Taxonomy 22
How to Identify Salamanders 24

Salamander Habitats in the Southeast

Freshwater Wetland Habitats 32
Terrestrial Habitats 36

Species Accounts

Organization and Order of Species Accounts 41
Aquatic Salamanders 45
Aquatic Cave Salamanders 84
Stream and Seep Salamanders 95
Seasonal Wetland Salamanders 173
Forest Terrestrial Salamanders 217

People and Salamanders

What Is a Herpetologist? 293
Keeping Salamanders as Pets 298
A Conservation Vision of Salamanders 301
What Kinds of Salamanders Are Found In Your State? 306

Glossary 309
Further Reading 313
Acknowledgments 315
Credits 317
Index of Scientific Names 319
Index of Common Names 321

Editorial Reviews

The authors suggest a number of ways in which landowners can manage their properties from the perspective of salamander habitat, including resources to guide in restoration of degraded areas. . . . [T]he authors have presented a perfect circle of argument within the book’s covers: salamanders are in trouble. . . and this is what you can do to help them out of trouble.

Herpetological Review - Jeff Boundy

“The authors suggest a number of ways in which landowners can manage their properties from the perspective of salamander habitat, including resources to guide in restoration of degraded areas. . . . [T]he authors have presented a perfect circle of argument within the book’s covers: salamanders are in trouble. . . and this is what you can do to help them out of trouble.”—Jeff Boundy, Herpetological Review

From the Publisher