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The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America

Article in Copeia · September 1990

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Oscar Alberto Flores-Villela Jonathan A Campbell

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on major exploiters of nature for their financ- 2) English name; 3) distribution data; 4) habitat,
ing. True, Groombridge and Luxmoore mince including vegetation types where the species oc-
no words about the deleterious effects of the curs (a very important consideration); 5) de-
tortoiseshell trade. But this will be ignored by scription of the species; 6) similar species, with
those seeking to use the book's recommenda- a general account for mimics, sympatric species,
tions selectively to weaken international con- etc.; 7) remarks-about population variation,
servation of sea turtles. Conventional wisdom habits, behavior, subspecies, etc.; and 8) refer-
is right in this case. It was a mistake to accept ences, with a complete list of the literature on
Japanese money for the book. The mistake was each species. Good distributional maps are also
compounded by including an introduction that presented.
will be easily perverted by those governments The regional accounts for most of the coun-
and organizations now driving many sea turtle tries include detailed information on physiog-
populations to extinction. raphy, elevation, general climate and vegeta-
The title page of the volume carries the im- tion. This part of the book is good for a general
primaturs of CITES, UNEP, and, indirectly, introduction to each country. Only for Mexico
IUCN. If the book had started on its present and Brazil are there physiographic or vegeta-
page 59, the sponsoring organizations would tion-distribution tables for associated snake
have been well-served. As it is, The Green Tur- species. This is due to the lack of this kind of
tle and Hawksbill (Reptilia: Cheloniidae): World data, in particular vegetational profiles, for the
Status, Exploitation and Trade will be an on- other Latin American countries. Vegetation
going source of controversy and embarrass- maps on pages 301, 303 and 305 present dif-
ment to the conservation community and will ferent classifications for vegetation, which also
impede the conservation of these dwindling reflect this lack of data. Despite such problems,
species. these maps and the physiographic ones are use-
ful and highly appreciated.
DAVlD EHRENFELD, Department of Environmental The volume includes keys that are excellent.
Resources, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Although I do not have Central and South
Brunswick, New Jersey 08903. American material with which to test them, they
certainly worked smoothly for Mexican mate-
rial on hand. While using the keys, I found it
impractical to check the illustrations, which were
VENOMOUS REPTILES OF LATIN AMER- located in a separate section of the book. Per-
ICA. By Jonathan A. Campbell and William W. haps it would have been better to have the il-
Lamar. 1989. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, lustrations and color photographs included with
New York. 440 p., 504 color photos, 115 maps, the keys. It also would have been nice if the keys
$45.00 (hardcover).-It is a pleasure to review were bilingual (Spanish/English), thus making
such an excellent, well-designed book. The first this section accessible to unilingual Latinos. Re-
thing that stands out is its price. The price is gardless of this omission, the keys are immense-
very low, practically a bargain, especially taking ly useful for snake identification. I do not know
into account the high quality of the paper and of any better than the ones in this book.
the printing. This makes the book very acces- The idea of including chapters about snake-
sible for Latin Americans. bite treatment, with literature on the subject
Venomous Reptiles is organized along both and producers of antivenoms, is laudable. The
species and country lines. Also included are author of the part dealing with snakebite treat-
chapters on snakebite treatment and mimicry, ment, however, ignores the conditions of public
plus a glossary. The authors present individual health facilities in Latin America. The direc-
accounts for 147 species in the region. The ac- tions for snakebite treatment are fine for med-
count includes: an introduction to each genus; ical specialists, but not for the general public or
information about fossil forms, when available; even for general physicians. Most of the rec-
general distribution; external and internal mor- ommended measures are, in my experience, in-
phology; color patterns; envenomation; and accessible to people in rural areas of Latin
general habits. Almost every species account America.
has eight sections, organized as follows: 1) local I have a few general comments. I agree with
names, with the most common names for dif- the authors in not considering Laticauda colu-
ferent regions, which is particularly important brina (p. 42) as part of the snake fauna of Latin
given the linguistic diversity of Latin America; America, since no voucher specimens are known
 REVIEWS 901

which corroborate the existence of that species proach to herpetology of the kind North Amer-
in Latin America. Visual records for Nicaragua icans have long practiced. One tangible conse-
and Chiapas, Mexico, still remain as such. I no- quence is Corbett's book, which brings together
ticed one omission concerning the distribution information from eight major contributors res-
of Heloderma horridum in Mexico (table no. 4, ident in six western European countries. The
p. 26); the authors do not record that species task of these authors was a formidable one: to
from the Balsas Basin, although it is shown in compile information on Europe's entire her-
their map (p. 87). I agree with Campbell and petofauna, some 280 species, and carry out an
Lamar's decision not to include Bothrops ornatus analysis sufficiently thorough that a continent-
as part of the fauna of the region (p.164). As wide conservation strategy could be based upon
far as I know, a voucher specimen is not de- it. To what extent, then, does the book succeed
posited in any scientific collection. The original in this daunting venture?
description was published only in an abstract The book has three sections. Part one is back-
from a National Congress of Zoology in Mexico, ground, including species lists and summaries
and the specimen reported there could be a of major habitats, perceived threats and rele-
Bothriechis lateralis, as suggested by Oscar San- vant existing conservation legislation. Part two
chez-Herrera in 1989 (Bol. Soc. Herpetol. Mex. provides more detailed information on 12
1: 15-17). For Micrurus limbatus, the authors do species (four amphibians and eight reptiles) con-
not mention Santa Marta as part of its range, sidered to be in greatest need of conservation
although they figure a specimen from that within the area covered by the Council of Eu-
mountain range (Fig. 73). I found only minor rope (essentially all of western Europe, exclud-
mistakes in the editing, including a problem with ing Finland but including Greece, Turkey and
the lining up of the bibliography on page 412. Cyprus). For each of these priority species there
The book ends with a nice section on mimics, are sections summarizing their biology, past and
and the brief history of such concepts is well present distribution, reasons for declines, and
written. existing or proposed conservation measures.
In summary, this book is extremely well doc- Part three is a series of national accounts, cov-
umented. The accounts are very detailed, and ering the herpetofauna of most European coun-
the maps, as well as illustrations, are excellent tries, excluding the USSR. These highlight
and accurate. Despite the fact that our knowl- species under threat in this more local context
edge of the herpetofauna of Latin America is as well as perceived conservation priorities. This
still meager, this book fills a tremendous gap in latter section encompasses about half the entire
our knowledge of the region. From my point book. There are also five appendices summa-
of view, the book will stand as a major source rizing various recommendations from standing
of information for many years to come. Ven- committees and Councils of Ministers which re-
omous Reptiles of Latin America is likely to late to herpetofauna conservation in Europe
become one of the few classics in the herpeto- since 1978.
logical literature of the Neotropics. There are a number of trivial mistakes, some
simply typographical errors and others indicat-
OSCAR FLORES-VILLELA, Museo de Zoologfa, Fac. ing inadequate cross-checking between the con-
de Ciencias UNAM, A.P. 70-399, Mexico D.F. tributions of the various authors. Examples in-
04510, MEXICO. clude the abbreviation of Bombina variegata to
B. variegata then listing it between abbreviations
of Bujo species (Czechoslovakia section), double
listing the Madeiran lizard as Lacerta dugesii and
CONSERVATION OF EUROPEAN REP- Podarcis dugesii, and so on. Some of these errors
TILES AND AMPHIBIANS. K. F. Corbett could be particularly misleading to readers not
(ed.). 1990. Crowood press. David & Charles, thoroughly familiar with the European species,
Inc., North Pomfret, Vermont 05053.272 p., but they do not seriously impair comprehen-
16 color plates, $24.95 (softcover).-There is sion. Other more contentious issues inevitably
a sense in which European herpetology came of arise, since conservation is essentially political.
age in the 1980s. The birth of the Societas Eu- For example, not all herpetologists would agree
ropaea Herpetologica at the turn of the decade with the book's assertion that collecting am-
marked a watershed in the study of amphibians phibians and reptiles from the wild has had sub-
and reptiles in this multilingual continent. With stantial impacts on European herpetofauna;
it began a more organized and cooperative ap- certainly my inclination would be to lay the

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