The Reptiles of South Carolina

Book excerpt: A comprehensive illustrated guide to the Palmetto State's native species of reptiles From the lowcountry coastal tidelands to the upstate Blue Ridge Mountains and everywhere in between, South Carolina's varied landscapes and habitats are home to a fascinating and mysterious assortment of alligators, turtles, lizards, and snakes. The Reptiles of South Carolina, a comprehensive, illustrated guide to the Palmetto State, includes seventy-five native species of reptiles as well as introduced forms. Jeffrey D. Camper's accessible descriptions and intriguing details are designed to enlighten readers about this misunderstood and often-maligned group of secretive and ecologically important animals. Camper begins with a discussion of the state's mild climate and wide variety of natural habitats, including forests, plains, sandhills, wetlands, and barrier islands. The entry for each species provides a color picture, detailed descriptions of external appearance, variations in size and color, taxonomic keys, comparisons to similar species to aid in identification, and natural history. Camper also assesses the conservation status of each species and offers a detailed range map of where that species is known to occur in the state and another map showing its entire geographic range in the continental United States. The Reptiles of South Carolina includes 92 color and 79 black-and-white illustrations, a checklist by reptile family, a helpful glossary, and a short history of herpetology in the Palmetto State. This authoritative reference will prove invaluable to students, professional herpetologists, conservationists, ecologists, biologists, land managers, and amateur naturalists alike. A foreword is provided by J. Whitfield Gibbons, professor emeritus of ecology at the University of Georgia and former head of the environmental outreach and education program at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.