alligators

Book review – Tears for Crocodilia: Evolution, Ecology, and the Disappearance of One of the World’s Most Ancient Animals

7-minute read
keywords: evolution, herpetology, zoology

Being of the large and toothy kind, crocodiles have a bit of a public relations problem. Fortunately for them, people such as biologist Zach Fitzner fight their corner. For Tears for Crocodilia, he has gone to great lengths to give the reader a well-rounded picture of crocodilians (the name for the order; its living members are divided over three families: alligators & caimans, true crocodiles, and gharials). This ambitious and wide-ranging debut draws on scientific literature to give a primer on their biology, on personal experience working in and travelling to different countries to introduce the main groups, and on interviews with scientists, zookeepers, and conservationists to include a wide range of viewpoints.

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Book review – The Rise of Reptiles: 320 Million Years of Evolution

7-minute read

Reptiles are an incredibly diverse animal group with a long and complex evolutionary history, conquering land, skies, and seas multiple times. Continued discoveries of both living reptiles and fossil material are adding more details and layers to the story of their evolution. A review of how they all relate to each other has been long overdue, and geologist and curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Hans-Dieter Sues here takes on that challenge. The resulting The Rise of Reptiles is a technical and heavily illustrated reference work for the serious zoologist and palaeontologist.

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