Amphibians of Central and Southern Africa is the first comprehensive guide to the frogs, toads, and caecilians of the ten sub-equatorial African countries―Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The result is at once a valuable reference tool, a field guide, and a source of ideas for future research.A source of increasing interest in their own right, amphibians are also benchmark species for biodiversity, and are used as laboratory animals in many of the sciences. In the wild, amphibians, especially frogs, act as natural monitors of water quality and are invaluable in pest control. Their skins secrete a wide range of pharmacologically active substances, such as antibiotics and painkillers. Yet frog populations are declining worldwide, mainly due to human destruction of their habitats. Alan Channing synthesizes information published over the last century to provide the first natural history and a portrait of the amphibian fauna of this vast region.Key features of Amphibians of Central and Southern Africa include*detailed accounts for 205 species of frogs and toads (and 2 species of caecilian) accompanied by color illustrations, distribution maps, details of breeding and tadpole behavior, and call descriptions*illustrations and tadpole identification keys for each genus*special sections for some species with topics such as "skin toxins"*an overview of fossil frogs, a discussion of humankind and frogs in Africa, and a bibliography of African frog biology

Amphibians of Central and Southern Africa (Comstock Books in Herpetology)

Science & Math

Channing, Alan

Biological Sciences

Comstock Pub. Associates

Published in Cooperation with the Wildlife Conservation Society"East Africa is well known for its wealth of plants and animals, represented in game reserves, such as the Serengeti in Tanzania, the Maasai-Mara in Kenya, and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Nature Reserve in Uganda. These reserves and others like them have been the localities of wildlife television documentaries that cover the well-known large mammal predators, the crocodiles, the herds of migrating buffalo, and, of course, the gorillas. Less well known, but playing an important role in the East African ecosystems, are the amphibians. The ancestors of the present-day frogs and caecilians were in attendance before the rift valley started to form, and long before the first true mammals shook off the last vestiges of their reptilian ancestry."―from the IntroductionIn the first field guide and reference book about the amphibians of East Africa, Alan Channing and Kim M. Howell provide identification keys and detailed accounts for 194 frog species and 9 caecilians. These descriptions will be of great interest to all herpetological enthusiasts, travelers to the region, and conservation biologists who track the health of amphibian populations. Amphibians of East Africa is exhaustively illustrated with 185 color images on 24 plates, 24 halftones, 74 line drawings, 202 maps, and 1 table. The species accounts are comprehensive―they include a statement of description, known habitat preferences and distribution, advertisement call, and breeding biology. If known, the characteristics of tadpoles are provided in their own chapter. The authors explain the meanings of the amphibians― scientific names and list local names and other common names. A section of notes and a guide to key references for further reading complete each species account. The frogs found in this volume include representatives from 8 families: squeakers (Arthroleptidae), toads (Bufonidae), snout-burrowers (Hemisotidae), tree frogs (Hyperoliidae), narrow-mouthed frogs (Microhylidae), clawed frogs (Pipidae), common frogs (Ranidae), and foam-nest frogs (Rhacophoridae). The East African caecilians are from the families Caeciliidae and Scolecomorphidae

Amphibians of East Africa (Cornell Program in Herpetology)

Howell, Kim M.

Comstock Publishing Associates

815 species of amphibian have been described on the African continent - 788 frogs, 23 caecilians and four salamanders. Field Guide to the Frogs & other Amphibians of Africa is the first guide ever to cover all these species. It features a brief introduction with tips for handling and identifying amphibians and a useful illustrated guide to each family group serves as a first step towards species ID. Species accounts describe physical features, distribution, habitat, biology, advertisement calls and conservation status, and are supported by colour photographs and up-to-date distribution maps. This guide will prove invaluable to nature lovers, tour guides, students and scientists.

Field Guide to the Frogs & Other Amphibians of Africa

Rödel, Mark-Oliver

Penguin Random House South Africa

Amphibians of Central and Southern Africa

Protea Boekhuis

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