61 Book Review Ananjeva, NB, Orlov, NL, Khalikov

Book Review Ananjeva, N.B., Orlov, N.L., Khalikov, R.G., vilacerta (for L. parva). In snakes, they still used Darevsky, I.S., Ryabov, S.A. & A.V. Barabanov Coluber for species now called Platyceps and He- (2006): The Reptiles of Northern Eurasia. Taxo- morrhois, but accepted Hierophis for the jugularis- nomic Diversity, Distribution, Conservation Sta- caspius-schmidti group (which should, however, tus. – Sofia (PENSOFT Publishers), 245 pp., nu- become Dolichophis, because Eirenis would render merous distribution map sketches, colour photos their concept of Hierophis paraphyletic). In the and double-sided colour plates. ISBN-0: 954-642- case of the collective genus Elaphe, they accepted 269-X, ISBN-3: 978-954-642-269-9. – Pensoft Se- only Oocatochus for the Far East species rufodor- ries faunistica No. 47, ISSN 32-047. sata but retained Elaphe for the entire (and largely polyphyletic) rest. But new systematic insights will The large-sized and richly illustrated book to be always further proceed and form new challenges dealt with here is the English version of a prede- for forthconing editions of books like this one. cessor edition published in Russian by the Zoolog- Distribution: The distribution areas of each ical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, species are indicated on a standardized sketch map St. Petersburg, in 2004. It is very meritious that the showing the northern part of the globe viewed on active Pensoft Publishing Company in Sofia un- the palearctic side. As no political borders are dertook the publication of this book in English, drawn, it is not always easy to associate a specific making it thus accessible to a much broader read- species range to a specific (GUS) country that fol- ership. As indicated in the (sub-)title, the book of lowed the former USSR. Because the map sketches the six prominent, Russian authors – among them are rather small, and the corresponding text rath- the famous nestor of Russian herpetology, Ilya er short and compact, it seems a bit optimistic to Sergejevitch Darevsky – deals with three is- use these informations as a basis for future Global sues of northern Eurasian reptiles, viz. taxonom- Reptile Assessments (GRA) by IUCN as claimed ic diversity, distribution and conservation status. by the authors in their introduction. Nonetheless, First: What is northern Eurasia? According to the they allow a fast, rough orientation about where brief introduction, it is the area of the former So- the respective taxon is generally distributed. viet Union and of Mongolia. And as this huge area Conservation Status: Each species in this book covers nearly the entire northern Palearctic realm, is characterized as to its conservation status in re- and as there are no reptile species in northern Eu- gard of the IUCN Red data Book and the presence rope west of Russia (i.e. non-Mediterranean spe- on the appendices of CITES. This is of course a cies) that would not also occur within the former most important and valuable information. Soviet Union, it is justified to speak of the entire As mentioned above, the present book is a northern Eurasian reptile fauna treated in this translated version of a Russian original, so that a book. brief comparison of both editions may be useful. Taxonomic diversity: This is in fact the first There are some new additional photographs in- herpetological monograph on the countries of this cluded into the English version. These are – next to particular area which provides the current knowl- portraits of the six authors on the protective cover edge of modern taxonomy and nomenclature sheet – live photographs of Cyrtopodion longipes, which has in fact made great achievements in the Mediodactylus narynensis, Phrynocephalus raddei, last years. This concerns both the generic classifi- Ophiomorus chernovi, the striped morph of “Col- cation of various species and the rank of described uber” rhodorhachis, a second picture of Coronel- subspecies which may have subsequently been el- la austriaca, then Eirenis modestus, Natrix mega- evated to species rank. However, the authors did locephala, Psammophis schokari, and Telescopus not always apply the most recent concepts but rhinopoma. The original photographs of Ablepha- were progressive in some cases and conservative rus bivittatus, Elaphe schrencki and Lytorhynchu- in others which makes the nomenclature a bit in- is ridgewayi were exchanged here against better consistent. For instance, they accepted the parti- ones. Eremias buechneri, however, was completey- tion of Cyrtopodion into Cyrtopodion s. str. and ly deleted from the English version. whereas “Col- Mediodactylus, and that of Eumeces into Eumeces uber” spinalis was transferred to Hierophis. Natrix s. str., Euryplepis and Plestiodon; they accepted the megalocephala, however, persisted in this book al- partition of Mabuya and applied Trachylepis for though its existence is doubtful and its synonymy the only northern Eurasian species. In the case of with N. natrix scutata is likely. Some nice dou- the former collective genus Lacerta, they accepted ble-page colour photographs of impressive land- Darevskia and Zootoca as own genera, but not Par- scapes are found dispersed throughout the book, 61 Book Review their number was augmented by seven additional mal in a voluminous book like this, senior author such photographs which also increased the total Natalia Anajeva and her five colleagues have number of pages from 230 in the Russian to 245 done a very good job with this valuable oversight pages in the English edition. The translation into over the northern Palearctic reptiles. By this sum- English was done by Oksana Tishenko and is marizing book, the numerous published literature generally good. Only in a few cases several minor which exists since long on the herpetology of the linguistic/stylistic faults (e.g. “most rare” instead former Soviet Union becomes at last accessible for of rarest, lack of the article “the”: “In present book all those who were unable to read Russian. But in we consider...”) or inconsistencies (e.g. “Monotyp- addition, the book forms also a bright, coloured ic genus distributed in ....”, followed by “One spe- atlas of northern Eurasian reptiles with generally cies occurs in North Eurasia”: How many else!) good and partly magnificent colour photographs can be detected which do, however, not hinder the of the great majority of the species covered. In perfect comprehension of the text. A last point: some cases, e.g. the green lizards and the vipers In the References section, the paper by Mayer & of the subgenus Pelias, even examples of colour Böhme (2000) is wrongly cited by having a first morphs and colouration variability is demonstrat- part of the given title which refers to a series of ed. In conclusion, this book is a remarkable con- notes by W. Bischoff (who is otherwise not cited tribution to the literature on the temperate zone in this book), but the remaining part of the cita- Old World reptile fauna and can be appreciated tion is correct. for both its scientific content and its aesthetic val- Apart from these very few and absolutely mi- ue derived from the rich, colourful illustration. nor points of criticism which are more than nor- Wolfgang Böhme, Bonn Pickersgill, M. (2007): Frog Search. Results of tory chapters, he also deals with the role of ama- Expeditions to Southern and Eastern Africa from teur scientists and the meaning of these “hobby- 993-999. – Frankfurt am Main, Edition Chimaira ists” where he stresses the necessity of some sci- (Frankfurter Beiträge zur Naturkunde/Frankfurt entific training for hobbyists on the one side, and Contributions to Natural History, vol. 28), 574 pp., the willingness of professional scientists to coop- 59 colour plates, 295 black & white figures (pho- erate and to exchange ideas and knowledge with tos, drawings, sonagrams). ISSN 63-2327, ISBN them on the other. This claim, more than justified 0: 3-93062-80-, ISBN 3: 978-3-93062-80-2. in many countries including many European ones, was the basic idea for founding DGHT in Ger- This compact book on southern and eastern Af- many four decades ago, and we should try not to rican frogs has been written by a true enthusiast, loose this tradition despite the ongoing decrease a “froggist” as he calls himself and similar people. of the percentage of scientists in this mutualistic From the preface written by the “chameleonist” relationship. Lynn Raw we learn that Martin Pickersgill is Pickersgill’s book is divided in a general (in- a self-taught zoologist who started to publish on troductory) part, and in a special part which con- his herpetological observations already three dec- tains the 69 species treated. One of them has al- ades ago and finally was acknowledged with an ready been described by Pickersgill as a coau- MSc degree by the University of Leeds, England, thor, and no less than 9 new species are described in 2000. This is insofar relevant for reviewing the and named in this book for the first time. It is present book as in one of his extensive introduc- often criticised when new species are described 62 Book Review within books and not in scientific, peer-reviewed Nat. Hist. 297) only in a note that has been add- journals because by this, a critical evaluation of ed during the printing process. This is why gen- data by external reviewers is avoided. Three fur- era such as Afrana, Amnirana, Bufo and others are ther new, but still undescribed species listed in the still retained, and the same concerns aspects of book still await their description – hopefully in in- the (sub)familial classsfication – not necessarily a ternational journals rather than in a next edition. disadvantage at the time being. The single species The only species mentioned in the book named af- chapters are all subdivided according to the same ter him (viz.

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