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Reptiles: A Very Short Introduction

T. S. Kemp

January 2019

ISBN: 9780198806417

160 pages
Paperback
174x111mm

In Stock

Very Short Introductions

Price: £8.99

From dinosaurs to lizards, snakes, and turtles, Tom Kemp considers the range of reptiles which have walked our Earth. Exploring how evolutionary adaptions have fitted them to their individual niches, he discusses their biology, such as cold bloodedness and feeding habits, and analyses why reptiles have been so successful throughout history.

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Description

From dinosaurs to lizards, snakes, and turtles, Tom Kemp considers the range of reptiles which have walked our Earth. Exploring how evolutionary adaptions have fitted them to their individual niches, he discusses their biology, such as cold bloodedness and feeding habits, and analyses why reptiles have been so successful throughout history.

  • Introduces the extraordinary diversity of reptiles which have walked the Earth, from the dinosaurs of the past to modern day living species
  • Discusses the evolutionary history of reptiles, and the individual adaptions which have fitted them for their unique ways of life
  • Analyses individual groups such as snakes, lizards, crocodiles and turtles and explores their biology and behaviour
  • Contemplates threats to modern day reptiles such as over-exploitation, habitat destruction, and climate change
  • Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over nine million copies sold worldwide

About the Author(s)

T. S. Kemp, Emeritus Research Fellow, St John's College

Tom Kemp was appointed Tutor in Zoology at St John's College, Oxford, in 1975, where he conducted undergraduate teaching courses on vertebrate evolution and biology, and on palaeobiology. He was also Senior Dean for several years before his retirement in 2009, when he was elected Emeritus Research Fellow, and appointed Honorary Research Associate of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Tom Kemp's published titles include Mammals: A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2017), The Origins and Evolution of Mammals (OUP, 2005), and Mammal-like Reptiles and the Origin of Mammals (Academic Press, 1982), and his research and field collecting have taken him on expeditions to Zambia, South Africa, Australia, and India. Since 2013, Tom Kemp and his wife have travelled extensively in southern Africa, observing and photographing wildlife.

Table of Contents

    Introduction
    1:What is a reptile?
    2:The history of reptiles
    3:Lizards
    4:Snakes
    5:Crocodiles
    6:Turtles
    7:Reptile conservation
    Further reading
    Index

Reviews

"Reptiles are more than the 'abhorrent, cold-bodied animals' of classical myth, but 10,000 species of successful animals. Tom Kemp outlines all the key aspects of the biology of lizards, snakes, turtles, and crocodiles, and traces their evolution, all illustrated by intriguing anecdotes" - Professor Michael Benton

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