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Snakes of Eastern North America by Carl H. Ernst; Roger W. Barbour
Review by: Michael V. Plummer
Copeia,
Vol. 1990, No. 1 (Mar. 6, 1990), pp. 253-255
Published by: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH)
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REVIEWS REVIEWS
By J. R. Peters and B. Orejas-Miranda Bull. U.S.
Natl. Mus., 297.
GROOMBRIDGE,
B. 1986. Comments on the M. pter-
ygoideus
glandulae of crotaline snakes (Reptilia: Vi-
peridae). Herpetologica 42:449-457.
KOFRON,
C. 1985. Systematics of the neotropical gas-
tropod-eating snake genera, Tropidodipsas and Si-
bon.
J. Herpetol. 19:84-92.
KUHN,
0. 1967. Amphibien und Reptilien. Katalog
der Subfamilien und h6hren Taxa mit Nachweis
des ersten Auftretens. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart,
West Germany.
MYERS,
C. W. 1974. The systematics of Rhadinaea
(Colubirdae), a genus of New World snakes. Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 153:1-262.
ROBINS,
C. R., R. M. BAILEY,
C. E. BOND,J. R. BROOK-
ER, E. A. LACHNER,
R. N. LEA AND
W. B. SCOTT.
1980. A list of common and scientific names of
fishes from the United States and Canada. 4th ed.
Amer. Fish. Soc., Spec. Publ., 12.
SAVAGE,J. M., AND
B. I. CROTHER. 1989. The status
of Pliocercus and Urotheca
(Serpentes: Colubridae),
with a review of included species of coral snake
mimics. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 95:335-362.
STORR, G. M. 1967. The genus Vermicella
(Serpentes,
Elapidae) in Western Australia and the Northern
Territory. J. Roy. Soc. W. Aust. 50:80-92.
1985. Phylogenetic relationships of Austra-
lian elapid snakes: external morphology with an
emphasis on species in Western Australia, p. 221-
222. In: Biology of Australian frogs and reptiles.
G. Grigg, R. Shine and H. Ehmann (eds.). Surrey
Beatty & Sons Pty. Ltd., Chipping Norton, Austra-
lia.
WALLACH, V. 1985. A cladistic analysis of the ter-
restrial Australian Elapidae, p. 223-253. In: Biol-
ogy of Australian frogs and reptiles. G. Grigg, R.
Shine and H. Ehmann (eds.). Surrey Beatty & Sons
Pty. Ltd., Chipping Norton, Australia.
WELLS,
R. W., AND
C. R. WELLINGTON. 1983. A syn-
opsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Aust. J. Her-
petol. 1:73-129.
DARREL FROST, Museum of Natural History, The
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045.
SNAKES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.
By Carl H. Ernst and Roger W. Barbour. 1989.
George Mason University Press, 4400 Univer-
sity Dr., Fairfax, Virginia 22030, vii + 282 p.,
$62.50 (hardcover).-This book is the first ma-
jor compilation on the snakes of eastern North
America since the now badly outdated Wright
and Wright (1957). It contains a wealth of in-
formation on the 58 species of snakes found in
By J. R. Peters and B. Orejas-Miranda Bull. U.S.
Natl. Mus., 297.
GROOMBRIDGE,
B. 1986. Comments on the M. pter-
ygoideus
glandulae of crotaline snakes (Reptilia: Vi-
peridae). Herpetologica 42:449-457.
KOFRON,
C. 1985. Systematics of the neotropical gas-
tropod-eating snake genera, Tropidodipsas and Si-
bon.
J. Herpetol. 19:84-92.
KUHN,
0. 1967. Amphibien und Reptilien. Katalog
der Subfamilien und h6hren Taxa mit Nachweis
des ersten Auftretens. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart,
West Germany.
MYERS,
C. W. 1974. The systematics of Rhadinaea
(Colubirdae), a genus of New World snakes. Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 153:1-262.
ROBINS,
C. R., R. M. BAILEY,
C. E. BOND,J. R. BROOK-
ER, E. A. LACHNER,
R. N. LEA AND
W. B. SCOTT.
1980. A list of common and scientific names of
fishes from the United States and Canada. 4th ed.
Amer. Fish. Soc., Spec. Publ., 12.
SAVAGE,J. M., AND
B. I. CROTHER. 1989. The status
of Pliocercus and Urotheca
(Serpentes: Colubridae),
with a review of included species of coral snake
mimics. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 95:335-362.
STORR, G. M. 1967. The genus Vermicella
(Serpentes,
Elapidae) in Western Australia and the Northern
Territory. J. Roy. Soc. W. Aust. 50:80-92.
1985. Phylogenetic relationships of Austra-
lian elapid snakes: external morphology with an
emphasis on species in Western Australia, p. 221-
222. In: Biology of Australian frogs and reptiles.
G. Grigg, R. Shine and H. Ehmann (eds.). Surrey
Beatty & Sons Pty. Ltd., Chipping Norton, Austra-
lia.
WALLACH, V. 1985. A cladistic analysis of the ter-
restrial Australian Elapidae, p. 223-253. In: Biol-
ogy of Australian frogs and reptiles. G. Grigg, R.
Shine and H. Ehmann (eds.). Surrey Beatty & Sons
Pty. Ltd., Chipping Norton, Australia.
WELLS,
R. W., AND
C. R. WELLINGTON. 1983. A syn-
opsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Aust. J. Her-
petol. 1:73-129.
DARREL FROST, Museum of Natural History, The
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045.
SNAKES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.
By Carl H. Ernst and Roger W. Barbour. 1989.
George Mason University Press, 4400 Univer-
sity Dr., Fairfax, Virginia 22030, vii + 282 p.,
$62.50 (hardcover).-This book is the first ma-
jor compilation on the snakes of eastern North
America since the now badly outdated Wright
and Wright (1957). It contains a wealth of in-
formation on the 58 species of snakes found in
253 253
North America east of the Mississippi River and
the western border of Ontario. Ernst and Bar-
bour purposed to write a book that would allow
one to identify any snake species from this area
(facilitated by a key to species) and which would
summarize information on life history, a term
they use in a broader sense than currently used
by population and evolutionary biologists.
For the most part, I found that Ernst and
Barbour achieved their goals. With few excep-
tions, they covered the primary literature well
through 1986 (including some 1987 refer-
ences). For each species, they provide a sum-
mary of its ecology and behavior from the lit-
erature, interspersed with occasional personal
anecdotes. After reading the accounts, one is
impressed with the extensive literature that ex-
ists on snakes, but the incomplete and anecdotal
information available for most species leaves one
less than satisfied that we know a lot about their
ecology. This will not come as a revelation to
anyone who has worked with snakes in the field.
They know well that snakes are not the animal
of choice for ecological studies, being secretive,
periodically dormant, and generally intractable.
Thus, studying snakes requires a commitment
to the organism in addition to (or instead of) a
commitment to a biological problem. Many
books surveying the biology of a group of ani-
mals illuminate our ignorance and stimulate
further study. Ernst and Barbour's book cer-
tainly does the former and I hope will also do
the latter. To this end, the authors frequently
point out species in need of additional work.
The book is organized into six sections. The
first summarizes the general biology of snakes.
Next is a guide to identification including an
illustrated key to species. Species accounts fol-
low and are arranged in this taxonomic order:
Typhlopidae, Colubridae (Xenodontinae, Col-
ubrinae, Lampropeltinae, Natricinae), Elapi-
dae, and Viperidae. The accounts contain sec-
tions on recognition, karyotype, fossil record,
distribution, geographic variation, confusing
species, habitat, behavior, reproduction, growth
and longevity, food and feeding, venom and
bites (in venomous forms), predation and de-
fense, populations, and remarks. The remarks
section addresses miscellaneous topics such as
taxonomic problems, biogeography, gaps in
knowledge, mimicry, effects of environmental
pollutants, conservation, genetics and hybrid-
ization, suitability for captivity, and folklore.
Each species account contains a black and white
photograph and a distribution map showing the
North America east of the Mississippi River and
the western border of Ontario. Ernst and Bar-
bour purposed to write a book that would allow
one to identify any snake species from this area
(facilitated by a key to species) and which would
summarize information on life history, a term
they use in a broader sense than currently used
by population and evolutionary biologists.
For the most part, I found that Ernst and
Barbour achieved their goals. With few excep-
tions, they covered the primary literature well
through 1986 (including some 1987 refer-
ences). For each species, they provide a sum-
mary of its ecology and behavior from the lit-
erature, interspersed with occasional personal
anecdotes. After reading the accounts, one is
impressed with the extensive literature that ex-
ists on snakes, but the incomplete and anecdotal
information available for most species leaves one
less than satisfied that we know a lot about their
ecology. This will not come as a revelation to
anyone who has worked with snakes in the field.
They know well that snakes are not the animal
of choice for ecological studies, being secretive,
periodically dormant, and generally intractable.
Thus, studying snakes requires a commitment
to the organism in addition to (or instead of) a
commitment to a biological problem. Many
books surveying the biology of a group of ani-
mals illuminate our ignorance and stimulate
further study. Ernst and Barbour's book cer-
tainly does the former and I hope will also do
the latter. To this end, the authors frequently
point out species in need of additional work.
The book is organized into six sections. The
first summarizes the general biology of snakes.
Next is a guide to identification including an
illustrated key to species. Species accounts fol-
low and are arranged in this taxonomic order:
Typhlopidae, Colubridae (Xenodontinae, Col-
ubrinae, Lampropeltinae, Natricinae), Elapi-
dae, and Viperidae. The accounts contain sec-
tions on recognition, karyotype, fossil record,
distribution, geographic variation, confusing
species, habitat, behavior, reproduction, growth
and longevity, food and feeding, venom and
bites (in venomous forms), predation and de-
fense, populations, and remarks. The remarks
section addresses miscellaneous topics such as
taxonomic problems, biogeography, gaps in
knowledge, mimicry, effects of environmental
pollutants, conservation, genetics and hybrid-
ization, suitability for captivity, and folklore.
Each species account contains a black and white
photograph and a distribution map showing the
This content downloaded from 192.133.129.4 on Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:54:11 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
COPEIA, 1990, NO. 1
range within eastern North America as well as
the entire range. Color photographs of each
species are grouped in plates in the middle of
the book. Common names conform to those in
Collins et al. (1982). After the species accounts,
there is a glossary of scientific names, a bibli-
ography containing over 1500 citations pri-
marily concerning ecology, behavior and sys-
tematics dating 1955-87 (the reader is referred
to Wright and Wright, 1962, for older papers),
and an index to scientific and common names.
The most disappointing feature of the book,
especially to non-professionals, will be the uni-
formly poor quality of the black and white pho-
tographs. This appears to be more related to
poor reproduction on low quality paper than to
low quality of photographs. The maps also are
poorly reproduced, the crosshatching is dark
and distinct on some, while on others it is light
and indistinct, fading completely in portions of
the map leaving holes in the range. The color
plates are excellent, but (at least in my copy)
are arranged in an order opposite that in the
text.
It is unfortunate that the glossary includes
only scientific names. Ernst and Barbour ap-
parently assume much technical backgrounds
on behalf of their readers, an assumption un-
warranted considering the broad audience that
this book could attract. For example, many
readers will be stimied when they encounter in
the key the loreal, a scale undefined in text and
unlabeled in the illustrations, but used as the
basis for discrimination in several couplets of
the key. Also unfortunate is that instead of
adopting the most important and most fre-
quently used measure of body size in snakes
(snout-vent-length, SVL, Seigel and Ford,
1988), the authors use, again without defintion,
"total length" and "total body length" appar-
ently as synonyms. Enigmatic is the controver-
sial use of the subfamily Lampropeltinae, made
without comment.
The authors state, "When a topic is not men-
tioned in a species account, it is unknown." This
bold statement challenges readers. Here I offer
some more general concerns. One is the erro-
neous interpretation of literature, for example
the statement, "When the tongue is retracted,
its tips are inserted into the openings of Jacob-
son's organ, ...." Gillingham has shown that
the tongue tips are not inserted into the open-
ings, rather their ventral surfaces are drawn
over the anterior processes in the floor of the
mouth which, in turn, transfer chemicals to the
openings. Another is dubious conclusions. For
example, considering the extreme rarity of find-
ing snake eggs in the field, I doubt that "gath-
ering of eggs" by humans contributes signifi-
cantly to the decline of snake populations.
Another is using the most appropriate litera-
ture for a topic. For example, to summarize
growth and age at maturity in Opheodrys
aestivus,
Ernst and Barbour use studies in which growth
and age at maturity were inferred from museum
specimens collected at various localities over ex-
tended periods of time rather than on a pub-
lished study based on recaptures of living in-
dividuals in a natural population.
I agree with the authors that one of the fac-
tors in the terrestrial success of reptiles has been
their reduced cutaneous water loss. However,
the statement, "The scaly skin has few surface
glands; that is, very little fluid is lost cutaneous-
ly," oversimplifies and misrepresents. This book
is supposed to feature diversity, but oversim-
plification reduces diversity. Recent research by
several investigators has revealed much inter-
specific variation in rates of cutaneous water loss
in reptiles, related to the aridity of their habitat
and to the lipids in their skin. Thus, semi-aquat-
ic and fossorial snakes lose more water than
terrestrial snakes which lose more water than
arboreal snakes. Some species of reptiles lose as
much water as do some amphibians. These dif-
ferences are more than trivial. It is becoming
clear that some behaviors we observe in snakes
are dependent upon underlying physiological
processes. Therefore, diversity in physiology
may be expressed as diversity in behavior, an
interesting relationship that warrants consid-
eration in a book featuring diversity.
In any large compilation of material, there
likely will be typographical errors, and this book
has enough (misspellings, missidentifications,
wrong and missing values, citations running to-
gether in the bibliography and misalignment of
headings in the table of contents) to suggest a
lack of proper proofreading and editing.
I enjoyed reading this book and learned many
new "facts" while doing so. For example, I
learned that Farancia abacura is found in Iowa,
"mean clutch length" at ovulation in Carphophis
is 23.9 mm, and 10 subspecies of Micrurusfulvius
occur in eastern North America! But lest I be
too critical, these and the above errors do not
distract in a major way from the usefulness of
this book as a source of information. Citations
are used liberally in the species accounts so that
questionable points may be readily investigated.
254
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
REVIEWS REVIEWS
In short, Ernst and Barbour have produced a
useful reference for anyone interested in snakes.
I highly recommend Snakes of Eastern North
America for public, school and university li-
braries, and also for interested laymen and am-
ateur naturalists. For professionals the value of
owning a copy of this book will primarily be in
its bibliography and species accounts. For North
American herpetologists beginning work in the
growing field of snake biology, arming them-
selves with copies of Ernst and Barbour's Snakes
of Eastern North America and Seigel et al.'s
Snakes: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
(1987) would not be a bad way to start.
LITERATURE CITED
COLLINS, J. T., R. CONANT, J. E. HUHEEY, J. L.
KNIGHT, E. M. RUNDQUIST AND H. M. SMITH. 1982.
Standard common
and current scientific names for
North American
amphibians
and reptiles. 2nd ed.
Soc. Stud. Amphib.
Rept. Herpetol. Circ. 12:1-28.
SEIGEL, R. A., J. T. COLLINS AND S. S. NOVAK (EDS.).
1987. Snakes: ecology and evolutionary biology.
Macmillan Publ. Co., New York, New York.
, AND N. B. FORD. 1988. A plea for standard-
ization
of body
size
measurements
in studies
of snake
ecology. Herpetol. Rev. 19:9-10.
WRIGHT,
A. H., AND
A. A. WRIGHT.
1957. Handbook
of Snakes
of the United States and Canada. Vols.
I, II. Comstock Publ. Assoc., Ithaca, New York.
, AND . 1962. Handbook of Snakes of
the United States and Canada. Vol. III. Bibliog-
raphy. Edwards
Brothers, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich-
igan.
MICHAEL V. PLUMMER, Savannah River Ecology
Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina
29801. (Present address: Department of Biology,
Harding University,
Searcy,
Arkansas 72143).
DIGGING INTO THE PAST. By Edwin H.
Colbert. 1989. Dembner Books, 80 Eighth Ave.,
New York, New York. 496 p., $25.00 (hard-
cover).-When I read Roy Chapman Andrews'
description of collecting dinosaurs in the Gobi
Desert, I knew (at age 11) that I wanted to hunt
dinosaurs when I grew up. Over the years, I
have met others who relate similar experiences.
Although many did not become paleontologists,
they can trace their decision to work in science
to the influence of a dinosaur collector's auto-
In short, Ernst and Barbour have produced a
useful reference for anyone interested in snakes.
I highly recommend Snakes of Eastern North
America for public, school and university li-
braries, and also for interested laymen and am-
ateur naturalists. For professionals the value of
owning a copy of this book will primarily be in
its bibliography and species accounts. For North
American herpetologists beginning work in the
growing field of snake biology, arming them-
selves with copies of Ernst and Barbour's Snakes
of Eastern North America and Seigel et al.'s
Snakes: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
(1987) would not be a bad way to start.
LITERATURE CITED
COLLINS, J. T., R. CONANT, J. E. HUHEEY, J. L.
KNIGHT, E. M. RUNDQUIST AND H. M. SMITH. 1982.
Standard common
and current scientific names for
North American
amphibians
and reptiles. 2nd ed.
Soc. Stud. Amphib.
Rept. Herpetol. Circ. 12:1-28.
SEIGEL, R. A., J. T. COLLINS AND S. S. NOVAK (EDS.).
1987. Snakes: ecology and evolutionary biology.
Macmillan Publ. Co., New York, New York.
, AND N. B. FORD. 1988. A plea for standard-
ization
of body
size
measurements
in studies
of snake
ecology. Herpetol. Rev. 19:9-10.
WRIGHT,
A. H., AND
A. A. WRIGHT.
1957. Handbook
of Snakes
of the United States and Canada. Vols.
I, II. Comstock Publ. Assoc., Ithaca, New York.
, AND . 1962. Handbook of Snakes of
the United States and Canada. Vol. III. Bibliog-
raphy. Edwards
Brothers, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich-
igan.
MICHAEL V. PLUMMER, Savannah River Ecology
Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina
29801. (Present address: Department of Biology,
Harding University,
Searcy,
Arkansas 72143).
DIGGING INTO THE PAST. By Edwin H.
Colbert. 1989. Dembner Books, 80 Eighth Ave.,
New York, New York. 496 p., $25.00 (hard-
cover).-When I read Roy Chapman Andrews'
description of collecting dinosaurs in the Gobi
Desert, I knew (at age 11) that I wanted to hunt
dinosaurs when I grew up. Over the years, I
have met others who relate similar experiences.
Although many did not become paleontologists,
they can trace their decision to work in science
to the influence of a dinosaur collector's auto-
biography. So in addition to providing inter-
esting reading, such books are important be-
cause they seem to recruit young people into
the sciences.
I do not know if Colbert's book would have
the same influence on a child as the books of
Roy Chapman Andrews. I doubt it. Andrews
was an adventurer who had the knack of telling
a good story. Colbert does not have these qual-
ities, although his autobiography is much more
honest to the profession. He paints his past al-
most as a series of coincidences. He happened
to become interested in vertebrate palaeontol-
ogy because of a visit to the museum at the
University of Nebraska. On a whim he asked
what kind of a future there might be in paleon-
tology. As a student, he became the research
assistant of Henry Fairfield Osborn, the most
famous vertebrate paleontologist of that time,
because he happened to be in the right place at
the right time. He married the daughter of
another eminent paleontologist, W. D. Mat-
thew, although this had little to do with any
association he had with that reknowned scien-
tist. Although Colbert started off working on
Cenozoic mammals, he became an authority on
dinosaurs only because he was asked to fill a
vacancy left by the retirement of Barnum Brown.
This autobiography is more personal than
most, describing in detail the events that led to
the development of the professional style and
biases evident in many of Colbert's papers.
There is some useful insight into the trials and
tribulations of being a paleontologist with a wife
and children, something that is usually ignored
in works like this, and not thought of by those
working towards careers in field oriented sci-
ences. Social pressures and historical events ob-
viously have a major impact on the growth and
development of scientific ideas. Colbert has doc-
umented many of the changes that occurred
throughout his career (such as the shift in trans-
portation from horses to automobiles, and the
advent of commercial air travel) in a pictur-
esque manner that gives the reader a feel for
how different the influences are today. He also
discusses the advent and slow acceptance of new
ideas in the Earth Sciences, such as plate tec-
tonics, and their influence on paleontological
research.
Colbert has had a long and distinguished ca-
reer, during the course of which he met and
associated with many famous vertebrate pale-
ontologists. His comments and anecdotes about
some of these people are of great interest, but
biography. So in addition to providing inter-
esting reading, such books are important be-
cause they seem to recruit young people into
the sciences.
I do not know if Colbert's book would have
the same influence on a child as the books of
Roy Chapman Andrews. I doubt it. Andrews
was an adventurer who had the knack of telling
a good story. Colbert does not have these qual-
ities, although his autobiography is much more
honest to the profession. He paints his past al-
most as a series of coincidences. He happened
to become interested in vertebrate palaeontol-
ogy because of a visit to the museum at the
University of Nebraska. On a whim he asked
what kind of a future there might be in paleon-
tology. As a student, he became the research
assistant of Henry Fairfield Osborn, the most
famous vertebrate paleontologist of that time,
because he happened to be in the right place at
the right time. He married the daughter of
another eminent paleontologist, W. D. Mat-
thew, although this had little to do with any
association he had with that reknowned scien-
tist. Although Colbert started off working on
Cenozoic mammals, he became an authority on
dinosaurs only because he was asked to fill a
vacancy left by the retirement of Barnum Brown.
This autobiography is more personal than
most, describing in detail the events that led to
the development of the professional style and
biases evident in many of Colbert's papers.
There is some useful insight into the trials and
tribulations of being a paleontologist with a wife
and children, something that is usually ignored
in works like this, and not thought of by those
working towards careers in field oriented sci-
ences. Social pressures and historical events ob-
viously have a major impact on the growth and
development of scientific ideas. Colbert has doc-
umented many of the changes that occurred
throughout his career (such as the shift in trans-
portation from horses to automobiles, and the
advent of commercial air travel) in a pictur-
esque manner that gives the reader a feel for
how different the influences are today. He also
discusses the advent and slow acceptance of new
ideas in the Earth Sciences, such as plate tec-
tonics, and their influence on paleontological
research.
Colbert has had a long and distinguished ca-
reer, during the course of which he met and
associated with many famous vertebrate pale-
ontologists. His comments and anecdotes about
some of these people are of great interest, but
255 255
This content downloaded from 192.133.129.4 on Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:54:11 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions