Venomous Book Review

[NicoleRussell]

Interesting Review...info on author is at the end:


Science, Vol 305, Issue 5681, 182 , 9 July 2004

VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY:
Fangs, Venom, and Fear Unraveled
A review by Laurie J. Vitt*

The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere
by Jonathan A. Campbell and William W. Lamar
Comstock (Cornell University Press), Ithaca, NY, 2004. 2 vols. 962 pp. $149.95, £86.95.
ISBN 0-8014-4141-2.

Some say the Bible teaches fear of women, snakes,
and God, who killed His Manchild for our sakes
and puts a mark beside our least mistakes,
and beats us all until our spirit breaks.
Must we believe His godly finger shakes
at Eve for every apple pie she bakes?
I'd rather take my chances with the snakes.
Virginia Hamilton Adair (1)

For most ecotourists and field naturalists, tiptoeing through forest or desert in search of
orchids, cacti, butterflies, or birds is menaced by the possibility of stepping on a
poisonous snake. For a handful of field herpetologists, those other organisms often go
unnoticed as they seek some of the most spectacular and interesting extant reptiles: the
lizards (few) and snakes (many) that can, in defense, deliver dangerous and often lethal
bites. [Cladistically, these are all lizards. Although most of the lay public and,
surprisingly, one North American field guide (2) erroneously think of snakes and lizards
as sister taxa, snakes arose within lizards--even if their exact position within Squamata
remains unresolved (3, 4).] Venom that varies from mildly bothersome to deadly can be
delivered through grooved teeth (Heloderma lizards), fixed fangs (elapid and some
colubrid snakes), or hollow movable fangs (viperid snakes). Despite the fears such
thoughts often raise among nonprofessionals, herpetologists see venomous lizards and
snakes as representing pinnacles of evolution. Most snakes eat large prey, which, if not
handled properly, can fight back and potentially inflict lethal wounds. Venomous reptiles
reduce that risk by killing their prey rapidly and, in some cases, without even holding on
to it. As many humans have discovered, venomous squamates also present their own
predators with added risks.

The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere is a much-expanded revision of an
earlier book by the same authors, herpetologists Jonathan Campbell and William Lamar
(5). The bulk of the work is filled with up-to-date accounts of individual species, which
include complete synonomies, descriptions, favored habitats, and distributions (with dot
maps showing locations of records). These are supplemented with tables, drawings, black
and white pictures, and 1365 beautiful color photographs (which depict most color phases
of each venomous species as well as a variety of similarly colored nonvenomous snakes).
In addition to their effective summaries of natural history, the authors provide
informative remarks on ecology, systematics, and evolution for each species.

The second volume also contains four chapters written by experts in mimicry, evolution,
and venomous-reptile bites. Packed with useful information, these chapters clearly
demonstrate more general scientific contributions made by studies on venomous reptiles.
Edmund Brodie III and Edmund Brodie Jr. review mimicry as it pertains to snakes and
point to a plethora of potential mimicry complexes in snakes that have yet to be
thoroughly studied. Ronald Gutberlet Jr. and Michael Harvey survey the evolutionary
history of venomous snakes and provide a number of phylogenetic hypotheses (with
various levels of support). Two particularly illuminating area cladograms (for coralsnakes
and pitvipers) reveal exciting hypotheses for divergence and colonization histories and, in
doing so, pose some fascinating questions. Chapters by Robert Norris (for North
America) and David Warrell (for Central and South America) describe in graphic detail
the epidemiology, venoms, medical consequences, treatment, and prevention of
venomous-reptile bites.

As in all books of this magnitude, minor errors or omissions exist. The color photograph
labeled Xenopholis scalaris (an Amazonian species) actually shows X. undulatus (a
Cerrado species). Maps for a number of species lack localities for specimens held by the
Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi in Belém, Brazil, or my own museum, although
photographs of some of those specimens appear in the work. The large collection at the
University of Brasília appears to have also been overlooked. One might quibble with
some of the taxonomic decisions, but I prefer to view those as a challenge to systematists
to correct the record. The oversights are trivial compared with the wealth of information
Campbell and Lamar have compiled. The authors provide an authoritative perspective on
the remarkable diversity of venomous reptiles. As the global loss of species and habitats
continues at an astonishing rate (6), monographs like this constitute our most powerful
arsenal in the fight against extinction.

These volumes should change the mind of anyone who sees snakes as hostile tubes of
varying colors with a mouthful of fangs. Documenting the impressive taxonomic and
ecological diversity of venomous reptiles in the New World, Campbell and Lamar
establish venomous reptiles as a significant component of global biodiversity. Ignorance
is no longer an excuse for fear of venomous reptiles, whereas knowledge and respect are
certainly in order.

References and Notes
1. Reprinted with permission from V. H. Adair, Beliefs and Blasphemies (Random
House, New York, 199. Also republished in W. Lewis, Snakes: An Anthology of
Serpent Tales (M. Evans, New York, 2003).
2. R. Conant, J. T. Collins, A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and
Central North America (Houghton-Mifflin, Boston, ed. 3, 199.
3. H. W. Greene, Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature (Univ. California
Press, Berkeley, 1997).
4. H. W. Greene, D. Cundall, Science 287, 1939 (2000).
5. J. A. Campbell, W. W. Lamar, The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America (Cornell
Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY, 1989).
6. R. A. Mittermeier, N. Myers, P. R. Gil, C. G. Mittermeier, Hotspots: Earth's
Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions (CEMEX-
Conservation International, Washington, DC, 2000).

The reviewer is at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and the Zoology
Department, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Avenue, Norman, OK 73072,
USA. E-mail: vitt@ou.edu



donald j haarmann