by
Andrea Ambrogio & Sergio Mezzadri
Preface
“Tadpoles of Italy” is a contribution on recognition and biology of larval stages of Italian Anurans. The book framework is built by two fundamental resources: an innovative iconography combining scientific accuracy and trait pleasantness, on the one hand, and a synthetic text offering an updated overlook on ecology and behaviour of Anuran larvae, on the other. This monograph wish to be an useful tool for alive tadpole identification through observation of external morphology, coloration and behaviour. In this respect, it includes a dichotomous key to be used in the field, which does not take into account some features used in Amphibian larvae identification, as horny teeth. Tadpoles have been mainly represented in Gosner developmental stages 35-39, which are widely considered the most significant for species identification. In order to avoid mistakes in depicting and ascribing the larvae, for a few genera (for instance Rana and Pelophylax) species determination has followed the completion of metamorphosis and/or genetical analysis. A special effort has been dedicated to showing variations in shape and coloration regarding Anuran species whose larvae are known to display a high degree of polymorphism due to variations of environmental parameters.
Limited edition, numbered copies
Hardcover
Book format 21 x 30 cm
Bilingual (Italian and English)
pages 112
Colour plates: 13
drawings in b/w
Price: 32 €.
26 € Promotional price for bookings made until January 25, 2014
February 2014 release.
http://www.dranae.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119&Itemid=207
Mario