Lizards: A Natural History of Some Uncommon Creatures--Extraordinary Chameleons, Iguanas, Geckos, and More

Lizards are one of my favorite animals, and all of the beautiful pictures and fascinating facts made me love them even more, and gave me some interesting ideas about what types of lizards beyond the common ones will make the best pets. In addition to the types of lizards which everyone knows about, such as the green iguana, the leopard gecko, the various types of chameleons, the Gila monster, and the green anole, there are types of lizards not commonly known outside of the herpetological community, such as the Eastern glass lizard, which looks like a snake (I think that's my new favorite lizard!), the black tree monitor, the fat-tailed gecko, the six-lined racerunner, and the granite spiny lizard. There isn't a single bad picture in here; lizards just seem to be naturally cute, beautiful, or stately. Some of the more interesting ones are the ones that look like miniature dinosaurs (and have been used in numerous movies over the years as doubles for dinos); this order of reptiles is, after all, descended from the dinosaurs and millions of years old, older than the human race or even the mammalian class. Along with the lovely pictures are chapters on physical characteristics and behavior (such as vision, hearing, mating, teeth, thermoregulation, domestication, hibernation, and locomotion), information on each of the lizards profiled, information on lizard conservation (it's sad how threatened this neat little order of reptiles is by humans, when they do us a great service by eating insect pests and could hold within them medical secrets that could save lives), and the relationship between lizards and humans throughout history and in various places around the world. Though the reptilian brain will never be as advanced, either intellectually or emotionally, as the mammalian brain, the information contained here reveals that numerous types of lizards seem to be rather intelligent, resourceful, and even emotional. Sadly, during the writing of this book, the photographer, John Netherton, passed away suddenly at a rather young age. Though there wasn't time to get his stories behind these pictures, the text David Badger did include probably would have done him proud. I can't wait to read the other books they collaborated on, about snakes and frogs.

I've been photographing Anoles around my garden for the last year or two, and, wanted to do a little extra reading on them. Lizard: A Natural History, provides not only a very enjoyable read, but, fantastic photography. A must companion book for anyone who enjoys getting a little closer to the 'backyard wild', and, wants a closer look at what roams around the rest of the world. Oh, and a bonus, the book has a collection of witty lizard observations from famous authors and naturalist. Quite fun!

This natural history of lizards includes the chameleon, iguana, gecko and more, pairing brilliant close-up color photos by John Netherton with a scientific and popular survey by Badger which outlines not just facts, but common fiction about different lizards. David Badger's Lizards is a very fine guide which will serve as both a leisure browse and a library reference.