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Powell, R., R. W. Henderson, and J. S. Parmerlee, Jr. 2005. The
Reptiles and Amphibians of the Dutch Caribbean: St. Eustatius,
Saba, and St. Maarten. The St. Eustatius National Parks
Foundation, Gallows Bay, St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles,
192 pp. Softcover. ISBN 978-09673958-8-3. $25.00 plus ship-
ping. U.S. distributor: Bibliomania! (www.herplit.com).

These days, it’s fairly easy to produce a field guide to the
amphibians and reptiles of a relatively small geographic

area. It isn’t even necessary to know much about the natural lives
of the animals. It’s enough to have access to good photographs
of each species, often taken under controlled conditions in arti-
ficial “habitat” sets, and an abbreviated discussion of the distri-
bution and biology of the species. Knowledge of the latter can
often be found in scientific and lay literature, including other
field guides. Such guides may be useful in identifying the ani-
mal before you — but, unless your only goal is to add a species
to your herpetological life list, they may leave you hungry for
more. A really good field guide is worth its weight in gold, and
distressingly few are available. You probably already know this.
You may have several guides to the amphibians and reptiles of a
particular area on your shelf, but only one is dog-eared from
page turning and trips to the field. To my mind, the ideal field
guide is portable (it is, after all, supposed to be a field guide),
includes photographs that are useful not only for purposes of
identification but illustrate some aspect of the ecology or behav-
ior of the animals, and text that includes descriptions of the
species, including developmental, sexual, and geographic varia-
tion, how to distinguish each species from similar species that
occur in the region, and discussions of distribution, habitat, food
habits, reproduction, behavior, and conservation status. A gen-
eral discussion of the geography of the region covered by the
guide and of the habitats that are found there should be
included, as well as a glossary of terms used in the guide with
which the reader may not be familiar and a bibliography or lit-
erature cited section to lead the interested reader to more
detailed information. Powell, Henderson, and Parmerlee (here-
after, PHP) have produced a field guide to the amphibians and
reptiles of the Dutch Antillean islands of St. Eustatius, Saba, and
St. Maarten that meets my expectations.

Including introduced species, the herpetofauna of the Dutch
Windward Islands (the Dutch Leewards are Aruba, Bonaire, and
Curaçao, which are South American continental islands) consists
of two species of amphibians, both frogs, 15 or 16 (depending on
whether or not the Green Iguana of Saba is a species distinct from
Iguana iguana) species of lizards, three of snakes, and two of tur-
tles, plus three species of sea turtles known to nest in the islands
and a fourth that is sometimes seen in the surrounding waters.
This relatively small fauna has allowed PHP to produce a guide

that is portable while including extensive accounts for each species.
A similarly detailed guide for the herpetofauna of, for example,
Cuba (which has at least 50 species of anoles alone) would take
on the proportions of an unabridged dictionary.

Following the Introduction, the guide describes the natu-
ral features of each island. Included are topographic maps and
aerial photographs and a discussion of the region’s geological his-
tory. This is followed by a history of the human occupation of
the islands; this section is enhanced by additional photographs
of each island, including archival photographs that sometimes
highlight the changes that have accompanied the human occu-
pation and development of the region. Next comes a section on
conservation that identifies parks and reserves, and emphasizes
the local conservation organizations that are working to conserve
the natural heritage of each island.

Next is an extensive section introducing amphibians and
reptiles. It begins with definitions: What are amphibians and
reptiles. The definitions go beyond external morphology to

Dutch Windward Island 
Herpetofauna

IGUANA  •  VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4  •  DECEMBER 2005 273BOOK REVIEW

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274 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4  •  DECEMBER 2005 BOOK REVIEW

include features associated with respiration, reproductive biol-
ogy, and thermoregulation. There follows a short discussion of
scientific names, their derivation, and why they occasionally
change. Common names and why they can create difficulties are
discussed next. A subsection on biogeographic relationships
emphasizes human-mediated introductions in the Dutch
Antilles and the biogeographic similarities and differences
among the three islands. Disappointingly, a discussion of the
biogeographic origins of the elements of the herpetofauna of
these islands is lacking, although species accounts remedy this
shortcoming to some degree. A general discussion of conserva-
tion status includes concise descriptions of the conservation
threat categories employed by the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
and the Red List of the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
The Dutch Antillean species listed by either organization are dis-
cussed, as are the negative effects of the introduction of mon-
goose on the herpetofauna of St. Maarten. This section con-
cludes with “Stories about Reptiles,” including a discussion of
the medicinal use of reptiles, iguana meat as an aphrodisiac, and
other myths. Here you can find two recipes for lizard soup, once
thought to be a treatment for bronchitis and asthma.

The bulk of the book is devoted to individual species
accounts. This section is a little anachronistic in not following
the usual taxonomic organization of amphibians first, then tur-
tles, then lizards, and then snakes. Instead, lizards appear first,
then snakes, then turtles, with amphibians bringing up the rear.
Even within the lizard accounts the order of presentation of the
families is unusual. None of this, however, detracts from the
quality of the individual family and species accounts.

Family and species accounts begin with the common
English and scientific names, and the derivation (etymology) of
the scientific name. The latter is an interesting feature omitted
from most field guides. This is followed, for family accounts, by
a statement of the geographic range and of any interesting tax-
onomic considerations. Species accounts include a description
that will facilitate identification, as well as any changes in color
or pattern that are associated with age or sex. The distribution
among the three islands is stated and note is made of popula-
tions known to have been extirpated. In some accounts (e.g.,
Iguana delicatissima), the origin of the species is discussed.
Habitat is described in some detail and additional subsections
address food and predators. The discussion of reproduction may
include, among other things, seasonality, mode of reproduction
(e.g., eggs, live-bearing, parthenogenesis [= reproduction within
all-female population]), and clutch size. Rare in a field guide, the
discussion of behavior is usually fairly extensive. Each species
account concludes with a discussion of conservation status
including primary threats and, if known, recent population tra-
jectories. The accounts are all copiously illustrated (the book
contains over 300 color and eight black & white photographs).
The photographs of amphibians and reptiles were taken, for the
most part, in natural habitat and often highlight differences
among similar species, document age and sex variation in color
and pattern, or illustrate aspects of behavior.

Following the species accounts is a section entitled “Strays
and a Vagrant.” The strays are species that were introduced to
areas where they do not naturally occur but failed to become

established. Strays are known only on St. Maarten and include
two species which occur naturally elsewhere in the Dutch
Antilles (Green Tree Lizard, Anolis bimaculatus; Red-bellied
Racer, Alsophis rufiventris) and five exotic snakes: Boa
Constrictor (Boa constrictor), Rainbow Boa (Epicrates cenchria),
Blood or Short-tailed Python (Python curtus group), Ball Python
(Python regius), and Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata). The
Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) is listed as a vagrant. Not
known to nest in the Dutch Antilles, Loggerheads are occasion-
ally encountered at sea around the islands.

The book concludes with a Bibliography, a List of
Taxonomic Authorities for each Dutch Antillean species
(unique, so far as I know, for field guides), a Glossary, and an
Index to Names of Reptiles and Amphibians. The Bibliography
lists 164 citations, two-thirds of which date from 1990 or later.
The glossary contains 112 entries.

My complaints about the book are minor. Each page is
UV-coated, lending a glossy appearance that dramatically
enhances the photographs and renders the book moisture and
mildew resistant (not an unimportant consideration for a guide
to the herpetofaunas of tropical islands), but the slick surfaces
stick together, making it next to impossible to casually leaf
through the book. The book, although ostensibly soft covered,
is heavy and stiff. Whether the quality of the images and weather
resistance justifies the unusual feel may well vary from reader to
reader. Also, I think we needed to have only one photograph of
a mongoose, and a few individuals are illustrated more than once
(figures 177 and 251 of a Red-bellied Racer, Alsophis rufiventris,
are an interesting example of photographic pseudoreplication).

The PHP guide ought to serve multiple audiences. For the
amateur naturalist visiting the Dutch Antilles, it can serve as
both an introduction to the islands and the herpetofauna, facil-
itating the location and identification of species. The book will
serve the same purpose for the professional biologist new to the
islands. In addition, it provides enough information on the biol-
ogy of the amphibians and reptiles, and clues as to what is not
known, that it will point the way for future research. With
respect to all of these, the book ought to be widely read by any-
one conducting research on the amphibians and/or reptiles of
the Dutch Antilles and beyond. It should be particularly popu-
lar with graduate students contemplating work in the region.

PHP have conducted research on amphibians and reptiles
throughout the West Indies for an aggregate of over 60 years
and, together with a small army of students, they have worked
extensively in the Dutch Antilles. Fifty of the citations in the
PHP Bibliography are authored or co-authored by Powell,
Henderson, or Parmerlee. Although new species may yet be dis-
covered in these islands, and others will without doubt be intro-
duced, this guide will be the gold standard for years to come.
The World Wildlife Fund (Netherlands) and Prince Bernhard
Nature Fund (Netherlands) are to be commended for funding
its publication and allowing the proceeds from sales to go toward
conservation efforts in the Dutch Antilles. However, as PHP was
not produced by a major publisher, the number of copies
printed may be relatively small. Get yours while you can!

Arthur C. Echternacht
University of Tennessee, Knoxville




