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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 14, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2007 193BOOK REVIEWS

Biology and Conservation of Florida Turtles. 2006. By Peter A.
Meylan (ed.). Chelonian Research Monographs, No. 3, 376 pp.
Hardcover Edition – ISBN: 0-9653540-2-4 – $ 60. Softcover
Edition – ISBN 0-9653540-3-2 – $ 48.

Conant and Collins (1998. A Field Guide to the Reptiles &
Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed.,
expanded. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston) provided the last sci-
entific-based field guide of the amphibians and reptiles of
Eastern and Central North America. Although that guide is uti-
lized more frequently than any others by the scientific commu-
nity as a single source for herpetofaunal information, it has
become somewhat outdated. At last, Peter Meylan completed
his long-awaited book that covers a single group (the turtles)
from the State of Florida.

Contributions by 40 authors are arranged into seven main
headings: Contributors, Dedication, Foreword, Introduction,
Habitats and Ecosystems Utilized by Florida Turtles, Family and
Species Accounts, and Epilogue. This volume is dedicated to the
late Dr. Walter Auffenberg (1928–2004), former curator of
Herpetology at the Florida Museum of Natural History,
University of Florida.

The Foreword illustrates the association between turtles and
humans, and also provides detailed information on turtle diver-
sity, density, endemism, threat levels, and conservation priorities
throughout the world. The exceedingly informative Introduction
includes the ecological history of a few selected species, taxo-
nomic arrangements of turtles and their correlation to the fossil
record, and lists of Florida turtles accompanied by notes on geo-
graphic distribution and protection status (if any). The next sec-
tion relates turtle conservation to habitat protection, specifically
uplands, freshwater wetlands and aquatic ecosystems, coastal
ecosystems, and artificial man-made habitats.

The majority of this volume (32 chapters, including 25
species accounts) falls under Family and Species Accounts.
Species accounts are arranged by Family and begin with an
introductory chapter to each Family. Each introduction con-
sists of Family content, systematic placement, fossil record,
extant geographic distribution, and ecological status. Species
accounts are quite comprehensive and include a summary and
coverage of conservation status, species recognition, taxonomic
history, distribution, habitat relations, growth and reproduc-
tion, population biology, threats, ecological status, conserva-
tion options and solutions, and literature cited, along with
numerous color photographs and range maps. The Florida
map on page 32 is useful, especially for those not familiar with
county names.

Referencing of voucher specimens in systematic collections
is important and further illustrates the considerable amount of
effort invested in these accounts. Although FLMNH is the cor-
rect acronym for the Florida Museum of Natural History, the

recognized institutional code for this collection is incorrectly
stated and should be UF (University of Florida).

On a positive note, the use of updated molecular tech-
niques and changing philosophical points of view (i.e., evolving
species concepts) may well lead to a number of unique turtle
populations being recognized as full species in the near future.
Unfortunately, a well-documented threat common to many
species of turtles is their ongoing exploitation by humans for
merchandise or food, not to mention the accidental toll of auto-
mobiles. A number of photographs (e.g., Figs. 2–7, 2–8, 5–16,
7–7, 20–11, 23–13, 23–14, 24–10, 25–8, 25–9) are particularly
appalling. Concluding the book with the poem “Dead Turtle”
is particularly appropriate. As the “summer sun tanned him to
leather,” this volume clearly demonstrates how humans have
affected our beloved turtles.

The majority of illustrations, figures, maps, and photo-
graphs throughout this book are of high quality. Although
including the number of records (i.e., sample size) in the figure
heading of the geographic distribution for each species would
have been beneficial, the amount of time and effort it took to
compile these data using GIS is obvious. Despite these few crit-
icisms, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in
North American turtles. It was written (and edited) in a style

Conserving Florida’s Turtles

B O O K  R E V I E W S

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Wild Trees in the Cayman Islands. 2nd ed. 2007. By Fred Burton,
illustrated by Penny Clifford. International Reptile Conservation
Foundation (IRCF), San Jose, California, on behalf of the
National Trust for the Cayman Islands. 240 pp. Softcover –
ISBN 987-1-4276-2168-9 – $ 20. Copies may be ordered from
the National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.ky) or from the IRCF
(www.IRCF.org).

I once defined biology as the study of animals and their food,
when an acquaintance, who happened to be a botanist, cor-
rected me by saying that biology was really the study of plants
and their parasites. Regardless of whose definition you favor, the
reality is that all life forms on earth are inextricably intertwined,
which explains in a round-about fashion how the International
Reptile Conservation Foundation (IRCF) came to publish a
book about trees. In fact, the Foundation’s statement of purpose
says that the organization works both for the conservation of
reptiles and the natural habitats and ecosystems on which they
rely. So, a book about trees, especially “wild” trees is not such a
bizarre concept, particularly when one considers that the book
also is about the Cayman Islands, home of the Grand Cayman
Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi), the conservation of which the IRCF
has supported from the organization’s inception. In fact, all pro-
ceeds from the book are earmarked for the Blue Iguana Recovery
Programme.

The most obvious purpose of a book about the trees of the
Cayman Islands is to help the reader identify the myriad differ-
ent species found on the three islands that comprise the nation.
How well does it work? I’m not sure, but am inclined to think
it does quite well. Unfortunately, I could not put it to a real test,
since I haven’t had the good fortune to visit the islands in sev-
eral years. However, using photographs of trees and leaves and
some material gleaned from herbaria that contained Caribbean
species, the keys worked reasonably well, even for a biologist
more inclined toward animals than their food. The only prob-
lems I encountered involved specimens from other West Indian
islands, which might well have represented different varieties
than those found in the Caymans (common, cosmopolitan

species were easily and accurately identified). Regardless of my
success, the choices were obvious, the language clear (even to one
not entirely familiar with botanical jargon), and the options pro-
vided at each step generally corrected mistakes before venturing
too far along the wrong path. The individual descriptions were

Plants and the 
Animals that Eat Them

suitable for either amateurs or professional herpetologists, and
the price is eminently affordable.

Kenneth L. Krysko
Florida Museum of Natural History, Division of Herpetology

University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Contributors
Matthew J. Aresco, Ray E. Ashton, Jr., William J. Barichivich,
Joan E. Berish, Michael Bresette, Kurt A. Buhlmann, Joseph A.

Butler, C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr., Michael A. Ewert, Terence M.
Farrell, J. Whitfield Gibbons, Margaret S. Gunzburger, George
L. Heinrich, Richard Herren, John B. Iverson, Dale R. Jackson,
Kevin P. Jansen, Chris Johnson, Peter G. May, Earl D. McCoy,
Brian K. Mealey, Walter E. Meshaka, Jr., Anne Meylan, Peter A.
Meylan, Paul E. Moler, Henry R. Mushinsky, Larry H. Ogren,
Peter C. H. Pritchard, Anthony Redlow, Anders G. J. Rhodin,
Jeffrey R. Schmid, Richard A. Seigel, Robert M. Shealy, Kelly
Stewart, R. Brent Thomas, George E. Wallace, Dawn S. Wilson,
Blair Witherington, Robert T. Zappalorti.

194 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 14, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2007 BOOK REVIEWS

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