Turtles of the World

Bonin, Devaux, and Dupre's book takes on a big challenge in cataloguing world turtle diversity and will serve well as an impressive addition.The introduction is 9 pages and concise. Phylogenetic history, a couple of ancestral species, anatomy, senses, metabolism, behavior, and threats are summarized in prose oscillating between introductory and expert. The rest of the book is comprised of species accounts.Pictures in this book are better used for fun than identification. The picture of savannah sidenecks (Podocnemis vogli) is awesome. Quite a few species are not pictured and subspecies/ regional variations are not visually comparable. There is not consistency in shot angles for practical comparison between species. Some species are pictured only as hatchlings, some are depicted only by a close zoom on the head, and at least two species appear to have their photographs switched. Picture captions don't include species' names, which may cause confusion. This book's visuals could be aided by Vetter's pictorial "Turtles of the World" multi-volume Terralog series.Range maps are blobbed in. The map outlines are crude, and range outlines do not respect watersheds or other important distributional boundaries. A general idea of where species occur can be drawn.Species' Description's are good, although no dichotomous keys are provided. The Natural History section for many species is shorter than current information necessitates, while for some (especially some tortoise species and the marine turtles) this section is disproportionately long. Details on reproduction (laying season, egg size, etc.) are given for some species, but absent from many for which information is available. The Protection section is very inconsistent between species. For some, IUCN and CITES information is included, while for others, it's left out. National protection status is discussed for turtles of France and French Guyana, but absent for virtually every other nation's turtle fauna.There are virtually no citations throughout the book even though it's written in relatively diagnostic lingo. The bibliography is very short (page and a half) for the amount of information included, and information from the authors' experiences should have been noted where appropriate.The French-to-English translation must be well done, because the book reads very cleanly, especially for a semi-technical reference. The book's construct is just like a textbook; cover, paper and print should survive many years of steady use.This reference is not a replacement for the previous "Turtles of the World" by Ernst and Barbour (1989) or "Encyclopedia of Turtles" by Pritchard (1979), but it will serve well in the possession of anyone with an interest in turtle diversity. It may well do a stronger job than both previous works in sparking interest from future turtle enthusiasts through its more accessible nature.

This book is, by far, the best turtle & tortoise book I have ever seen.I has lots of pictures, maps explaining exactly where does this turtles live, how they live and billions of useful information.It is so well and easy written that anyone can read it and be amazed by it. And by anyone I mean a 5 year old or a 50 year old Tortoise expert with a PhD in aquatic reptiles.If you like turtles like a hobby, or if you are a Collage teacher with a Masters in Turtlelogy or something like that... YOU MUST OWN THIS BOOK.

This book was very informative about almost every aspect concerning turtles of the world but ironically it passed over a simple detail such as sizes of the turtles. This book was the main reference material in a large academic project.

I'm trying to collect the whole series, as these are very well done.

OK.

I am so happy with my purchase. The book came just as described and has more information than I thought it would.

A must-have for any herpetologist. Provides useful concise information on every species of turtle out there. My only regret is that I didn't buy this book sooner.

Perfect!

A well written book with good illustrations. Ideal for the hobbyist or anyone interested in turtles. This book is well worth the money for anyone keeping turtles.

a well written book, very clear and laid out well and has all you need to know about turtles ! very useful for my masters thesis

Great book for lovers of turtles

詳しい記述が多いが、シノニムとして抹消されている種や亜種の記述が多く初心者には勧められない書。