books: Reptiles In West Africa, FG to Reptiles of East Africa...

[DGray]

Just wondering if anyone has seen a copy of either of the following:

Reptiles In West Africa by George Cansdale

Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi by Stephen Spawls, et al

If you have, would you recommend them for the chameleon content?

 

[eisentrauti]

I just know the book by Spawls et all. It includes some pics of species which I have never seen before, but often not in very good quality and very small. The text itself isn't on a high level in my opinion, often it's just copy and past between the different chameleon species. The best part about chams is in my opinion the "habitat and distribution" text for every single species. The systematic is not up to date.
So if you find it for a good price you can buy it but if you are just interested in chameleons you will find some better ways to invest your money

 

[DGray]

thanks for that Benny; you always have a very insightful review.

Anyone else on West Africa?

 

[eisentrauti]

I don't know if it's available in the States, but maybe this here:

de Witte, G.-F. (1965)
Les chameleons de l'Afrique centrale
Ann. Mus. R. Afr. centr., Sci. zool., Tervuren, 142: 1-215

is interesting. There's also a book about the herpetofauna of Cameroon published but in my opinion it has the same negative points like the book about the east african reptiles. Only if you have too much money it's not a bad investion or if you have concrete plans to visit Cameroon

 

[DGray]

Thanks again

Thanks again. I could not find an American bookstore offering this book, but while looking, I did find this on the Infrared Reflectance in Chameleons (Chamaeleonidae) from Kenya, by C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr. © 1981

No plans yet to trek to Cameroon, but I will make it there and to Equitorial Guinea on one trip one day. I'll look for the Cameroon book on-line.