Biology and Evolution of Crocodylians

Description

A comprehensive review of current knowledge about the world's largest and most famous living reptiles. Gordon Grigg's authoritative and accessible text and David Kirshner's stunning interpretive artwork and colour photographs combine expertly in this contemporary celebration of crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials. This book showcases the skills and capabilities that allow crocodylians to live how and where they do. It covers the biology and ecology of the extant species, conservation issues, crocodylianhuman interaction and the evolutionary history of the group, and includes a vast amount of new information; 25 per cent of 1100 cited publications have appeared since 2007. Richly illustrated with more than 500 colour photographs and black and white illustrations, this book will be a benchmark reference work for crocodylian biologists, herpetologists and vertebrate biologists for years to come.

Gordon Grigg enjoyed a career as an academic zoologist who managed to spend a lot of time working in the field. After education in Queensland, Australia and at the University of Oregon, USA he had 20 years at the University of Sydney, Australia and then 20 years at the University of Queensland, Australia where he is now an Emeritus Professor. His primary research interests are in vertebrate zoology, particularly the thermal, respiratory, cardiovascular and salt and water balance physiology and ecology of reptiles and, through work on echidnas, the evolution of endothermy. He has authored or co-authored nearly 200 peer-reviewed publications of which more than a quarter are on crocodylians. David Kirshner developed a fascination with crocodylians at a very young age, despite growing up in Canada. Consequently, after completing an honours degree in zoology he undertook a PhD on crocodylian buoyancy control in Australia, where he still resides. He later combined his interest in zoology with a passion for drawing, painting and photographing wildlife, working as a wildlife illustrator for several years before settling into his current career in zoo and aquarium interpretation. He has illustrated several books on wildlife.