Cusco Amazónico: The Lives of Amphibians and Reptiles in an Amazonian Rainforest

"Assays of assemblages of amphibians and reptiles provide important information on community structure in the tropics. These ectothermic organisms are highly responsive to slight differences in the environment and to seasonal differences, such as patterns of rainfall. Most species seem to have rather restricted home ranges; therefore, data gathered in a restricted area provide much better insight into the requirements of, and potential interactions among, the species in the assemblage."—from the IntroductionThe rainforests in the southwestern part of the Amazon Basin in southeastern Peru are home to scores of amphibians and reptiles. Cusco Amazónico is a richly illustrated and comprehensive account of the lives of 151 of these species. William E. Duellman's masterpiece of community ecology includes descriptions of the physical environment and vegetation found in this unique habitat along with syntheses of abundance, mass, feeding, reproductive guilds, and daily and seasonal patterns of activity. Identification keys in English and Spanish precede detailed and illustrated species accounts. Tadpoles of many frogs are described and illustrated.Cusco Amazónico will become a standard reference for herpetologists, tropical biologists, biogeographers, ecologists, and conservationists and stands on its own as a portrait of an animal community in a unique bioregion. The illustrations include 236 color photographs, 121 charts and graphs, 16 maps, 42 line drawings, 2 halftones, and 56 sets of audiospectrograms and waveforms. There are 71 tables.

About the Author :
William E. Duellman is Curator Emeritus, Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, and Professor Emeritus, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of many books, including Hylid Frogs of Middle America, Biology of Amphibians, Patterns of Distribution of Amphibians: A Global Perspective, and The South American Herpetofauna: Its Origin, Evolution, and Dispersal.

Review :
"Duellman describes genera and species, providing excellent species photographs, sonograms of frog and toad calls, and growth data, as well as taxonomic keys in both English and Spanish. This will be a useful source both for herpetologists and students of tropical rain forests. Recommended."-Choice, September 2005 "A crowning achievement and a lasting record of a unique but threatened ecosystem."-Southeastern Naturalist, Vol. 5, No. 3 "Cusco Amazonico provides a description of the vegetation and physical environment and explains the particulars of all the amphibian and reptile species found at the site. This book has been hailed far and wide as the definitive book for the future study of Amazonian amphibians and reptiles. It has 236 color photos, 121 charts and graphs, 16 maps sonograms of frog and toad calls, and taxonomic keys in both English and Spanish-all the makings of a true standard reference. Cusco Amazonico has an impressive amount of information and will become a must-have resource for every student of the tropical rainforests."-Biology Digest, April 2006 "A work as thorough as Cusco Amazonico: The Lives of Amphibians and Reptiles in an Amazonian Rainforest does not come along often. This book represents a truly impressive amount of experience and data that can be acquired only by many years of dedication. William E. Duellman has studied the herpetofauna of this region for more than three decades, and no one has a more intimate understanding of this fauna. His book will undoubtedly become an instant classic and required reading for anyone interested in the biology of these fascinating creatures."-Jonathan A. Campbell, Professor and Chair, Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington "Cusco Amazonico will be the baseline against which all future studies of Amazonian amphibians and reptiles (and even other organisms) will be compared. No one is more qualified to create such a standard than William E. Duellman, whose contributions to neotropical herpetology are legendary."-Kraig Adler, Cornell University