Snakes of Italy, 2015
Herpetological Treatise on the Biology and Iconography of Italian Ophidians
SpringerBriefs in Animal Sciences Series

This book offers a comprehensive review of the biology of snakes, focusing on Italian species. The snakes of Italy belong to the two families Colubridae and Viperidae, and for each species the systematic classification and chorology including distribution maps are presented. Furthermore, readers will learn how to carry out field studies, how to handle snakes and how to photograph them. The book concludes with a chapter on the iconography of historical Italian snakes and their importance in popular science, and one on myths and legends. This SpringerBriefs volume will appeal to herpetologists and technical staff. The section on iconography may also be of interest to museum staff.

1 Introduction

1.1 Italy's Landscape and Territory

2 Reptiles

3 Biology and Origin of Snakes

3.1 Skeleton

3.2 Locomotion

3.3 Physiology

3.4 Reproduction

3.5 Sense Organs

3.6 Skin

3.7 Ecology

4 The Venom

5 Feeding

6 Conservation and Protection

6.1 Status of Snakes belonging to Italian fauna and conservation problems

7 Field Studies

7.1 How to study snakes

8 How to Handle Snakes

9 How to Photograph Snakes

10 Determination

11 Information Sheets

11.1 Colubridae Family

11.1.1 Coronella austriaca (Laurenti, 1768)

11.1.2  Coronella girondica (Daudin, 1803)

11.1.3 Elaphe quatuorlineata (Lacépède, 1789)

11.1.4 Hemorrhois hippocrepis (Linnaeus, 1758)

11.1.5 Hierophis viridiflavus (Lacépède, 1789)

11.1.6 Macroprotodon cucullatus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilarie in Savigny, 1827)

11.1.7 Malpolon malpolon monspessulanus (Hermann, 1804) and Malpolon malpolon insignitus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1827)

11.1.8 Natrix maura (Linnaeus, 1758)

11.1.9 Natrix natrix natrix (Linnaeus, 1758), Natrix natrix cetti (Gené, 1839) and Natrix natrix helvetica (Lecépède, 1768)

11.1.10 Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768)

11.1.11 Telescopus fallax (Fleischmann, 1831)

11.1.12 Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768)

11.1.13 Zamenis lineatus (Camerano, 1891)

11.2 Viperidae Family

11.2.1 Vipera ammodytes (Linnaeus, 1758)

11.2.2 Vipera aspis aspis (Linnaeus,1758), Vipera aspis francisciredi (Laurenti, 1768) and Vipera aspis hugyi (Schinz, 1834)

11.2.3 Vipera berus (Linnaeus, 1758)

11.2.4 Vipera ursinii (Bonaparte, 1835)

12 The Habitat of Italian Snakes

13 Iconography of Italian Snakes

13.1 Drawing Snakes

14 Myths and Legends About Italian Snakes

Provides an accessible and succinct overview

Numerous color illustrations to help readers identify snakes

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras