The Royal Ontario Museum Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Ontario, by Ross MacCulloch [Review]

Ontario, with more than half of the over 90 species (native and introduced) of amphibians and reptiles recorded in Canada, was the first province to have its own guides to its amphibians (1937, Royal Ontario Museum Handbook 3) and reptiles (1939, Royal Ontario Museum Handbook 4).The author of these, E. B. S. Logier, artist and herpetologist at the ROM from 1915 to 1961, followed with books on amphibians of eastern Canada (1952, Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited) and snakes of Ontario (1958, University of Toronto Press).Since, there have been popular booklets on Ontario snakes and turtles in 1967 by Barbara Froom published by the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests (now Ministry of Natural Resources) and in 1989 a book, Familiar Amphibians and Reptiles of Ontario by Bob Johnson of the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo published by Natural Heritage/National Heritage Inc., Toronto.Detailed spot distribution maps for the province have been underway as the Ontario Herpetofaunal Summary (1986, 1988, 1989) edited by Michael J. Oldham and others, and now updated on a web site sponsored by the Natural Heritage Information Centre of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources www.mnr.gov.on.ca/NMR/nhic/herps/ohs.html.Now comes a notching up in the standards of presentation by several orders of magnitude.The ROM Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Ontario is a blaze of colour photographs offset with brief and usefully structured information, truly a field-naturalist's book.What it lacks in detailed character or ecological discussions prevalent in earlier Ontario guides, it offsets by providing ease of identification through colour photographs and pruned accounts most useful for field use.The experience of the author is evident throughout.MacCulloch, now an assistant curator, has been active in herpetology at the Royal Ontario Museum since 1982 with research projects both in Ontario and abroad, and, previous to that, has conducted field studies in Quebec with Roger Bider of Macdonald College, McGill University, and obtained a M.Sc. on the Western Painted Turtle in Saskatchewan with Diane Secoy, University of Regina.The organization and layout of the book are appealing.A brief Introduction sets amphibians and reptiles in context in natural systems.Characteristics covered are general features of reproduction, metamorphosis, skin, diet, and metabolism for amphibians and reproduction, eggs, skin, diet, and metabolism for reptiles.Treated next are The Challenge of Climate (winter, hibernacula, spring, summer and autumn); Observing Amphibians (oddly Cook, Francis R. 2002."The Royal Ontario Museum Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Ontario, by Ross MacCulloch [Review]."The

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