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A natural history of amphibians
BOOK
REVIEWS
not always easy to distinguish between the hypotheses (1) that the lineage represents a recent arrival in Hawaii, or (2) that ancestors on older islands went extinct long ago. Other problems of analysis result from human disturbance; for example, species that occupy low altitude dry forests are very rare today, and many are probably extinct, because the Polynesians cleared these habitats. Some of the unexplained morphology of modern plants can be explained by considering extinct bird species; prickly juvenile leaves on some Cyanea species may have evolved as a defense against large terrestrial browsing birds, of which at least eight species are known from subfossils, and the long corollas of the flowers of some lobelioids may be an adaptation to avian pollinators that are either extinct or endangered. The chapters are consistent in their structure. The authors explain their methods, provide cladograms and develop area cladograms. Each author has examined a phylogeny based on morphology or DNA, and used the phylogeny to address questions about the pattern of speciation. The graphics are of uniformly high quality, and every chapter has an appendix with the data matrices. I hope that this book stimulates the de velopment of similar books that synthesize biological studies of other archipelagoes (perhaps the Galapagos or the Antilles). The motto of the state of Hawaii is ‘The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness’; this book provides a fine overview of the evolution of that life and its relationship to the geological history of the islands. Christine R.B. Boake Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1610, USA
Amphibian diversity A Natural History of Amphibians by R. C Stebbins and N. W. Cohen Princeton University Press, 1995. $29.95/f19.95 hbk (xvi + 316 pages) ISBN 0 691 03281 5
e cannot
fully appreciate an animal without an intimate knowledge of its behavior, life cycle, morphology and physiology. Perhaps, more importantly, in these days of drastic species losses, we must learn about the habits of animals so that we can manage and preserve them. We must know how they mate, how they respire, how they locomote, their means of defense, how they
W
266
0
1996, Elsevier Science Ltd
obtain food, their interactions with other organisms, and their population dynamics. That is, we must understand their natural history. Yet, with the surging breakthroughs in molecular biology, the value and beauty of whole organisms have often been overlooked. A NaturalHistoryofAmphibians is timely indeed because many amphibian populations, like those of other species, are in jeopardy. This fine book helps us to appreciate amphibians more fully, and provides vital scientific information that may help us to protect them. Indeed, it may serve as a springboard for a resurgence in recognizing the value of studying whole organisms. The authors convey their obvious appre ciation for the marvellous diversity of the more than 4500 species that comprise the Class Amphibia (frogs and toads, salamanders and caecilians). They provide a wealth of information on various forms of amphib ian behavior, morphology, physiology and ecology. There are entire chapters on the skin, tail, limbs and breathing of amphibians. Several chapters cover amphibian senses, and others are devoted to reproduction, ecology and behavior. There is a chapter on contributions of amphibians to human welfare, and one devoted to the question of declining amphibian populations. As 1 read this book, I got the sense that among the vertebrates, amphibian life history diversity may be second to none. For example, with regard to mating and parental care, one can read about how amphibians use chemical, visual and vocal signals to attract and court mates. There are salamanders that tend their eggs, frogs that brood their offspring in their stomach, carry them on their backs, transport their tadpoles to bromeliads, and a species that herds its tadpoles. At least one frog even appears to feed eggs to its larvae. The book is easy to read while simultaneously providing the reader with ample amounts of scientific data. For example, the chapter on home range and movements reviews the dispersal characteristics and spatial dynamics of amphibians; here, the authors provide quantitative home range data, showing, for example, that many salamanders generally do not move very far. These facts could be especially important for the management of threatened species. This book has several other useful features. For example, there is a large bibliog raphy with numerous references to papers written in the 1990s. Throughout the book, the authors give the geographic distribution in parentheses after the species name. There are many illustrations, mostly drawn by Stebbins in the style that made his field guides so popular and useful. Unfortunately, much of the marvellous amphibian diversity portrayed in the book may be in jeopardy. Amphibians are at center stage in the ‘biodiversity crisis’ as they
have been the subject of numerous recent research and press reports about their declining numbers. The last chapter of the book is devoted to that subject. It will undoubtedly be the most controversial chapter because the authors use almost every conceivable source to present numerous examples of declines and their possible causes. These sources include personal communications, anecdotes, information from unrefereed papers, data from highly respected scientific journals, and speculations. As the authors infer, with so many reports about declining amphibians, this chapter seems to have taken on a life of its own. 1 applaud their efforts, because if one wants to learn about declining amphibians, this chapter is a good place to start. It provides one of the most complete reviews of the problem. Readers are given a great deal of information that they can sift through to evaluate the issue. But they are also presented with the important caveat that ‘Caution is called for in reaching conclusions concerning amphibian declines...‘. 1highly recommend this book to anyone interested in vertebrate biology, behavior and ecology. It is a must for those who are interested in amphibians. This book is appropriate for professionals and for a general audience. It is a wonderful companion to the field guides written and illustrated by Robert Stebbins. Although amphibians are but one piece of the biodiversity crisis, this book may become a model for those who champion the preservation of threatened species of all kinds. Andrew R. Blaustein Dept of Zoology, 3029 Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2914. USA
Lamarck rehabilitated? Epigenetic Inheritance and Evolution by Eva Jablonka and Marion J Lamb Oxford University Press, 1995. f29.50 hbk (x + 346 pages) ISBN 0 19 854062 0 here are two theories of evolution: that it is directed by variation, and that it is directed by selection. During the 20th century, the selectionist view has been almost universally accepted, mainly because the possibility of lamarckian inheritance has grown more and more remote with advances in the understanding of genetic mechanisms. In the context of the new book by Jablonka and Lamb, however, the operative word is ‘almost’. The
T
TREE vol.
II,
no.
6 June
1996
REVIEWS
not always easy to distinguish between the hypotheses (1) that the lineage represents a recent arrival in Hawaii, or (2) that ancestors on older islands went extinct long ago. Other problems of analysis result from human disturbance; for example, species that occupy low altitude dry forests are very rare today, and many are probably extinct, because the Polynesians cleared these habitats. Some of the unexplained morphology of modern plants can be explained by considering extinct bird species; prickly juvenile leaves on some Cyanea species may have evolved as a defense against large terrestrial browsing birds, of which at least eight species are known from subfossils, and the long corollas of the flowers of some lobelioids may be an adaptation to avian pollinators that are either extinct or endangered. The chapters are consistent in their structure. The authors explain their methods, provide cladograms and develop area cladograms. Each author has examined a phylogeny based on morphology or DNA, and used the phylogeny to address questions about the pattern of speciation. The graphics are of uniformly high quality, and every chapter has an appendix with the data matrices. I hope that this book stimulates the de velopment of similar books that synthesize biological studies of other archipelagoes (perhaps the Galapagos or the Antilles). The motto of the state of Hawaii is ‘The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness’; this book provides a fine overview of the evolution of that life and its relationship to the geological history of the islands. Christine R.B. Boake Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1610, USA
Amphibian diversity A Natural History of Amphibians by R. C Stebbins and N. W. Cohen Princeton University Press, 1995. $29.95/f19.95 hbk (xvi + 316 pages) ISBN 0 691 03281 5
e cannot
fully appreciate an animal without an intimate knowledge of its behavior, life cycle, morphology and physiology. Perhaps, more importantly, in these days of drastic species losses, we must learn about the habits of animals so that we can manage and preserve them. We must know how they mate, how they respire, how they locomote, their means of defense, how they
W
266
0
1996, Elsevier Science Ltd
obtain food, their interactions with other organisms, and their population dynamics. That is, we must understand their natural history. Yet, with the surging breakthroughs in molecular biology, the value and beauty of whole organisms have often been overlooked. A NaturalHistoryofAmphibians is timely indeed because many amphibian populations, like those of other species, are in jeopardy. This fine book helps us to appreciate amphibians more fully, and provides vital scientific information that may help us to protect them. Indeed, it may serve as a springboard for a resurgence in recognizing the value of studying whole organisms. The authors convey their obvious appre ciation for the marvellous diversity of the more than 4500 species that comprise the Class Amphibia (frogs and toads, salamanders and caecilians). They provide a wealth of information on various forms of amphib ian behavior, morphology, physiology and ecology. There are entire chapters on the skin, tail, limbs and breathing of amphibians. Several chapters cover amphibian senses, and others are devoted to reproduction, ecology and behavior. There is a chapter on contributions of amphibians to human welfare, and one devoted to the question of declining amphibian populations. As 1 read this book, I got the sense that among the vertebrates, amphibian life history diversity may be second to none. For example, with regard to mating and parental care, one can read about how amphibians use chemical, visual and vocal signals to attract and court mates. There are salamanders that tend their eggs, frogs that brood their offspring in their stomach, carry them on their backs, transport their tadpoles to bromeliads, and a species that herds its tadpoles. At least one frog even appears to feed eggs to its larvae. The book is easy to read while simultaneously providing the reader with ample amounts of scientific data. For example, the chapter on home range and movements reviews the dispersal characteristics and spatial dynamics of amphibians; here, the authors provide quantitative home range data, showing, for example, that many salamanders generally do not move very far. These facts could be especially important for the management of threatened species. This book has several other useful features. For example, there is a large bibliog raphy with numerous references to papers written in the 1990s. Throughout the book, the authors give the geographic distribution in parentheses after the species name. There are many illustrations, mostly drawn by Stebbins in the style that made his field guides so popular and useful. Unfortunately, much of the marvellous amphibian diversity portrayed in the book may be in jeopardy. Amphibians are at center stage in the ‘biodiversity crisis’ as they
have been the subject of numerous recent research and press reports about their declining numbers. The last chapter of the book is devoted to that subject. It will undoubtedly be the most controversial chapter because the authors use almost every conceivable source to present numerous examples of declines and their possible causes. These sources include personal communications, anecdotes, information from unrefereed papers, data from highly respected scientific journals, and speculations. As the authors infer, with so many reports about declining amphibians, this chapter seems to have taken on a life of its own. 1 applaud their efforts, because if one wants to learn about declining amphibians, this chapter is a good place to start. It provides one of the most complete reviews of the problem. Readers are given a great deal of information that they can sift through to evaluate the issue. But they are also presented with the important caveat that ‘Caution is called for in reaching conclusions concerning amphibian declines...‘. 1highly recommend this book to anyone interested in vertebrate biology, behavior and ecology. It is a must for those who are interested in amphibians. This book is appropriate for professionals and for a general audience. It is a wonderful companion to the field guides written and illustrated by Robert Stebbins. Although amphibians are but one piece of the biodiversity crisis, this book may become a model for those who champion the preservation of threatened species of all kinds. Andrew R. Blaustein Dept of Zoology, 3029 Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2914. USA
Lamarck rehabilitated? Epigenetic Inheritance and Evolution by Eva Jablonka and Marion J Lamb Oxford University Press, 1995. f29.50 hbk (x + 346 pages) ISBN 0 19 854062 0 here are two theories of evolution: that it is directed by variation, and that it is directed by selection. During the 20th century, the selectionist view has been almost universally accepted, mainly because the possibility of lamarckian inheritance has grown more and more remote with advances in the understanding of genetic mechanisms. In the context of the new book by Jablonka and Lamb, however, the operative word is ‘almost’. The
T
TREE vol.
II,
no.
6 June
1996