Amphibians of Canada

Nora T. Corley is a librarian in Ottawa.

Canada’s amphibians are more varied than most people would think. Lurking in ponds, streams, deep woodlands, cool mosses, and other moist places are a great assortment of salamanders, toads, and frogs. This informative book deals with most species of each family. To discuss them all would make the book cumbersome and repetitious. The book opens with a discussion of the origins of amphibians, which started evolving 350 million years ago and were the first animals with a backbone to appear on land. Frogs, toads, and salamanders have their place in myth and legend, and several stories about them are included. A discussion of the physical characteristics and adaptations of amphibians follows, including a discussion of their intelligence, determination of sex, courtship, mating and reproduction, regeneration, freaks, and cloning. Following a description of the classification of these creatures is a detailed account of ten salamanders (including mudpuppies and two newts), four toads, and eight frogs, For each, full information is given as to size, physical makeup and description, habits and habitat, and range, as well as a black-and-white picture. The book ends with a chapter on amphibians as pets, another on their conservation in the wild, and a list of 25 references. There are full-colour pictures of 19 of the amphibians discussed. This informative guide, written in a clear style, and not without humour, is a must for anyone wanting to study amphibians in the field. This is a companion volume to the author’s The Snakes of Canada and The Turtles of Canada.