The Amphibians and Reptiles of Alberta: A Field Guide and Primer of Boreal Herpetology. 2nd ed.

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

This is the second edition of Russell and Bauer’s scholarly work.
Although they describe the seven years between the two editions as
“dynamic,” they are speaking in relative academic terms. They
document a lot of activity in taxonomy, research, and publication, but
in terms of the content of the book, not much has changed. There are no
new species of reptiles or amphibians in the province.

While the word “boreal” (which appears in the subtitle) is
generally understood to refer to the forested areas from Central Alberta
north, this book covers amphibians and reptiles in all of Alberta. There
are 18 species that live in the province, so the authors are able to
deal with them and their natural history in some detail. There are
detailed descriptions of each animal, accompanied by black-and-white
illustrations and photographs and a few color illustrations. Detailed
provincial range maps will be useful to anyone wanting to know where to
go for the best chance of spotting the animals. The extensive
bibliography, which has increased by two-thirds since the first edition,
will be of particular value to undergraduates beginning research in this
area.

The volume is both a field guide and a natural history. For people
using this book primarily for species identification, the first edition
is probably adequate. However, herpetological researchers and research
libraries supporting natural history collections will want to purchase
the updated edition.