Several years ago Roger Downie, at the University of Glasgow, started talking to me about a new book on Trinidad and Tobago herps. In 2010 we had a meeting with people interested in working on the project. After that the project was stalled because I was side tracked by other projects. Now, I have returned to look at designing an outline for a new herpetology volume that focuses on the islands' environments, biogeography, and how they relate to the herpetofauna. Preliminary field work was done in 2010 and 2011, and plans are being made for additional field work in the summer of 2012. We are only getting started at this time, but the book will have multiple authors and contributors from at least four different countries. Much of the nomenclature has changed since the 1997 book was published (and is available on this web site), recent ecological and systematic work as been done, new species have been added to the islands' fauna and there are more taxa to be discovered and described. We are also working on collecting new photographs of animals and habitats. Note that the cover above is for illustration purposes only.
We need patrons for this project. Funding for additional field work would help move things along. But more importantly money to underwrite the final cost of the book would allow us to keep the price low on the final volume, allow us to include more color plates, and make the book more readily available to a wider audience. If you are interested in helping send me an email at
serpentresearch@gmail.com JCM
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