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Reptiles of Costa Rica, the long-awaited companion to Amphibians of Costa Rica, is the first ever comprehensive field guide to the crocodilians, turtles, lizards, and snakes of Costa Rica. A popular destination for tourists and biologists because of its biodiversity, the country is particularly rich in reptile fauna, boasting 245 species. The sheer diversity in shapes, sizes, colors, and natural history traits of these animals is beautifully displayed in this book. Lizards range from minuscule dwarf geckos to dinosaur-like iguanids, and everything in between, while the country's snakes include tiny eyeless wormsnakes, massive boas, as well as twenty-three dangerously venomous species, which include the largest vipers in the world. Author, photographer, and conservation biologist Twan Leenders has been researching and documenting the herpetofauna of Costa Rica for nearly twenty-five years. His explorations have taken him to remote parts of Costa Rica that few people ever visit, journeys that usually find him hauling an array of photographic equipment to document his finds. In addition to including more than 1,000 photographs, detailed black and white scientific illustrations, and range maps, this book also features paintings of anole dewlaps, a key identification feature for that very complex group of lizards. This new field guide will enable the reader to identify all species, while also providing a wealth of information about natural history, predation, breeding strategies, habitat preferences, and conservation of Costa Rica's reptile fauna.
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• Foreword by Edward O. Wilson Acknowledgments Introduction
• 1. What is This?
• 2. Is It Dangerous?
• 3. Horns, Spines, and Claws
• 4. Masters of Deception
• 5. Warning Signs
• 6. Sounds of the Forest
• 7. Living Together
• 8. Moths and Butterflies Photo Credits Index About the Author.
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Encounter some of the most beautiful creatures in Costa Rica in Piotr Naskrecki's Hidden Kingdom. This book is a visual journey into the world of the insects and their relatives that dominate all terrestrial habitats in Costa Rica through their sheer numbers, biomass, and the ecological functions they perform. Naskrecki's stunning photographs serve as both a tool to help identify the insects that a visitor to Costa Rica is likely to encounter, and as an illustration of their diverse behaviors and ecological roles. Through high-impact imagery and engaging narrative about insects and their evolutionary history, this book, an ideal companion on a visit to Costa Rica, reinforces or awakens in the readers their innate curiosity about the less appreciated elements of life on Earth. Each section of the book presents fascinating and useful facts about Costa Rica's insects. Naskrecki's photographs show the variety of morphological adaptations, survival strategies, and interlocking roles that insects play in tropical ecosystems.
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"Field guide to all 206 species of amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, caecilians) known to occur in Costa Rica or within walking distance of its borders. Includes photographs, range maps, morphological illustrations, descriptions of key field characteristics, and natural history information"-- Provided by publisher.

• Foreword / Thomas E. Lovejoy
• Presentation / Rodrigo Gámez Lobo
• Preface / Maarten Kappelle
• Part I. Introduction. Costa Rica's ecosystems : setting the stage / Maarten Kappelle
• Part II. The physical environment. Climate of Costa Rica / Wilberth Herrera ; Geology, tectonics, and geomorphology of Costa Rica : a natural history approach / Guillermo E. Alvarado and Guaria Cárdenes
• Soils of Costa Rica : an agroecological approach / Alfredo Alvarado and Rafael Mata
• Part III. The Pacific Ocean and Isla del Coco. The Pacific coastal and marine ecosystems / Jorge Cortés
• The Gulf of Nicoya estuarine ecosystem / José A. Vargas
• Isla del Coco : coastal and marine ecosystems / Jorge Cortés
• Isla del Coco : terrestrial ecosystems / Michel Montoya
• Part IV. The Northern Pacific dry lowlands. The Northern Pacific lowland seasonal dry forests of Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula / Quírico Jiménez M., Eduardo Carrillo J., and Maarten Kappelle
• Biodiversity conservation history and future in Costa Rica: the case of Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) / Daniel H. Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs
• Part V. The Central and Southern Pacific seasonally moist lowlands and Central Valley. The Central Pacific seasonal forests of Puntarenas and the Central Valley / Quírico Jiménez M. and Eduardo Carrillo J.
• The Southern Pacific lowland evergreen moist forest of the Osa Region / Lawrence E. Gilbert, Catherine A. Christen, Mariana Altrichter, John T. Longino, Peter M. Sherman, Rob Plowes, Monica B. Swartz, Kirk O. Winemiller, Jennifer A. Weghorst, Andres Vega, Pamela Phillips, Christopher Vaughan, and Maarten Kappelle
• Part VI. The moist and clouded highlands. The montane cloud forests of the volcanic Cordilleras / Robert O. Lawton, Marcy F. Lawton, R. Michael Lawton, and James D. Daniels
• The montane cloud forests of the Cordillera de Talamanca / Maarten Kappelle
• The Páramo ecosystem of Costa Rica's highlands / Maarten Kappelle and Sally P. Horn
• Part VII. The wet Caribbean lowlands. The Caribbean lowland evergreen moist and wet forests / Deedra McClearn, J. Pablo Arroyo-Mora, Enrique Castro, Ronald C. Coleman, Javier F. Espeleta, Carlos García-Robledo, Alex Gilman, José González, Armond T. Joyce, Erin Kuprewicz, John T. Longino, Nicole L. Michel, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Andrea Romero, Carlomagno Soto, Orlando Vargas, Amanda Wendt, Steven Whitfield, and Robert M. Timm.

• Part VIII. The Caribbean Sea and shore. The Caribbean coastal and marine ecosystems / Jorge Cortés
• Part IX. The rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Rivers of Costa Rica / Catherine M. Pringle, Elizabeth P. Anderson, Marcelo Ardón, Rebecca J. Bixby, Scott Connelly, John H. Duff, Alan P. Jackman, Pia Paaby, Alonso Ramírez, Gaston E. Small, Marcia N. Snyder, Carissa N. Ganong, and Frank J. Triska ; Lakes of Costa Rica / Sally P. Horn and Kurt A. Haberyan
• Bogs, marshes and swamps of Costa Rica / Jorge A. Jiménez
• Part X. Conclusion. Costa Rican ecosystems : a brief summary / Maarten Kappelle

In the more than thirty years since the publication of Daniel H. Janzen's classic Costa Rican Natural History, research in this small but astonishingly biodiverse, well-preserved, and well-studied Latin-American nation has evolved from a species-level approach to the study of entire ecosystems. And from the lowland dry forests of Guanacaste to the montane cloud forests of Monteverde, from the seasonal forests of the Central Valley to the coastal species assemblages of Tortuguero, Costa Rica has proven to be as richly diverse in ecosystems as it is in species. In Costa Rican Ecosystems, Maarten Kappelle brings together a collection of the world's foremost experts on Costa Rican ecology-outstanding scientists such as Daniel H. Janzen, Jorge Cortes, Jorge A. Jimenez, Sally P. Horn, R. O. Lawton, Quirico Jimenez M., Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Catherine M. Pringle, and Eduardo Carrillo J., among others-to offer the first comprehensive account of the diversity, structure, function, uses, and conservation of Costa Rica's ecosystems. Featuring a foreword and introductory remarks by two renowned leaders in biodiversity science and ecological conservation, Thomas E. Lovejoy and Rodrigo Gamez, chapters highlighting the geology, soils, and climate of Costa Rica, as well as the ecosystems of its terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats, and including previously unpublished information on Isla del Coco, this beautiful color-illustrated book will be an essential reference for academic scientists, students, natural history guides, conservationists, educators, park guards, and visitors alike.
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• Guanacaste
• Central Pacific
• Osa
• Arenal and Tenorio
• Central Highlands
• Southern Highlands
• Sarapiquí Lowlands
• Tortuguero
• Southern Caribbean
• Cocos Island.

"This book features photographs of, and information about, Costa Rica's network of national parks, which are designed to protect pieces of every type of ecosystem in the country"-- Provided by publisher.

• Anatomical features
• Glossary
• Species accounts and illustrations
• Tinamous
• Curassows, chachalacas, guans
• New world quail
• Sungrebe
• Grebes
• Ducks
• Cormorants
• Anhingas
• Pelicans
• Frigatebirds
• Boobies
• Gulls, terns, skimmers
• Sunbittern
• Herons, egrets, bitterns
• Ibises, spoonbills
• Storks
• Limpkin
• Thick-knees
• Plovers, lapwings
• Stilts, avocets
• Sandpipers, allies
• Jacanas
• Rails, crakes, gallinules
• New world vultures
• Osprey
• Hawks, kites, eagles
• Falcons, caracaras
• Owls
• Potoos
• Oilbird
• Nightjars, allies
• Swifts
• Swallows
• Hummingbirds
• Pigeons, doves
• Parrots
• Cuckoos
• Trogons
• Motmots
• Kingfishers
• Puffbirds
• Jacamars
• New world barbets
• Toucan-barbets
• Toucans
• Woodpeckers
• Ovenbirds, woodcreepers
• Typical antbirds
• Antpittas
• Antthrushes
• Tapaculos
• Tyrant flycatchers
• Tityras, becards, allies
• Manakins
• Cotingas
• Jays
• Thrushes, allies
• Dippers
• Mockingbirds
• Silky-flycatchers
• Gnatwrens, Gnatcatchers
• Wrens
• Vireos
• New World Warblers
• Tanagers, Seedeaters, Allies
• Finches, New World Sparrows, Allies
• Grosbeaks, Buntings, Allies
• Blackbirds, Orioles
• Euphonias and range maps of 365 species.

• Guanacaste: Life under the sun
• The Central Pacific: Nature's oasis
• The Osa Peninsula: Jungle
• The Central Divide: Into the clouds
• The North Caribbean: Living waters
• The South Caribbean: A secluded paradise
• Conservation and responsible tourism
• Acknowledgments
• The images in this book.

Adrian Hepworth's Costa Rica: A Journey through Nature takes readers on a spectacular photographic journey through one of the most biologically diverse countries on the planet. Above a trail, a puma stands majestically on a tree limb surveying the forest below; an iridescent blue butterfly flutters through the air; the jewel-like feathers of a resplendent quetzal sparkle in a cloud forest; a female sea snake and her newly born offspring struggle across a beach under a relentless sun; and early morning light reveals a turtle spraying clouds of sand over its nest.

This field guide at last provides an authoritative and handy source for identifying amphibians and reptiles of Costa Rica's renowned Atlantic lowland tropical forests. Colorful frogs, lizards that can run across water, snapping turtles, spotted geckos, boa constrictors, crocodiles, and many other fascinating yet secretive species of amphibians and reptiles flourish in the region's myriad microhabitats. The La Selva Biological Station, a protected reserve, boasts a rich biota, making it and the surrounding area one of the most visited tropical forest sites in the world. For travelers, ecotourists, and biologists, this comprehensive guide, written by two distinguished experts on the area's amphibians and reptiles, will be an essential resource while visiting La Selva and the surrounding tropical forests of Costa Rica. In addition to providing reliable field identification, it will help visitors to this area better understand the overall role of Central American amphibians and reptiles in the natural world as well as conservation efforts now being undertaken to ensure the survival of these intriguing creatures.
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This book describes all of Costa Rica's readily identifiable terrestrial and freshwater mammals, drawing on detailed information from hundreds of scientific publications. Stunning illustrations show not only the mammals themselves, but also their tracks, scats, dens, and anatomical details. It also includes illustrations of numerous other animals and plants with which the mammals have formed close ecological links. The descriptions include key identification features, range maps, vocalizations, derivations of common and scientific names, evolutionary history, local folklore and mythology, and extensive information about natural history and conservation. It also describes some of the fascinating challenges faced by researchers and points out numerous questions that remain unanswered.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface-- Acknowledgments-- Introduction Part I. Costa Rica's History of Conservation 1.A Legacy of Scientific Thought and Tropical Research-- 2.The Environmental Problem--
• 3. The Conservationist Response-- 4.The Development of National Parks and Other Protected Areas--
• 5. Conservation Continued: The Oduber Years-- 6.Conservation through Crisis: Carazo and the Economy--
• 7. Crisis Continued: The Monge Administration--
• 8. Restructuring and Decentralizing ConservationPart II. Building a Green Republic
• 9. Environmental Education: Framework for the Future--
• 10. The Nongovernmental Approach--
• 11. Oro Verde! Ecotourism for Economic Growth--
• 12. The National Biodiversity InstituteConclusion. "Picking Up the Gauntlet"
• Appendix 1. List of Acronyms--
• Appendix 2. The Presidents of the Republic of Costa Rica, 1928-1998--
• Appendix 3. The History of Controversy at Santa Rosa--A Besieged National Park--
• Appendix 4. Anonymous Poem Regarding the Palo Verde National Park Controversy, Summer 1981--
• Appendix 5. The National Conservation Strategy for Sustainable Development--
• Appendix 6. Indigenous Population of Costa Rica by Region and Group-- Notes-- Bibliography-- Index.
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A history of conservation in Costa Rica which explores the country's national park system as a response to the rapid destruction of its tropical ecosystems due to the expansion of export-related agriculture.
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With over 25 per cent of its land set aside in national parks and other protected areas, Costa Rica is renowned worldwide as 'the green republic'. In this very readable history of conservation in Costa Rica, Sterling Evans explores the establishment of the country's national park system as a response to the rapid destruction of its tropical ecosystems due to the expansion of export-related agriculture. Drawing on interviews with key players in the conservation movement, as well as archival research, Evans traces the emergence of a conservation ethic among Costa Ricans and the tangible forms it has taken.In Part I, he describes the development of the national park system and 'the grand contradiction' that conservation occurred simultaneously with massive deforestation in unprotected areas. In Part II, he examines other aspects of Costa Rica's conservation experience, including the important roles played by environmental education and nongovernmental organizations, campesino and indigenous movements, ecotourism, and the work of the National Biodiversity Institute. Sterling Evans teaches environmental history at Humboldt State University in northern California.
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• LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF COLOR PLATES LIST OF TABLES PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THE CONTENT AND USE OF THIS BOOK MAPS ONE. THE BIOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS OF BUTTERFLIES Butterfly Life Cycle and Morphology Enemies and Butterfly Defenses against Them Mimicry: Mimics Don't Hide, They Advertise Butterfly Biologists and the New World Butterfly Systematics Collecting and Studying Butterflies TWO. FAUNAL REGIONS, HABITATS, AND RIODINID DIVERSITY A GUIDE TO THE RIODINADAE OF COSTA RICA Corrachiinae Euselasiinae Riodininae Mesosemiini Eurybiini Incertae sedis Riodinini Symmachiini Charitini Emesini Lemoniini Nymphidiini
• Appendix I. SOME MAJOR COLLECTING LOCALITIES IN COSTA RICA
• APPENDIX II. HOST RECORDS FOR GENERA OF RIODINIDAE IN COSTA RICA
• APPENDIX III. TRIBAL AND SUBFAMILY CHARACTER DIAGNOSES OF RIODINIDAE
• APPENDIX IV. CHECKLIST OF COSTA RICAN RIODINIDAE BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX.
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This field guide, a sequel to the volume on Papilionidae, Pieridae and Nymphalidae, provides detailed treatment of over 250 species of Costa Rican butterflies in the family Riodinidae. The means to identify riodinid butterflies to species are given, as are their natural history. The guide illustrates nearly all of the Costa Rican species in colour and provides a large sample of detailed line drawings and scanning electron micrographs of riodinid early stages. The book's coverage should make it useful for identifying riodinids throughout Mexico, Central America and substantial portions of South America. The introductory chapter brings together a large body of material that applies directly to understanding riodinid butterflies in general. The taxonomy, distribution and natural history of each taxon is discussed in detail. The author also provides sections on ecology, evolution, behaviour, symbioses with ants, caterpillar acoustical calls, systematics, collecting and preserving, hostplant relationships and the comparative diversity of riodinid butterfly faunas. A section on butterfly biologists of the last century provides a historical perspective on the basis of our understanding of.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
With habitats ranging from sea level to over 3,800 meters, the small Neotropical country of Costa Rica encompasses more than fifteen distinct life zones and contains a large percentage of all the butterfly species known from Central America. In this field guide, a sequel to the volume on Papilionidae, Pieridae, and Nymphalidae, Philip DeVries provides the first detailed treatment of over 250 species of Costa Rican butterflies in the family Riodinidae. Drawing from his extensive fieldwork, museum research, and surveys of scientific literature, DeVries presents the means to identify riodinid butterflies to the species level and gives an overview of their natural history. This guide illustrates nearly all of the Costa Rican species in color and provides a large sample of detailed line drawings and scanning electron micrographs of riodinid early stages for the first time ever. The book's coverage makes it useful for identifying riodinids throughout Mexico, Central America, and substantial portions of South America. The introductory chapter brings together a large body of material that applies directly to understanding riodinid butterflies in general. The taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of each taxon is discussed in detail. The author also provides sections on ecology, evolution, behavior, symbioses with ants, caterpillar acoustical calls, systematics, collecting and preserving, hostplant relationships, and the comparative diversity of riodinid butterfly faunas. A section on butterfly biologists of the last century provides a historical perspective to the basis of our understanding of Neotropical butterflies.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

This volume is a synthesis of existing knowledge about the flora and fauna of Costa Rica. The major portion of the book consists of detailed accounts of agricultural species, vegetation, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds, and insects. "This is an extraordinary, virtually unique work...The tremendous amount of original, previously unpublished, firsthand information is remarkable."--Peter H. Raven, Director, Missouri Botanical Garden "An essential resource for anyone interested in tropical biology...It can be used both as an encyclopedia--a source of facts on specific organisms--and as a source of ideas and generalizations about tropical ecology."--Alan P. Smith, Ecology.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)