Butterflies of Alabama is a full-color, richly illustrated guide to the 84 known species of "true" butterflies (Papilionoidea) found within the state's borders. For more than 14 years, the authors have made a close study of these showy, winged stars of the insect world, pursuing them in a great variety of habitats, rearing them, and photographing their remarkable life cycle stages--egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalid or "cocoon"), and adult.

Each species account is accompanied by color photographs of live subjects in their natural habitats. Close-ups reveal...

Nature Journal is an innovative presentation of the best columns and photographs from L. J. Davenport's popular column in Alabama Heritage magazine. Readers of the magazine have come to relish his artful and often witty descriptions of common species encountered in the Alabama outdoors. But Nature Journal is designed to be much more than a mere collection of entertaining essays; it is also an educational tool--a means of instructing and encouraging readers in the art of keeping a nature journal for themselves.

Each of the 25 chapters is a self-contained lesson in...

For nearly 200 million years, Earth has been occupied by reptiles--a lineage of terrestrial vertebrates that includes some, like birds, that have invaded the aerial environment, and others, like turtles, that have invaded aquatic environments. With thirty-nine known species, Alabama harbors more turtle species than any other state in the nation, and its Mobile River basin is the center of the world's greatest biodiversity in turtles, surpassing all other river systems around the globe, including the Amazon and the Nile. Turtles of Alabama documents that extraordinary wealth and...

An up-to-date and comprehensive herpetological guide to Alabama

A comprehensive taxonomy of the anuran fauna in Alabama Frogs and Toads of Alabama is the most comprehensive taxonomy of the anuran fauna gathered since Robert H. Mount’s 1975 volume on the reptiles and amphibians of Alabama. This richly illustrated guide provides an up-to-date summary of the taxonomy and life history of both native frogs and toads and those introduced to the state. Alabama possesses one of the most species-rich biotas of North America, and this richness is reflected in its frogs and toads. The authors examine all known species within the state and describe important...