Reptiles of the Lesser Antilles

The book is organized into five sections:

• 1) Introduction,
• 2) Taxa,
• 3) Island Species,
• 4) Biogeography,
• 5) Conservation.

The taxa are considered in an arbitrary sequence: anoles, iguanas, curlytails, skinks, teiids, microteiids, dwarf geckos, larger geckos, anguids and amphisbaenids, blind snakes and thread snakes, boas, vipers, colubrids, chelonians, and crocodilians.
The taxa in this section are treated in the same order as the Taxa section, and where appropriate, the author has attempted to illustrate and explain the sometimes considerable variation that occurs within an island species. The intention is that the chapter on each island side can serve as a field guide, with identification aided by the numerous images.
Our understanding of the reptiles of the Lesser Antilles and their conservation is rapidly changing. Ongoing conservation threats such as hybridization (e.g., iguanas) and recent invasive species (e.g., Anolis/Ctenonotus cristatellus in Dominica) can rapidly change this situation. Molecular phylogeny and major taxonomic revisions, such as the revision of skinks (Hedges & Conn 2012), radically change our understanding of relationships, biogeography, and nomenclature.