Poisonous Snakes of the World

This book has no analogues in the Russian language. It collects all the main information about some of the most amazing and still insufficiently studied inhabitants of our planet - poisonous snakes. The book provides overviews of poisonous snakes from all regions of the world: from the vast expanses of our Homeland to the most remote corners of the world.

The author - a well-known specialist in the study of poisonous snakes with almost fifty years of experience, head of the herpetology department of the Moscow Zoo - presents the most modern information on the anatomy and physiology of poisonous snakes, which form the basis of their systematics, statistics on snake bites, methods of treatment and prevention. Special attention in the book is for the first time given to colubroid snakes, whose bites can be no less dangerous to humans. In addition, S.V. Kudryavtsev discusses humans' attitudes towards snakes in different historical periods, in various cultures and among different peoples of the world, in various religions and mythology, and the role of snakes in biocenoses and human life.

The book is based not only on carefully selected literary data contained in numerous domestic and foreign monographs and scientific journals but also on many years of practical experience, the author's deep erudition, and the results of special scientific research. All this raises the book to a very high level among publications released in Western Europe and America. One can be sure that this publication will be of interest to herpetologists, doctors, students, travelers, and everyone who is interested in unusual animals of the Earth.