A dichotomous key (that is, one that gives the user only two choices at each level of morphological scrutiny), it is designed for use in college-level herpetology or vertebrate biology courses. It will be especially useful as an effective tool for teaching the principles of taxonomy and for introducing students to the systematics of amphibians and reptiles.

An extensive update, this edition includes, for the first time, 96 color photographs of salamanders, frogs and toads, turtles, lizards, and snakes, as well as an impressive collection of black-and-white photographs. The addition of 1,000 new records since the first edition has enhanced the accuracy of the maps, which identify counties where each animal has been found. Also new in this edition is information on a snake recently discovered in Kansas, the Cottonmouth, and three more kinds of amphibians and reptiles.

"This volume is the result of studies sponsored by the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Westar Energy"--T.p. verso.