Despite their abundance in many parts of North America, salamanders have generally been neglected by all but a few specialists. In this book—first published in 1943—Sherman C. Bishop discusses in a lively but authoritative manner the 126 species and subspecies of salamanders that are known to exist in the United States, Canada, and Baja California. Group by group, Bishop describes salamanders in accounts that give the common and technical names, type of locality, range, habitat, size, anatomical characteristics, color, breeding habits, and relationships—all in a uniform arrangement that makes the handbook especially convenient for studying both living animals and laboratory specimens. His brief introduction surveys the relationships and general habits of salamanders and gives information on collecting and preserving them. In his foreword, Edmund D. Brodie, Jr., a specialist on salamanders, updates the taxonomy of the group.

"Ohio's resident amphibians currently include 25 species and subspecies of salamanders, a complex of unisexual ambystomatid salamanders, and 14 species of frogs and toads. Existing, comprehensive works of amphibians for Ohio are dated and out-of-print. Given this deficiency, and pressured by recent survey and monitoring activity and current research needs, the decision to produce a comprehensive book about Ohio's amphibians, which this volume represents, quickly followed. Focusing on verifiable information about the amphibian species of Ohio, the core of this tome is comprised of 37 chapters, organized by sections on salamanders and on frogs and toads, covering all amphibians in Ohio that have been documented and vouchered. Preceding these taxonomic, species-oriented chapters are sections on the history of herpetological work in Ohio, a summary of the Ohio environment in which its amphibian species exist, informative introductions to amphibian systematics, brief summaries of the two groups, and keys to adult and larval stages. Following the species accounts are sections on potential occurences in Ohio; on species ranking based on conservation status and knowledge; on amphibian conservation; on amphibian distribution; on environmental applications; and, a summary. Completing the book are two appendices involving field and vouchering/documentation techniques, a glossary, a combined and comprehensive listing of cited literature, and an index. This book is both scientifically accurate and written in a style suitable for the complete spectrum of individuals and entities who are professionally or casually involved or interested in amphibians"--Abstract, page iii.