A complete guide to the snakes of Southern Africa

Abstract

Background: The new edition of A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa represents the third iteration in a series of books that started three decades ago. The latest edition replaces the 2004 edition (Marais Citation2004)—an excellent book in its own right (Bauer Citation2004). In the nearly two decades since the last edition, there have been several important advances in the study of snakes in southern Africa. These include changes in systematics and the description of new species, a substantial formalisation of conservation assessment processes, and the remarkable growth of citizen/community science platforms that have improved the quantity and quality of geographic distribution data and natural history information