Publications relating to Aotearoa/New Zealand's herpetofauna, as with many other countries, initially came into existence in the form of scientific papers describing species new to science, questioning taxonomic relationships, and recording aspects of their natural history. For the most part, this restricted learning about our herpetofauna to the scientific community. Later, authors such as Charles McCann, who published the first major taxonomic revision in 1955, would lay the blueprints for publications to become more accessible to the general public. This was realised by Richard Sharrell in 1966 when he utilised the taxonomic works of McCann and others to publish 'The Tuatara, Lizards and Frogs of New Zealand', a book that looked at all the reptile and amphibian species recognised in Aotearoa at the time. With the recognition that our herpetofauna gained from this publication, more attention and research was put into this aspect of our fauna, and information quickly became outdated. Over the following decades, books continued to be published to keep up with recent discoveries. These included Joan Robb's 'New Zealand Amphibians & Reptiles in Colour (1980)', Dave Towns' 'A Field Guide to the Lizards of New Zealand (1985)', Brian Gill and Tony Whitaker's 'New Zealand Frogs & Reptiles (1996)', and Tony Jewell's 'A Photographic Guide to Reptiles & Amphibians of New Zealand' (2008)'. More recent additions such as 'Reptiles and Amphibians of New Zealand: A Field Guide (2018)' by Dylan van Winkel, Marleen Baling and Rod Hitchmough, and Samuel Purdie's 'A Naturalist's Guide to the Reptiles & Amphibians of New Zealand (2022)' have brought the literature in line with our understanding of the diversity of this part of our fauna. Remarkably in the 70 years since McCann's taxonomic review of our lizards, the number of taxa has skyrocketed from 30 to 124, 17 of which have been discovered/recognised between the last two published field guides.
Below you will find a list of recent publications on Aotearoas herpetofauna, with the more recent additions at the top. We will do our best to keep these updated and provide a short description for each.
Geckos & Skinks: The Remarkable Lizards of Aotearoa - Anna Yeoman
$59.99 - Potton & Burton.
"One of the least known, and subsequently least celebrated parts of Aotearoa’s native wildlife surely are our lizards. The reason is simple – our geckos and skinks are shy, secretive creatures, rarely seen except by seasoned observers. They are remarkable creatures found in a huge range of habitats, from rocky islets on the Fiordland coast, through all our forests and shrublands and up to the high mountains. While identification guides have been written Geckos & Skinks is the first book to tell stories about these creatures, how and where they live, and how they breed. But crucially, this book is a fascinating insight into the myriad conservation efforts that are ongoing in New Zealand, for our geckos and skinks are increasingly threatened by habitat loss and predation from pests. Heavily illustrated with beautiful photographs, this book shines a light on our remarkable lizards, and exposes a world that deserves to be far better known."