Amphibians appeared on earth 360 million years ago, as the first four-footed animals and pioneers in the conquest of dry land. The water, land or tree-dwelling frogs, toads, newts and salamanders of our childhood are but pallid representatives of an infinitely varied family. Having originally trained as a biologist, Paul Starosta decided to combine his two main loves - nature and photography - to, logically, become a nature photographer. In this book he focuses his attention on the incredibly vibrant world of frogs, toads, newts and salamanders. Far from the brown and green slime-dwellers of childhood pond-dippings, the creatures depicted here are positively jewel-like, their colours further enhanced by being photographed against a black background. Teddy Moncuit is a great traveller and nature lover, who has carried out many assignments in the tropics. His texts provide a precise and passionate account of their fantastic adaptation strategies, revealing obscure, surprising, or even tragic aspects of their little-known lives.
