The feathered bush viper shown above is to be found in the trees of equatorial Africa, whereas the coral cobra on the left inhabits the rocky outcrops of southern Africa's dry valley plains. The lifestyles, diversity, evolution and biogeography of these and many other variants of the predatory limbless lizard are addressed in Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature by Harry W. Greene, with photographs by Michael and Patricia Fogden (University of California Press, $29.95, £18.95; pbk).