Colin McCarthy has a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Birkbeck College (University of London, 1976) and a Ph.D. from City of London Polytechnic (Council for National Academic Awards, 1982). He worked in the Zoology Department of the Natural History Museum, London; 1970-1990 as a curator in the Reptiles and Amphibians section, 1990-2011 as Collections Manager of Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish. Colin is currently a Scientific Associate of the museum. He has written several scientific papers on herpetological topics as well as reviews, encyclopedia articles and two books ('Poisonous Snakes' Franklin Watts 1987 and 'Reptile' Dorling Kindersley 1991, 2012, 2017, 2023).