Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Best veterinary anatomy book!
The authors had make great efforts on the specimens with latest dissection technology to highlight the specific structures of the particular body regions. For example, the blood vessels in the brain are so clear and nice to recognized by the readers. MRI and ultrasound figures of topographical anatomy are also included in the book. The book is full colored. It includes gross anatomy, histology and basic embryology of domestic mammals. The text is presented systematically with bold printed for important key terminology. I used to use textbook by Dyce, Sack, and Wensing but it is extremely laborious for reading and so full of jargon, making me sleep within 10 minutes almost every time I read it.
The original text is in German and is translated to English properly. Good for students and reference for practitioner. The only negative comment about this book is it is too costly!

Veterinary Anatomy textbook
This book should be on every vet students book list. It was not recommended to me while I was in school, maybe because it is so expensive. I came across it in the library and wished I had had it during anatomy class and beyond. I finally purchased it and use it all the time it is a great reference especially when you have been out of school for a while and need to refresh your anatomy. Save the money on lesser quality books and invest in this.

Amazing!
This book was a suggested textbook on my university's textbook list, and although costly, it is WELL WORTH the investment. This is something I will have for years to come. It has been the best source of information for studying and to supplement lecture topics. I absolutely love it.

The ONLY downfall I see to this book is that it falls apart easily. I even noticed that the copies my library has are taped up through use. I thought maybe this was after years of use, but even my book began to fell apart after a few months. Nothing a little duct tape won't fix though.

Best investment I've ever made. This book comes highly recommended and is extremely helpful for any veterinary student. ... Read more

Product Description
Wild animals fascinate yet are rarely seen. It is possible, though - if you know what to look for and where, and if you understand what you see - to increase your chances of wildlife sightings, whether you are far from civilization or right in your own backyard.

Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest includes illustrated descriptions for more than 180 mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates most common in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, northern California, Idaho, and western Montana. With more than 460 photographs, hundreds of scale drawings, and more than 90 distribution maps, it belongs in every pack and is a must-have for nature lovers of all ages and skill levels.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Wildlife of the pacific Northwest
Beautiful tool to have around if you have been enjoying the great outdoors for years and would like to learn more about it. Very well written, organized and with fantastic pictures. I only wish it would be lighter so that I could carry it around in my backpack. I feel more inspired about looking into the secrets of wildlife more than ever before.

A must have for wildlife trackers and all those who spend time outdoors
This field guide instantly become my favorite tracking guide. David Moskowitz has a masterful way of teaching wildlife tracking and animal behavior that makes this guide very user friendly for beginners and expert trackers alike. I recommend this book to anyone who spends time in the outdoors and has interest in animal behavior and/or wildlife tracking.

A Top-Notch, In-depth, and Beautifully Designed Field Guide
Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest is much more than a traditional field reference guide - it gives regional context, takes nothing for granted, and is jam-packed with the author's crisp, color photographs.

The mammal section is most in-depth, but there is ample coverage of birds, some inverts, as well as reptiles and amphibians.

Dave Moskowitz is a very knowledgeable, articulate, and experienced wildlife educator and tracker. If you spend any time in the outdoors in the Pacific Northwest, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this indispensable text.

This is a great book. ... Read more

Product Description
This delightful book, with double page spreads, shows children the ways in which mammals are different from other living things. Facinating examples are featured, from mammals that lay eggs or have a pouch to human beings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful book to teach with!
This entire series of books on animals, their habitats, life cycles, etc. are wonderful! I own 13 of them now.I use these with my first graders during our animal unit. Each book has fantastic pictures and drawings. The information is presented very well but also simply enough that primary aged students can grasp the concepts and find it fascinating.The books also enable themselves to be read in pieces if you want to skip something or focus on a certain area.I highly recommend books by Bobbie Kalman! ... Read more

Product Description

The Biology of Small Mammals is the first exploration of the lives of small mammals undertaken in decades. Mammalogist Joseph F. Merritt offers an engaging, in-depth discussion about a diverse array of small mammals, from the rare Kitti's hog-nosed bat of Southeast Asia to the bizarre aye-aye of Madagascar to the familiar woodchuck of North America.

Small mammals include those mammals weighing under five kilograms (approximately eleven pounds). Merritt introduces the various species that fall under this heading, then follows with chapters that cover such topics as behavior, modes of feeding, locomotion, habitat use, reproduction, and coping with heat loss.

Animals of this size face different physiological and ecological challenges than larger mammals. Merritt describes in rich detail how mammals across the globe have adapted to compensate for their small stature, showing how they contribute to and survive in diverse environments in many fascinating ways. For example, arctic foxes, weighing just 3 to 4.3 kilograms, are champion survivors in the cold. They cope with their harsh environs by decreasing activity, seeking shelter in temporary dens and snow burrows, growing a lush winter fur, and undergoing complex physiological changes to insulate themselves from chilling temperatures.

Beautifully illustrated throughout, The Biology of Small Mammals provides a valuable and updated reference on nature's more diminutive creatures.

Customer Reviews (1)

Any college-level natural history library needs this survey
The Biology of Small Mammals represents the first college-level exploration of the lives of small mammals in decades, and comes from a mammalogist who provides discussions of a range of small mammals around the world. In discussing behavior and species, this collection outlines how the size difference provides different physiological and ecological challenges than larger mammals. Any college-level natural history library needs this survey.
... Read more

Product Description
This is the only field guide to provide comprehensive coverage of the mammals of Central America and southeast Mexico. The fully revised second edition includes 21 new species, as well as updated illustrations and distribution maps. Each species account provides measurements, descriptions, and comparisons with similar species, and is accompanied by a range map showing where the species can be found in the region.

The 49 full-color animal plates contain similar species portrayed to scale on the same plate, with tracks and feet shown on the facing-page. 4 new full-color maps provide visual views of parks and protected areas, biomes, elevations and habitat loss, as well as a political map of the region. The book also features a detailed introduction with sections on how and where to find mammals and a listing of the most endangered species in the region. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great field guide!!
This is a great book, full with updated information and precious drawings by the author. Following the style of similar books, this is not only a field guide but also a reference on basic data about these species, including distribution (maps for each species), ecology, morphology and particular behavior for most species.
Fully recommended for biologists working on this region.

Great book, bad binding
If I were just covering the book I would give it a five -- hands down.It is a great book and easy to find the animals you see.However, if you A) live in a tropical environment B) handle this book at all, the binding falls apart.How sad that such a good book looks like it is 10 years old after a few months.I've now purchased this book twice because of the content only to find the binding fell apart both times.

Excellent resource
We just returned from a trip to Panama and Costa Rica that I had purchased the book for.I had little time to consult books as we were so busy but it was helpful as background before the trip and as a resource during the trip.It is a beautiful book and I will keep it.As an all around resource and book to have along two other books were helpful.One, Watching Wildlife: Central America (Lonely Planet) and another Birds of Costa Rica (photographic volume) were very helpful and easy to carry along.Others brought Birds of Panama and used it alot - very heavy to carry.The guides used the laminated wildlife "brochures", two I got on amazon but there were others available down there.There doesn't seem to be one great resource for wildlife in the region but as we were traveling with naturalists and with the above two sources, we were pretty happy.

Absolutely the best mammals guide for the region
I had the opportunity to participate in a research project in Nicaragua.A local Nicaraguan university library allowed me to check out and use any field guide I wanted.Within days, all other field guides were permanently stowed in the bottom of my bag until I could return them to the university.

Having never been to the tropics before, I was still able to identify every bat I caught using mist nets with only the aid of this book (my local guides were unfamiliar with the bats).
This book will be your best piece of equipment if you plan to study mammals in Central America.

One of the first things I did when I returned home was order my own copy of this wonderful book.

A wonderfulcompanion for both amateurs and pros
This field guide is a definitive yet handy guide that will surely be a classic of its type. It covers all the living species of native mammals from Mexico to Panama (including aquatic species such as whales andotters). For each species there is a careful description of its physicalappearance along with notes on habitats, ranges (with maps) and behaviour,as well asother useful comments such as the best place to see aparticular species,what the ground tracks look like and the status ofthreatened species. It is an absolute mine of fascinating information, muchof it newly gathered or previously available only in obscure academicsources. There are excellent introductory sections on the main mammalgroups, and good indexes and bibliographies -- in short , everything oneneeds to find and enjoy looking at mammals.But the most unique and usefulfeature (as well as the greatest delight -- and why this is a trueclassic), are the illustrations - hundreds of beautifully drawn colourplates painted from life (often in the most demanding of circumstances),that will allow you to settle important questions like "Is that aWoolly False Vampire Bat or a Great False Vampire Bat that just bityou" without flaming your travelling companions. (The book isespecially strong on Bats.) Flying squirrels, monkeys, oppossums, sloths,deer mice, armadillos dolphins and skunks, they are all here. I wouldhighly recommend this book both for amateurs and professionals (whether they are going to central america or not!). Every academic library shouldhave a copy of it.

The care taken over detail throughout make the bookboth scientifically valuable and highly readable. It is a true labour oflove -and just look at this quote fromthe author's preface!"Some species I painted while sitting in a truck, using the steeringwheel as an easel, and some in a tent with a hadlamp at night, but mostwere done outside during the day, sitting on the ground or on a log.Thewhite background of the plates suffered from a continuous onslaught ofdust, sweat, and grime, and other indefinable debris. Carrying the platesthroughout Central America involved some harrowing experiences, one ofwhich was a short flight to Tortuguero in Costa Rica. The pilot had atlength persuaded me to put my portfolio in the front baggage hold in thenose of the plane, and after we took off he realized that the door to thishold had come open. While the other four passengers agonized over thepossibility of the plane going down if the luggage became tangled in thepropellors, I was trying to follow our coordinates so I could search for myplates if they fell to the swampy ground below. Fortunately, we landed at asmall airfield, corrected the problem, and lost nothing but peace ofmind." ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (18)

Black & White
I loved this Book!I first saw it at the library and checked it out.But when I got it home and started looking at it, I knew I had to have it for my library.Great graphic drawings of animals in different poses.

Wide variety of animal images
I believe this is the largest selection of animal prints that Dover has to offer. It has a wide variety of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, shellfish, insects, etc., but because they are old etchings, the conformation, proportions, and other characteristics are not always accurate. The illustration details are amazing. Most images have some type of reference as tobreed, gender, type, etc. This book is great for design/advertising (limited in copyright free), any art projects, or use as models for sketching practice as long as you are aware of the artistic liberties taken on some portrayals of animals.

Ink Drawing Animals
This book is perfect if you are interested in Ink Art. I have not seen a book that had so many ink drawings and so fine in detail. It's a must for anyone that loves art or is an artist. The price is ridiculously too low, this book is a bargain no doubt about that. Buy it worth it worth it and you wont regret it. There are some many animals from land, air, and water. The way these artist make everything look so realistic is amazing.

Animals: 1,419 Copyright-Free Illustrations of Mammals, Birds, Fish, Insects, etc.
This book has the most awesome animal drawings I have ever seen. The fact that they are wood engravings is more than remarkable!

awesome book
A present for my daughter-in-law and the illustrations were incredible.She is an artist and will make good use of this book. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

mammals of the neotropics.. a costly disappointment
the book was disappointing. the layout was very confusing. maps so-so...
and the color plates not the best...

a real disappointment for the money... unfortunately there doesnt seem to be a lot of competition.... ... Read more

Product Description
Hailed as 'a rare combination of learning, decent writing and knock-your-eyes-out photography' by The Times and 'an ultimate in natural history books' by the Irish Times when it was published in its first edition, this encyclopedia has become the definitive reference work on mammals for the 21st century. It covers the behaviour, diet, distribution, and evolution of every known living mammal in the world in clear, accessible language, and is illustrated throughout with spectacular photographs and original artwork, including breathtaking photo-stories of momentous events, such as how a cheetah learns to hunt, an elephant's early years, and life in the pouch for a kangeroo. There are also feature articles on a range of fascinating topics, among them: Why do primates have big brains? Why do lions roar? And what are the costs of motherhood for seals? Written by an international team of experts and edited by renowned zoologist Professor David Macdonald - whose documentary Meerkats United was voted the best wildlife film of all time by BBC viewers - this new edition has been comprehensively revised and updated to reflect the most recent developments in modern zoology.It offers authoritative coverage of each species, and contains brand new photographs, maps, and illustrations, as well as essays on special topics, from conservation to the evolution of primates; from human culture to disease in the Tasmanian devil. An essential work for zoologists and natural historians, this book is also a stunning point of reference for families and for anyone interested in the mammals of the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Love It! For Animals Lovers, The Curious and Professionals Alike
I will admit right away that I am not a biology major, and that I bought this huge volume for personal love of animals and all the wonderments of the world. Sometimes, the author of this tome gets a little excited, and forgets that not everyone who reads this book is in the research field, but even that can be over-looked, because as long as you are willing to except that you may have to look up a term or two occasionally, you won't be sorry you bought this. Not only does it cover over 5,000 species of mammals (all known to date), but it has wonderful pictures that I look at with my daughter. It has an entry on every mammal you can think of, and has several longer articles on subjects as varied as why whales sing, to studies on friendships in certain Primate species, to Reindeer Migration and Bat Blood Donors. This is engrossing, intelligent, spectactular. I am currently writing a novel on sea mammals, and this book is certainly a help! One warning: It is very heavy and a little clumsy because of the vast knowledge it holds. By the way, this is the 2006 version I'm speaking of, I don't know what the reviewers of 3 and 1 star are talking about unless they have the wrong edition or a different book entirely. MacDonald is brilliant and passionate!

A GRADE SCHOOL REFERENCE BOOK
This book is a huge disappointment.It's not woth $10.00.I found better at the books a million discount section.Anyone that would pay $298.00 for this book is not right in the head.Approx 270 pages of 3rd grade text book material.

Best Reference Book On Mammals
I had the second edition of this book, published in 2001. There are so far 3 editions, First edition 1984; second edition 2001; third edition 2006. This review is under the second edition. The latest edition was published by Oxford University, in the end of 2006. The price is much lower than this second edition. I am not sure why amazon.com lists the expensive second edition first, not the latest third edition.

I checked the 3rd editon, and it seems to me there are lots of update. Almost all the chapter titles have been changed ..

I bought the second edition for my kids from Borders under 10 bucks in the bargain section. My kids like it very much.

The best book about mammals....

If you cann't find a good bargain, buy the latest edition published by Oxford University Press, not this 3-volume second edition. It's way over priced..

A wonderful resource
I have an older edition of this book, just found this 2001 edition (new) at a book sale at Barnes & Noble for only $20.00! As a Docent at a local wildlife facility, this is an excellent resource book, as well as good reading material. Super illustrations, with easy-to-understand text makes this a "must-have" for anyone interested in the Mammal world.

An excellent survey of the latest developments in mammal science
Both high school and public library reference holdings strong in animal science will find the second updated edition of the three-volume set The Encyclopedia of Mammals to be an excellent survey of the latest developments in mammal science. A team of editors have produced volumes which lend to both serious study and leisure browsing with a blend of color photos and drawings and articles newly revised to reflect the latest research and trends. From maps demonstrating species distribution patterns to articles that survey conservation issues and mammal natural history, the set seeks to clarify scientific terms and perspectives and will prove a delightful resource for any student of natural history.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch ... Read more

Product Description
Omitting the smaller, seldom-seen mammals, the book provides details on the larger, more common mammals. It will make an invaluable contribution to any collection of books on nature. It is made especially user-friendly with color-coding and habitat symbols, color photographs and maps. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Extrodinary wealth of information in a compact volume
This field guide has an extrodinary wealth of information in a compact volume that allows one to quickly look up wildlife for to get the most out of a safari experience.

south africa mammals guide book
I have look throught the updated guidebook and its an excellent updated guidebook. The informantion is updated on its status in South Africa.

photo identification made easy
This is truly an excellent book,a joy to look at,packed with lots of information.However it is not really a book suitable to be taken in the field,the authors smaller book mammals of southern,central and eastern africawould be a better book to take into the field.The authors really know the animals and their passion for the subject comes out in their writing.

Field Guide to the Mammals of Southern Africa
This book is nicely organized. The animals are separated into their prospective families. This is especially helpful for the scientific minded reader. While on safari if I see an animal that is most likely a carnivore, I will know exactly where to look it up.

The pictures are very clear and the description focuses on the distinguishing characters of each species.The descriptions are very logical and easy to follow... i.e. the blaze on the nose of this antelope is continuous therefore, it is species A, where the blaze on the nose of the next antelope (which looks just like species A) is not continuous, therefore it is species B.

Good source for species identification
The is book has become a diary for collecting plainsgame in Southern Africa.I have kept notes and records in this book to track animals I have collected and those remaining on my wish list.

Additionally I recommendthis book for those who are on their first few trips to So. Africa for ahunting expedition or site-seeing holidays. ... Read more

Product Description
This thorough revision of the classic first edition brings this authoritative book right up-to-date. Articles describe every species in detail, based on the very latest taxonomy, and a host of biological, ecological and sociological aspects relating to marine mammals. The latest information on the biology, ecology, anatomy, behavior and interactions with man is provided by a cast of expert authors - all presented in such detail and clarity to support both marine mammal specialists and the serious naturalist. Fully referenced throughout and with a fresh selection of the best color photographs available, the long-awaited 2nd edition remains at the forefront as the go-to reference on marine mammals.

* More than 20% NEW MATERIAL includes articles on Climate Change, Pacific White-sided Dolphins, Sociobiology, Habitat Use, Feeding Morphology and more
* Over 260 articles on the individual species with topics ranging from anatomy and behavior, to conservation, exploitation and the impact of global climate change on marine mammals
* New color illustrations show every species and document topical articles

FROM THE FIRST EDITION
"This book is so good...a bargain, full of riches...packed with fascinating up to date information. I recommend it unreservedly it to individuals, students, and researchers, as well as libraries".
- Richard M. Laws, MARINE MAMMALS SCIENCE

"...establishes a solid and satisfying foundation for current study and future exploration"
- Ronald J. Shusterman, SCIENCE ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Mammals first evolved at about the same time as dinosaurs, and their story is perhaps the more fascinating of the two--in part because it is also our own story. In this literate and entertaining book, eminent naturalist David Rains Wallace brings the saga of ancient mammals to a general audience for the first time. Using artist Rudolph Zallinger's majestic The Age of Mammals mural at the Peabody Museum as a frame for his narrative, Wallace deftly moves over varied terrain--drawing from history, science, evolutionary theory, and art history--to present a lively account of fossil discoveries and an overview of what those discoveries have revealed about early mammals and their evolution.
In these pages we encounter towering mammoths, tiny horses, giant-clawed ground sloths, whales with legs, uintatheres, zhelestids, and other exotic extinct creatures as well as the scientists who discovered and wondered about their remains. We meet such memorable figures as Georges Cuvier, Richard Owen, Edward D. Cope, George Gaylord Simpson, and Stephen Jay Gould and learn of their heated disputes, from Cuvier's and Owen's fights with early evolutionists to present controversies over the Late Cretaceous mass extinction. Wallace's own lifelong interest in evolution is reflected in the book's evocative and engaging style and in the personal experiences he expertly weaves into the tale, providing an altogether expansive perspective on what Darwin described as the "grandeur" of evolution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

The story of mammals
Mammals appeared in the Triassic, having evolved from mammal-like reptiles with a reptilian skull but differentiated teeth. Most Mesozoic mammals were small and unspecialized, like the squirrels and rats of today's cities, though by the Cretaceous modern orders started appearing: we have a skull showing typical lagomorph circulation and another with typical ungulate teeth. After the dinosaurs died off, there was of course an explosion of mammalian ecological diversity, producing whales, horses, and different now-extinct Tertiary mammals, including carnivorous ungulates with meter-long skulls and enormous browsers that looked like a cross between the rhino and the giraffe. All of this was discovered from the fossils in the 19th and the 20th century, and confirmed by genetic analysis in the 21st century; the discoveries were the raw material for the evolutionary theories of George Gaylord Simpson (who wrote a novella, published posthumously, about a scientist thrown into the Cretaceous by a time machine accident) and his student Stephen Jay Gould.

Good but not great
I think the biggest disappointment I had with this book was the lack of pictures.Sure, partly my fault because I didn't notice that there were only 18 black and white illustrations, but when a book uses two very famous murals as a starting point and then doesn't have 1 color picture of the murals, I am disappointed.The pictures from the Age of Mammals were muddy at best.

The writing was average.Wallace is no stylist but he is a solid writer conveying technical information.

I picked up this book after I read an article on Buffon in Natural History so I was surprised at how Wallace treated him.Now I need to know more about Buffon to see which representation is more accurate.

The book is a couple of years old but the only thing I noticed was the comment that mammals were small and rat-like during the Age of Reptiles.Within the past 2 years there have been several large mammal species discovered which co-existed with the dinosaurs.Although not megafauna, they were over three feet in length and preyed on dinosaurs.

Rollin' dem mammal bones
For every book about mammal fossils, it seems there are 10 or 20 about dinosaurs; and popular books about sharks outnumber books about flounders by about 100 to one.
"A thundering brute gets our attention," says naturalist David Wallace, but "fights over mammal fossils have probably played a greater part in the growth of evolutionary ideas than any other paleontological phenomenon."
Fights about mammalian evolution cut to the quick in ways that uncertainties about the evolution of, say, oysters do not.
And the duelists in the mammal wars were a colorful, feisty bunch. Natural history was red in tooth, claw and inkwell when the likes of Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope competed for fossils.
The stories about Marsh and Cope, about Alfred Wegener andcontinental drift, about punctuated equilibrium and the old guard have all been told before, though seldom with as much style.
The appeal of Wallace's "Beasts of Eden" is that it brings the controversies almost down to the minute. Mammalian evolution is "still a mystery story," but many of the "gaping holes" have been plugged in the last decade as bone hunters invaded virgin territory.
When Charles Darwin published "Origin of Species" in 1859, the paleontological record was almost all gaps, though the theory of "descent with modification" was supported by a wide array of other evidence, such as the distribution of living plants and animals.
But there were few bones. It is a testimony to the analytical power of comparative anatomy that the 19th century bone men made so few mistakes. There were, still are difficult cases; but even after a flood of new fossils was dug up, most of the affinities that were first inferred are still compatible with all the latest evidence.
Wallace takes the whole world for his study, but his launching point is a fresco, "The Age of Mammals," painted at the Yale Peabody Museum in the 1960s by Rudolph Zallinger.
Zallinger's bigger and earlier "Age of Reptiles" in the same museum is better known, but most of us have seen reproductions of Zallinger's mammal painting, even if we don't know his name.
Both frescoes re-create the American West, whence the best and most Peabody fossils came.
Zallinger's scientific advisers were among the top paleontologists of the time, but the painter apparently placed his specimens in landscapes to tell a story, not just present unconnected portraits. At least, Wallace is able to analyze the iconography of Zallinger the way a Berenson would a tercento Italian fresco.
But Zallinger left no written statement, and some of Wallace's deductions seem fanciful.
However that may be, "Beasts of Eden" is, with one exception, a reliable guide to the shifting interpretations of the fossil record, a continuation of a story that many of us heard first long ago when the evidence was less detailed. The book also presents a charming personal account of Wallace's encounters with living animals over the decades.
The exception comes in the chapter that should have been the most valuable in the book.
Anti-evolutionists never mention plants, because plant evolution neither threatens nor interests them. Real naturalists do take account of plants, although popular books about fossil plants are rare.
While "Beasts of Eden" is mostly about mammals, Wallace does include a chapter on the plant evidence.
This contains a shocking misconception for a book published by the press of one of our great universities when Wallace tries to explain the significance of the evolution of grasses in a cooling, drying world for the evolution of mammals.
Grasses use carbon by what is called the C4 pathway, as opposed to earlier-evolved plants which use the far less efficient C3 pathway.
But these monikers are not, as Wallace supposes, isotope numbers -- those atomic numbers would fit hydrogen or helium -- but simply arbitrary labels; and the way the pathways are used in paleontology has nothing to do with the differences in the isotopes of carbon, such as the famous carbon-14.
The superefficiency in carbon oxidation of the C4 path accounts for the superiority of slender grasses over mighty oaks, in many environments; and the way grasses store starch has a big part in how the mammals reading this review get by. So C4 is really important.
That warning aside, "Beasts" is a fine survey.

More about recent human mammals!
Do not buy this if you want an overview of mammalian evolution.Most of the text is devoted to the humans that found the first mammalian fossils and how they inspired the AGE OF MAMMALS mural at the Peabody Museum.A great deal of the text is quotes of early paleontologists (Owen, Cope, Marsh, et al.), and when the actual mammals are mentioned, the reader is referred to the mural.Unfortunately, if you haven't committed the mural to memory, or you haven't studied mammalian evolution, you may have a tough time following the text, as there are few illustrations.If you are interested in the history of the discovery of these early mammal fossils, you may enjoy this book more than I.If, however, you are more interested in the evolution and systematics of those mammals, you may want to reconsider.In fact, I would recommend searching for a more thorough text(s) regarding these paleoworkers.There are other books that examine the Cope and Marsh battle from a broader platform, and there are numerous biographies of Owen, Huxley, Darwin, Cuvier and other covered in this book.This is not a book worthy of a paleontologist's library, but your local library should have a copy.

You'd better be in the field...
On plus side, I learned a lot from reading this book.At times, it's extremely interesting and delightful to read.At times it grinds like a college text book.If you don't have a great background on the subject matter---paleontology---you're going to have a struggle with terms and names.I called it "that damn book" because I wanted to finish it, which I did, but I can't say it was fun.It deserves 3 or better stars because it's well-researched and written---just too technical for the layperson and not that enjoyable to slog through.In other words, when called to dinner, you'll be able to put it down but you won't want to give up entirely.

Chris ... Read more

Product Description
Peterson First Guides are the first books the beginning naturalist needs.Condensed versions of the famous Peterson Field Guides, the First Guides focus on the animals, plants, and other natural things you are most likely to see.They make it fun to get into the field and easy to progress to the full-fledged Peterson Guides. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Out of date
Unfortunately this book has not been updated in over 25 years. Taxonomic changes in some groups of mammals have left this rather inadequate. The illustrations aren't bad except for sea mammals which have black and white sketches for illustrations. It may have been a decent guide when it came out, but I don't see the point in publishing a book which may not have the animal you're looking at in it! This book needs a revision. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (16)

Great little wildlife book
We just got back from an 8 day visit to the Galapagos and found this little book to be the perfect companion on hikes, bay tours, and just sitting around the hotel sighting herons, gulls, etc. Our local naturalists all said this was the book they used, so that seemed like a good recommendation. The overview descriptions, followed by plates of the different types of animals, were very helpful. 1 criticism - seemed like a lot of information on cetaceans which we certainly never saw.I would have appreciated a similar book on the plants of the area - Amazon should sell those as a package, if one exists.....

Great Organization - Great Info
This book is ideal for a trip to the Galapagos where you want to have some useful, well organized, compact information about the animals you will see.

The pages have clear organization and layout and the only thing lacking is significant information about the sea life.

Birds, Mammals and Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands
Bought this guide as a primer and in hand guide for a trip to the Galapagos. Getting excited.

Birds, Mammals & Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands
Very good book.We went to the Galapagos Island the first of August and this was a reference book for us.Very nice.Good pictures and information.About the right length.Took it with us as a reference guide.Sometimes it helps to see what a Blue-footed Booby really looks like.

Switcharoo edition
Just so you know...

* You originally clicked on the Turtleback edition (2006) from Yale University Press. You are looking at the Paperback edition (2001) from Yale University Press. If you add this book to your cart, you'll get the edition you originally clicked on.

I clicked on the spiral bound book, but despite the aboveassurance from your website that I would get the original book I investigated, I got the paperback edition which does not fold open easily. The whole point of ordering the spiral edition was to be able to fold the book with viewed pages folded flat.My bad for not complaining---but the review made me go look again at the note. ... Read more

Product Description
Animal tracks in the snow of the mountain forest, in themud along a streambank, or in the sand of the desert are much morethan footprints. James Halfpenny’s Field Guide will allow the naturelover to satisfy his or her curiosity by identifying the animal thatleft the prints. But identification is only the beginning of afascinating activity: interpretation is the rewarding goal of thisbook. With it anyone can be a nature detective, able to reconstructthe behavior of mammals from mice to moose. Tracks tell stories andthe user of this book can read them. Based on field research, much ofit the author’s own, the book brings the amateur naturalist the latestinformation on animal gaits and the interpretation of scat. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

This book belongs to the serious tracker
Great book to have on a tracker's shelf. I do not think this book should be the "soul" book an individual buys. If you would like to have just one book on the subject, Elbroch and Rezendez are the book you need to look at. This book is for gaits and behavior.

Not all north american species
I like this Tracking theme and I wonder why there are many species living in North Mexico and South USA that are not included, like the Jaguar that still lives in Sonora and occasionally in Arizona. I will recomend other track books as:
Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species

The answers you need
Many times in the field you only see a small portion of a track, or an indistinct line of marks, like in snow a line of tracks may be a line of little holes in the snow. . is there a way to still tell what the animal is and what it was doing. . YES. The answers are in this book in Dr. Halfpenny's methodical way of measuring gaits, stride, animal size and other clues.With this guide, as well as Mark Elbroch's heavier one on Mammal Tracks & Sign you can learn to track animals.By that I mean you can tell what animals were there, what they were doing and when, even when you can't see picture book examples in the mud or dust.This book (my third copy) is in my pack, and Mark's is in my car (with a second copy at home).

Better Than Tom Brown
More in depth tracks, skills, info, much better than any of Tom Browns books, also does not contain T.B.'s spirituality. The actual art this man retains is amazing!!! GREAT BOOK!!! There is a reason this book is almost always sold out!

Written for the detective in you
Animal tracks are more than just impressions in the snow, mud, or dirt.They are a record of what an animal was doing, where it was going, and what it was thinking... IF you know how to read them.

Jim Halfpenny has spent most of his life following, recording, and interpreting the elusive tracks of animals.This book focuses on mammals.

Now there are a number of books on bird and mammal tracks.A Field Guide to Mammal Tracking in North America is much more than a collection of diagrams.This book:

*discusses the anatomy and behavior behind tracks

*develops a rationale on how to look at and measure a track

*revels the differences between a gait, a step, a jump, and a straddle

*discusses tracking techniques (Halfpenny gives seminars on this topic, and it is included as Chapter 4 in this book)

*reviews track characteristics of canids, felids, lagomorphs, ungulates, and rodents, along with bears, weasels, raccoons, opossums, and shrews.

*discusses "scatology"

*presents a number of interesting cases that he then works through to show the reader how to approach a mystery track and identify the animal, and its behavior, correctly.

This is not a very expensive book.It could have been even less expensive with the elimination of the 12 full-page color illustrations of selected mammals in the center of the book.They were nice, but distracting, and most of the drawings don't even have pictures of tracks, the point of the book!

This book would have been improved with use of a digital camera in capturing images of tracks.However, Halfpenny has been collecting them his whole life, certainly prior to the common use of this technique!This is a "must have" book for the serious tracker.... a bargain through and through. ... Read more

Product Description
Briefly covers the characteristics, types, young, and relatives of whales and discusses the hunting and protection of these giants of the sea. ... Read more

Product Description
Handy, compact and concise, this is an indispensable companion for every hiker, hunter and nature lover - small enough to fit into any bag or pocket, and yet it provides valuable information on no fewer than 87 mammal species, from big cats to bushbabies. Illustrated by clear, full-colour photographs, each species also has a comprehensive description, and lists species with which it may be confused, and their differences. To assist with identification, each entry is accompanied by accurate illustrations of typical tracks left by each mammal - a separate photographic section on dung helps further with identification. Full-colour maps and habitat keys provide important information at a glance on the distribution, and any subspecies that may occur, and its preferred habitat. Also listed where appropriate are the most recent maximum and minimum standards set for trophy hunters by Safari Club International and Rowland Ward. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Beautiful book, not enough images
This is a beautiful book with great information.It is very expensive and I wished it had more images of the wildlife.Unless you need all of the extra morphological and evolutionary info, I would say just buy a field guide instead

Fine addition, but you still need the other two volumes!
This volume provides a synthesis of knowledge and individual species accounts for the more than 650 species of land and marine mammals found in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. It is the third and final part of a trilogy that now runs to over 1400 pages. The series began with the publication of the first volume in 1989 (The northern Neotropics: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana), authored by Eisenberg alone. He was then joined by Redford for both the second volume (1992. The southern cone: Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay) and now the third. The general aim of this collection is to summarize in a single source what is known about the identity, distribution, history, and ecology of the mammalian fauna of the Neotropics. To this end, every genus and species of mammal known to occur in this biogeographic realm has been given a concise description, together with distributional maps of both known occurrences and estimated ranges. In some cases, figures of mammal parts, such as crania, and sketches and drawings of whole animals have been provided.

Although the third volume features Eisenberg and Redford as the principal authors, it also includes seven stand-alone contributions. Four are from Brazilian mammalogists, on paleontology and biogeography, chiefly of Brazil. Eisenberg himself contributes two extra essays (one on mammalian biodiversity and another on distribution and history of this fauna). Webb contributes a short essay on the history of the mammalian fauna in South America (which renders it somehat redundant with Eisenberg's account). The book starts with a short introduction that inevitably has to repeat some information in earlier volumes, and makes it clear that this volume is to be used in conjunction with the others in the series. This may be a disappointment for some readers, because many mammal species found in the central Neotropics are also found in either the northern or southern regions already covered by the previous two volumes.Therefore, the authors have chosen to give more concise descriptions of"redundant" mammal species, for which finer details have to be located in the other volumes.

The book itself is divided into three parts, with stand-alone contributions concentrated in Parts 1 and 3, and Part 2 being the material written by Eisenberg and Redford together. Here, 13 chapters deal separately with marsupials, edentates, insectivores, bats, primates, terrestrial carnivores, marine carnivores, whales and relatives, sea cows, odd-toed ungulates, even-toad ungulates, rodents, and rabbits. These chapters present not only taxonomic information but also ecological and behavioral characteristics, and distribution maps for most of the species. Indeed, for each species the following topics are generally addressed: Description (morphological), Range and Habitat (or Distribution), and Natural History.In some cases, there are separate sections dealing with Life History, Ecology, and miscellaneous Comments.Several tables of measurements are also found throughout the book and for some species rich groups such as bats and rodents, keys to families and genera are provided.Illustrations of crania, tooth rows, feet, and a few sketches are provided when deemed necessary by the authors, presumably as an aid in field and laboratory identification. A small number of color and black-and-white plates are grouped mid-way through the book. Each chapter and essay comes with its own bibliography, which leads to some redundancy in citations. Overall, the bibliographies are extensive, and the coverage seems exhaustive, with references updated to 1997 (it appears that the book went to press in 1998).

For such an encyclopedic effort, there are remarkably few errors of fact, as far as I can judge. There are, however, some presentation problems. The most common is that of making statements and attributing them to sources that surely did not contribute such statements. Indeed, this lack of precision in citation may be an artifact resulting from Eisenberg and Redford making separate statements without specific references, and then citing a wholesale sequel of authors. Another mistake I noticed is that of citations in the bibliographies that are not found in the text. The opposite also happens, but less frequently. I also found it awkward that among the 19 plates depicting mammals, only one has a scale to gauge their absolute size. Nowhere are we told, either, if mammals grouped in a single plate are proportionally sized.I hope that this omission will be corrected in future editions. Inevitably for a work of this length and complexity, there are typographic errors.Many are found in the literature cited, more commonly in citations made in languages other than English. I did not detect taxonomic errors, but I am not a systematist. Some scientific names are misspelled (e.g., culpeus instead of culpaeus in p. 280; jabcobita instead of jacobita in Map 10.26), and some genera passed to synonymy are sometimes referred to by their old name (e.g. Dusicyon instead of Pseudalopex in p. 283).

All of the above may be considered nit-picking in light of the tremendous contribution toward organizing in a trilogy all that is known on Neotropical mammals. I looked hard for weaknesses in the volume but I could only find strengths. Indeed, this volume is a first-rate capitulation and synthesis of hundreds of papers written in Spanish and Portuguese, thus rendering this wealth of information to the English-speaking readership for the first time. In addition, by treating comprehensively a wide swath of South America along both sides of the Equatorial line, east to west, this book provides a better understanding of the distribution of species that trespass national borders without even noticing them. In this sense, the compilation here reviewed is much more than the summation of separate national books on "The Mammals of X." It gives an overview on the way mammals "perceive" this part of the world and face threats posed by national policies on the exploitation of natural resources. I think this book (together with the two preceding volumes) fully meets its intended aim of gathering and synthesizing disperse information, and delivers even more in the sense of giving a broad-picture of Neotropical mammal biodiversity and biogeography.

The primary readership for this book is supposed to be one of professional mammalogists worldwide. It is also a great resource for graduate students in mammalogy, and, I would add, for conservation biologists and wildlife managersin general. I think this book belongs in the personal libraries of all mammalogists interested in the Neotropics, and also in institutional libraries where students can consult it.

Of limited value if you don't buy the other two volumes ...
I bought this volume first and should have thought of it but I didn't ... since the central neotropics have many of the animals of the northern and the southern areas of the continent, many animals are only covered in shorthand style in this volume, as they've already been described in the other two volumes.

The relatively small number of color-plates was also a bit disappointing. Finally the size of the book (height & breadth) makes it a real challenge to take with you on a field trip. The information on species that *are* described in detail in this volume, however, is excellent. Distribution maps, behavior, detailed measurements, anatomical details and lots of references to source literature make it a joy to read and browse through.

In summary I'd say that, provided you purchase the whole series, it's an excellent reference and clearly deserves 5 stars. As a field guide it's of limited use, because it's so bulky, so that's 3 stars. ... makes 4 stars on average. ... Read more

Product Description
From the under-snow tunnels of Arctic lemmings to the egg nests of the bizarre Australian echidna, from the Pacific waters inhabited by sea otters and whales to the subways of major cities, this extraordinary and attractive book brings us into the homes and lives of some of earth's most fascinating animals.

Published in conjunction with a ten-part television series that will air on the Discovery Channel, The Life of Mammals brings us nose-to-nose with mammals in all of their beauty and immense variety. Renowned naturalist, writer, and filmmaker David Attenborough treks across every continent and kind of terrain to introduce us to such unusual and evolutionarily successful creatures as the Patagonian opossum, the Canadian pygmy shrew, the Alpine marmot, and the Malaysian sun bear. We meet slow-moving algae-covered sloths. We enter a pack of African wild dogs, seeing how their division of labor enables them to provide protection and food to pups, mothers, and old dogs. We learn about the navigation systems of bats and find out why Borneo's colugo is a superior glider to a flying squirrel. Along the way, Attenborough considers how evolution has shaped mammalian habits, leading herbivorous sea cows to take to the water and humans to commence agriculture.

Containing more than 200 spectacular color photographs, this is a book that will gratify anyone intrigued by the natural world and the animals that inhabit it. Informative, utterly absorbing, and classic Attenborough, it represents natural history at its finest. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Nature Programming at Its Best!
Sir David Attenborough delivers (again)! If meaningful/concise/informative nature programing is your thing, this is the set to buy. You will not be dissapointed. I strongly recommend this series (or any series where Sir Attenborough has played a part in for that matter)!

"The Life of Mammals"!
The Life of Mammals is the companion book to the David Attenborough series with the same name. As with all of the "Life of" programs and books, this one is top-notch.

Like all the companion books, there are ten chapters coinciding with the ten programs all bearing the same name. With this book however there is a slight difference. The order of the chapters is slightly different from the order of the programs from the series. I personally prefer the books order over the series, but it's not too important. Anyways, here they are...

Program Order:

3. PLANT PREDATORS

4. CHISELLERS

Chapter Order:

3. CHISELLERS

4. PLANT PREDATORS

David Attenborough is one of my favorite authors, (along with my favorite television presenters) because he is so enthusiastic about what he's presenting. It is very catching, and this book is very hard to put down once you've really gotten into it.

There is plenty of new information, behavior and species not included in the series. The pictures in this book (200+) are spectacular and there isn't a single page without one.

If you already own the series, then this is book is a must-have. It's a perfect companion to the programs (and also works very well as a stand-alone book), and I highly recommend it!

Attenborough is fantastic!
A very well written basic introduction into mammalia. Attenborough never fails to write great books. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in biology/animals or any student thinking of pursuing zoology or a similar course.

Beautiful Photos, Engaging Read
I read this book cover-to-cover in about 6 hours.The text is easy to read, though I do admit I had to make a short list of words to look up in the dictionary (and I'm an English major and a professional editor.Gasp!).The text is also extremely engaging.As I read "Life of Mammals," I found myself stopping to share bits and pieces of what Attenborough wrote with various family members, usually starting the conversation with, "This is amazing!Did you know...?"Attenborough devotes a lot of rich detail to the descriptions and histories of animals he choses to cover, all fascinating.There were times when I yearned for more, though I realize you can't devote too many pages to one animal when you're trying to discuss 50 or so different species in one 200+ page book.He also tried to incorporate at least one photograph of each animal he discussed, which I appreciated so much.The photos, by the way, are gorgeous.My boyfriend's 10-year old sister and I spent one hour simply looking at the photographs and discussing each, which was fun for us both.I enjoyed this book so much that I just bought "Life of Birds," also by Attenborough, and am looking forward to reading it, too.

There are better books for the purpose
This book is intended to accompany Attenborough's film series, _The Life of Mammals_.The films are chock full of wonderful footage and information, so I was excited to see the book.The book contains numerous color prints, and is almost equally informative.However, it largely (but not wholly) repeats the film.Its chapters are organized in the same fashion as the film, and the format of each chapter is basically an alternative way the film could have been produced.As a stand-alone volume, it is a decent popular book on mammals; however, it is so similar to the film that reading the book ruins rather than enhances watching the movie, and vice versa.I do not see the point of writing this book as a companion to the documentary series, and its format, with chapters that are not subdivided, is better suited for the movies than the book.

To me, a much better companion volume for Attenborough's series is David Macdonald's 2001 edition of _The Encyclopedia of Mammals_.The photographs in Macdonald's book are even larger and glossier than in Attenborough's book, plus there are photographs of almost every taxonomical group.If one sees Attenborough first, Macdonald's book allows readers to hone in on species and groups that they saw in the movie and found interesting, or see the animals that Attenborough left out.If one reads Macdonald first, which mammals Attenborough will choose to show and how becomes a guessing game.Unlike Attenborough's book, the format of Macdonald's book exploits the advantage of using a book over a movie--the subsections are well divided by taxonomical group, and readers can move at their own pace more easily and focus on only one species or a few species, if they so choose. ... Read more