The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals (Princeton Pocket Guides) [Paperback]

Jonathan Kingdon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Princeton Pocket Guides | Publication Date: January 10, 2005

This is an essential guide for anyone with an interest in wildlife who visits Africa--from the tourist on safari to the more experienced naturalist. Compact and beautifully illustrated, it is ideal for use in the field, while its coverage is the most comprehensive for any book of its size.

• First pocket guide to cover every species of terrestrial African mammal
• Adapted from the highly acclaimed Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals
• Fully illustrated with the author's superb color artwork
• Easy-to-read distribution maps
• Concise text and clear layout for quick, easy reference
• Practical format makes it ideal for use in the field

Editorial Reviews

Review

Jonathan Kingdon loves biology and art. This felicitous combo delivers a delightful book. . . . His knowledge is impressive, and his drawings and paintings wonderful, full of information and character. . . . A great guide, from leaf-plucking gelada to long-eared hedgehog. Take it to any African country. -- Maggie McDonald, New Scientist



Anyone with an interest in Africa and the animals that roam through the various ecosystems, from lowland rainforests, savannahs, grasslands, to deserts and shrublands, should invest in a copy of noted African mammal expert Jonathan Kingdon's pocket guide of African mammals. . . . [T]he book [is] perfect for serious fieldwork and the vacation traveler. -- Biology Digest

About the Author

Jonathan Kingdon is one of the world's foremost authorities on the mammals of Africa, and also a highly acclaimed artist. "American Scientist" listed Kingdon's "East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa" as "one of a hundred books that shaped science in the twentieth century." This pocket guide has been adapted from his classic "Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals".

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (January 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691122393
• ISBN-13: 978-0691122397
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > Travel > Specialty Travel > Travel with Pets
  • #66 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Mammals

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Guide for Field Use in Africa!, August 5, 2006

By 

Laszlo Wagner (Hungary) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals (Princeton Pocket Guides) (Paperback)

This compact little guide is a condensed version of The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals by the same author. That book is easily the best overview of African mammals, with detailed info on each species/genus, but it is not really practical for use as a field guide (see my review of it).

This book contains the same illustrations arranged in a format that makes them handier for actual identification in the field.
It is very comprehensive, covering every single species of African mammals with the exception of bats, rodents, insectivores, elephant-shrews and hyrraxes, which are usually represented by one species for each genus. But every single genus is represented, and of rodents, every species of squirrel is dealt with separately.
Maps and brief info on distribution and ecology of each taxon is now to be found on the pages facing the illustrutions.
The latter are a mixed bag, as in the original work: while most are quite good, even excellent and life-like, others are quite awful, either showing animals with stiff, straight limbs/bodies as if drawn with a ruler (like the Crowned Monkey) or in highly unnatural positions (like the Potto with the limbs twisted out, or the Cheetah standing up like a circus horse).

All things considered, this is easily the best field guide to mammals of Africa, though for more in-depth information on each taxon, you may still want to have the original book in addition to this one.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great help!, November 4, 2009

By 

G. Walters (So. California) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals (Princeton Pocket Guides) (Paperback)

I wish I had purchased this book before I went to Africa. I would have been much better prepared for seeing the animals. I bought it to help me put captions with my pictures, and find my notes do not have accurate information. Either I did not understand my guide very well, or he did not know the information this book contains.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, November 10, 2007

By 

C. Colberg "Smores Lover" (Sierra Nevada Mtns USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals (Princeton Pocket Guides) (Paperback)

This guide was an excellent reference on Safari, small size and well organized format made The Kingdon Pocket Guide to Africa easy to use in the field.