The United States and Canada are home to more than 400 species of mammals, ranging from the marsupial opossums of the Atlantic seaboard to the beaked whales of British Columbia. Some, like the mountain beaver and the Camas pocket gopher, are intensely local, their ranges confined to small areas; others, such as the white-tailed deer and red squirrel, are broadly distributed in large numbers across the continent.
Volume editors Don Wilson and Sue Ruff enlist some 200 experts to produce this richly illustrated, definitive reference work, the offshoot of a recent initiative by the American Society of Mammalogists. Each species entry includes a distribution map; accounts of behavior, diet, reproduction, habitat, and other aspects of ecology; notes on field identification and demographic status; and, where applicable, a roster of subspecies. The text is organized to emphasize evolutionary relationships among orders and families, and most entries include notes on the evolutionary history of the animal in question. ("The timid nature of the black bear," notes one such entry, "probably stems from its having evolved with such powerful predators as short-faced bears and sabre-toothed cats [both now extinct], and more recently with grizzly/brown bears, gray wolves, and humans.")
Readers from many fields will value this fine--and peerless--book. --Gregory McNamee
From Library Journal
With the help of over 200 experts, the editors of Mammal Species of the World have created a beautifully illustrated and well-written work. Designed to be the first comprehensive source on North American mammals, it covers every species known in the United States, Canada, and the surrounding islands and waters. The book is arranged by evolutionary relationships, with each species account including information on identification guidelines, scientific and common names, geographic distribution, behavior, diet, habitat, reproduction, growth and development, longevity, predation, population status, and impact of human activity. Each entry also includes a distribution map and photograph, usually in color, and a brief list of references providing additional information. Because the indexes to scientific and common names only reference species information that appears outside its own entry, readers will have to use the table of contents to find the main entry. Written for readers of all levels, this book is an authoritative source. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.ATeresa Berry, Univ. of Tennessee Lib., Knoxville
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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