A group of special interest to mammalogists, taxonomists, and systemicists, ungulates have proven difficult to classify. This comprehensive review of the taxonomic relationships of artiodactyls and perissodactyls brings forth new evidence in order to propose a theory of ungulate taxonomy.With this straightforward volume, Colin Groves and the late Peter Grubb cut through previous assumptions to define ungulate genera, species, and subspecies. The species-by-species accounts incorpor...

The Encyclopedia of North American Mammals describes and illustrates over 500 mammals, from the bear and bat to whale and deer. With over 2,000 color photographs, this encyclopedia is for every reader from the novice to the experienced observer.FEATURES:- Information about each North American Mammal. - Over 2,000 color photographs. - Intuitive navigation: navigate from Table of Contents or search for words or phrases. - The Encyclopedia is stored in your local memory - you get the informat...

The New York Times–bestselling "exploration of the world from a piscine perspective . . . makes a persuasive case that what fish know is quite a lot" (Elizabeth Kolbert, The New York Review of Books).Do fishes think? Do they really have three-second memories? And can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? In What a Fish Knows, ethologist Jonathan Balcombe addresses these questions and more, revealing th...

Cichlid fishes are amazing creatures. In terms of sheer number of species, they are the most successful of all families of vertebrate animals, and the extent and speed with which they have evolved in some African lakes has made them the darlings of evolutionary biologists. But what truly captivates biologists like George Barlow -- not to mention thousands of aquarists the world over -- is the complexity of their social lives and their devotion to family (most species of cichlids are monoga...

Widespread in North American forest regions including the Rocky Mountains, the Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus) was once the most numerous predatory bird in Eurasian boreal forests. Synthesising the results of unique long-term studies of Boreal Owls, this book explores hunting modes, habitats and foods, prey interactions, mating and parental care, reproduction, dispersal, survival and mortality, population regulation and conservation in boreal forests. Providing a detailed introduction to th...

The definitive guide to the bats of Britain and Europe.This concise and definitive guide presents all 45 bat species that regularly occur in Europe (of which 17 are known to breed in the British Isles). The extensive introduction details the remarkable biology of bats and explores the latest findings in bat evolution, behaviour and echolocation.This is followed by in-depth species accounts covering life history, conservation status and identification of fam...

No other human-caused extinction event has been as spectacular and as pervasive in the literature as that of the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius). However, documentation of this event relies on personal journals, newspaper and magazine articles, and a few volumes that summarize some of the events after the passenger pigeons were extinct. The prevalent message from most of the articles is that passenger pigeons, once the most abundant bird on the planet, went extinct because humans...

Recent classifications of Australian birds have been limited to lists of "species" which are inadequate as biodiversity indicators. The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines fills a huge gap in ornithological knowledge by separating out and listing not only 340 species of song-birds but also the 720 distinct regional forms. Covering about half the national bird fauna, the Directory provides science and the community with baseline information about what bird it is and where it lives in an ...

An in-depth look at the fish that inhabit the fresh waters of Britain and Ireland. These include famous members of the salmon family, such as the Atlantic Salmon and the Brown Trout, and the obscure whitefish, species of which are confined to just a few lakes. This edition is exclusive to newnaturalists.comFish have been a highly sought after part of the British fauna since Dame Juliana Berners wrote the first fishing book in 1486, but have long been overlooked by naturalists as a ...

A complete guide to the mammals of South Asia, lavishly illustrated with colour plates and photos. The species accounts cover all aspects of field identification, including in-depth sections on distribution, behaviour, status and population. Anyone interested in the wildlife of the subcontinent will find this book an invaluable aid to identifying and understanding the region''s diverse mammalian fauna.Volume 1 covers insectivores, bats, primates, canids and felids, while Volume 2 focuses on m...

This thorough revision of the classic Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals 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 spe...

Mangroves are distinctive tropical plant communities that occupy the intertidal zone between sea and land. They are of major ecological importance, have economic value as a source of food and raw materials, and serve as a buffer from flooding and climate change-induced sea level rise. Mangroves are under threat from pollution, clearance and over-exploitation, and increasing concern has driven demand for an improved understanding of mangrove species. This book provides an introduction to ma...