This outstanding work is the ultimate guide for the identification of Australia’s butterflies. Nearly 400 species – all those currently recognised from Australia, plus those from surrounding islands – are represented, with all adults and some immature stages displayed in stunning colour sections. Introductory chapters cover the history of publications, classification, morphology, distribution, conservation and collection, together with a checklist of the butterfly fauna. The body of the text ...

Tim Low, award-winning author of Feral Future, in an eye-opening book on the unique nature of Australian birds and their role in ecology and global evolution.Renowned for its unusual mammals, Australia is a land of birds that are just as unusual, just as striking, a result of the continent's tens of millions of years of isolation. Compared with birds elsewhere, ours are more likely to be intelligent, aggressive and loud, to live in complex societies, and are long-lived. The...

The most authoritative illustrated book on flying reptiles availableFor 150 million years, the skies didn't belong to birds—they belonged to the pterosaurs. These flying reptiles, which include the pterodactyls, shared the world with the nonavian dinosaurs until their extinction 65 million years ago. Some pterosaurs, such as the giant azhdarchids, were the largest flying animals of all time, with wingspans exceeding thirty feet and standing heights comparable to mo...

As fascinating as they are beautiful, butterflies are a pleasure to watch and an important group of invertebrates to study. This second edition of the award-winning book The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia is a fully updated guide to all butterfly species on Australia's mainland and remote islands. Written by one of Australia's leading lepidopterists, the book is stunningly illustrated with colour photographs, many of which are new, of each of the 435 currently recognised spe...

Like the Sydney Opera House or Uluru, the kangaroo is a unique symbol of Australia. This is the remarkable story of our most famous marsupial, from its ancient origins and prehistoric significance to current-day management and conservation.Marsupial specialists Stephen Jackson and Karl Vernes examine our sustained fascination with kangaroos-spanning 40,000 years-that allows these engaging marsupials to be instantly recognised by people the world over. The amazing diversity of this ...

Since it first became known to European scientists and naturalists in 1798, the platypus has been the subject of controversy, interest and absolute wonder. Found only in Australia, the platypus is a mammal that lays eggs but, like other mammals, it has fur and suckles its young on milk. Many early biologists who visited the British colonies in Australia, including Charles Darwin, went out of their way to observe this remarkable animal. In Australia today the species is considered to be an ...

Spectacular Snakes of Australia showcases these beautiful creatures which play such an important part in our biodiversity. It portrays most of the species found in Australia, such as tiger snakes, copperheads, brown snakes, death adders and sea snakes, up close and personal. It also includes some unique photographs, such as the hatching of scrub pythons, that offer a rare glimpse into their more intimate lives. The informative text, based on the latest research, describes the reproductive bio...

This is the first comprehensive, reliable, well-illustrated book covering the enormous diversity of Australian moths, summarising our knowledge of them by the acknowledged experts in the field. The text includes nomenclature and a wealth of information on distribution, larval food plants, and the fascinating behaviour of these often colourful insects. There are authoritative accounts of moth structure, their life history, biology, population control, economic significance, evolution and geogr...

Native Grasses: Identification Handbook for Temperate Australia is an easy-to-use tool for identifying some of the most common native grasses in temperate Australia. The text describes 17 species in detail, covering general features as well as specific distinguishing features. Full-colour photographs of the whole plant, as well as close-ups of significant parts of the plants such as the seedhead, leaf blade, seed and ligule, accompany each species description. The handbook provides advice on ...

Referred to as the 'Spiny Crayfishes' due to impressive arrays of spines on their hard armoured shells, Euastacus crayfish are the largest of the 10 genera of Australian freshwater crayfish. This book discusses 50 species found in Australia, from the iconic giant Murray lobster that is fished by recreational fishers, to the exceedingly rare and tiny species Euastacus maidae. These uniquely Australian species range from Cooktown in far north Queensland to Wilsons Promontory in Victoria. Many a...

Australia’s native rodents are the most ecologically diverse family of Australian mammals. There are about 60 living species – all within the subfamily Murinae – representing around 25 per cent of all species of Australian mammals. They range in size from the very small delicate mouse to the highly specialised, arid-adapted hopping mouse, the large tree rat and the carnivorous water rat. Native Mice and Rats describes the evolution and ecology of this much-neglected group of animals. It detai...

Australia has a rich diversity of phasmids – otherwise known as stick and leaf insects. Most of them are endemic, few have been studied and new species continue to be found. Stick insects are, by far, Australia’s longest insects – some of them reach up to 300 mm in body length, or more than half a metre if you include their outstretched legs. Many stick insects are very colourful, and some have quite elaborate, defensive behaviour. Increasingly they are being kept as pets. This is the first b...