Mammals of North America: Temperate and Arctic Regions - Softcover

Forsyth, Adrian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1554072336 ISBN 13: 9781554072330

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2006

Synopsis

An invaluable reference -- comprehensive, readable and filled with stunning color photographs.

This landmark reference by award-winning nature writer Adrian Forsyth includes scientific names, descriptions and behavioral information for the wild mammals of North America, but is much more than a field guide. In engaging language, the author delves into the reasons the animals live and act the way they do, explaining for example:

• Why some predators are highly social while others live alone
• Why shrews no bigger than a thimble eat more than their body weight each day
• How a bat can pick a small insect off the surface of a leaf in total darkness
• How a squat prehistoric pig-like animal evolved into the pronghorn antelope, one of the world's fastest creatures.

The text is illustrated with exquisite color photographs by some of North America's foremost wildlife photographers, making Mammals of North America an important nature reference for the entire family.

About this title

Review:

Field guides help naturalists identify animals, but understanding their behavior is much more difficult. That's why this hefty reference work is so welcome. Mammals of North America is an excellent introduction to the behavior, ecology, and evolution of temperate and arctic mammals. Adrian Forsyth, a scientist and author of several other books on natural history, provides more than 100 species accounts, complete with excellent color photographs, range maps, basic life-history data, and concise summaries of behavior and ecology. From bighorn sheep to pygmy shrew, blue whale to black bear, Forsyth always finds something interesting to say.

But Forsyth's best writing shines in the mini-essays that occur throughout the text. What good are antlers? At less than a 10th of an ounce, how do shrews stay warm? Why do mammals produce milk? (From modified sweat glands, no less!) Why are seals such excellent divers? These topics allow him to address the big issues raised by recent advances in ecology and evolution, but always in the context of the mammal at hand, hoof, or flipper.

The geographical coverage is not truly North American. Forsyth provides accounts for only one-third of the North American species in some families. Most of the species omitted are from California, the arid Southwest, and Mexico. Is a companion volume for the arid regions of North America planned? Even with these omissions, Mammals of North America provides rich rewards for armchair naturalists as well as those who follow Louis Agassiz's advice to "study Nature, not books." --Pete Holloran

About the Author:

Adrian Forsyth is a specialist in animal behavior and the author of numerous books, including Portraits of the Rainforest and Exploring the World of Birds. A co-founder of the Amazon Conservation Association and a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, he lives in Washington, D.C.

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1554072336
• ISBN 13: 9781554072330
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352