Mammalian Biology - Vol. 74 (5) September 2009
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Mammalian Biology - Vol. 74 (5) September 2009
Wilson, D.E.; Mittermeier, R.A.(chief Eds.), Handbookof the Mammals of the World, vol.1, Carnivores, Lynx Edicions (in association with Conservation International and IUCN), Barcelona (2009). 727pp., 36 colour plates, 561 colour photographs, 258 distribution maps, Hardback, €160, ISBN:978-84-96553-49-1
This multi-author book is the first of eight volumes on the world’s mammals. The whole series is patterned on the Handbook of the Birds of the World, and it is a timely and much needed publication. It is also a truly Herculean task in that it cover severy single of the 5,400 or so recognised mammalian species in detail! The first volume is dedicated to thecarnivores – although, some what misleading, only the terrestrial groups,the ‘‘Fissipedia’’, are dealt with. Being the opening volume, the book starts with a general introduction on mammals including morphology, locomotion, behaviour, reproduction and evolution.
After that, each terrestrial carnivore ‘‘family’’ (unfortunately, Linnean categories are maintained throughout the text) is introduced in detail encompassing a standardised listoftopics: systematics; morphology; habitat; communication; food and feeding; breeding; movements,homerange and social organisation; relationships with humans; and status and conservation. A general bibliography on each group closes the general ‘‘family’’ chapters. The text is well-written and embraces a nenormous amount of literature including very recent publications, thus making it an up-to-date account which is magnificently and lavishly accompanied and complemented by a total of more than 500 stunning photographs depicting carnivores in all circumstances of their lives. Many of these pictures will befamiliar to readers with an interest in wildlife photography as theyi nclude some of the best and most widely distributed award-winning photographs of these fascinating animals.
After the general introduction to each ‘‘family’’ every single species is shown in one of the 36 colour plates and then dealt with in a similar way to the ‘‘family’’chapters: First, the species name is given in English, French, German and Spanish (including the scientific binomial, of course); then, information on taxonomy is given and subspecies and their distributions are listed, whilea distribution map is presented for the species as a whole.After that, sections on morphology, habitat, feeding, behaviour and status and conservation follow. Given that one in four mammal species is threatened with extinction, it is an explicit aim of this book to promote and support the conservation of mammals (Conservation International and the IUCN are involved in editing the series). Sadly, the detailed species description is likely to be an obituary in some cases... A short bibliography is also given for the single species, and the whole list of references (more than 4,000!) is nearly 60 pages long. Actually, and the editors and authors must be thanked for this, there are two lists because all references of scientific descriptions (for all taxa including subspecies!) are listed separately.
The concept of the book is reminiscent of the classic Walker’s Mammals of the World, but much more detailed and with much better figures and photographs. Of course, minor mistakes or inconsistencies are unavoidable in a publication like this and by no means diminish its value. This said,it is a little odd that the systematics is strange sometimes. Although much information is given on phylogenetics of ‘‘families’’ or lower taxa in the text, the overall systematic pattern is clearlynon-phylogenetic: sea mammals (aquatic carnivores or pinnipeds, sirenians and whales) will be treated in a volume of their own irrespective of their relationships. Rather enigmatically, the Introduction justifies this by stating that ‘‘it makes much more sense to group marine mammals together’’. Why? It could beargued that whales (which have been known for some time to be derivedartiodactyls, hence the term Cetartiodacty lain recent classifications) have long been treated as ag roup of their own and, therefore, biologists working on artiodactyls have only rarely occupied themselves with cetaceans and viceversa, but I do not quite see how this could serve as an argument for the lumping of whales, sirenians and pinnipeds into one volume. Also,while the phylogenetic relationships among the cats are detailedly presented and discussed, a figure then shows the traditional non-phylogenetic subdivision into the Pantherinae and the (doubtless non-monophyletic) Felinae. This stands in clear contrast to the claim that the book is supposedly based on evolutionary relationships. However, systematics isn ot the primary topic of this wonderful piece of work. The book is an impressive achievement nonetheless, and it will be a reference work for years to come. I am looking very forward to the next volumes, and I am very optimistic that, just like the carnivore volume, they will be a must for every mammalogical library.
Frank E. Zachos
Kiel, Germany
fzachos@zoologie.uni-kiel.de