Australia has a rich and unique array of animals, including the largest diversity of marsupials on earth. The recent growth in ecotourism has increased the popularity of mammal-spotting, particularly whale and dolphin-watching, but also spotting of perennial tourist favorites such as koalas and kangaroos. For the first time ever, The Complete Guide to Finding the Mammals of Australia advises interested amateurs and professionals where to locate many of Australia's mammals. The book describes Australia's best mammal-watching sites state-by-state. It also includes a complete, annotated taxonomic list with hints on finding each species (or why it won't be easy to see); sections on travel and logistics in Australia; and appendices with hints on finding and photographing mammals.

First published more than a century ago, The Biography of a Grizzly recounts the life of a fictitious bear named Wahb who lived and died in the Greater Yellowstone region. This new edition combines Ernest Thompson Seton's classic tale and original illustrations with historical and scientific context for Wahb's story, providing a thorough understanding of the setting, cultural connections, biology, and ecology of Seton's best-known book. By the time The Biography of a Grizzly was published in 1900, grizzly bears had been hunted out of much of their historical range in North America. The characterization of Wahb, along with Seton's other anthropomorphic tales of American wildlife, helped to change public perceptions and promote conservation. As editors Jeremy M. Johnston and Charles R. Preston remind us, however, Seton's approach to writing about animals put him at the center of the ""Nature-Faker"" controversy of the early twentieth century, when John Burroughs and Theodore Roosevelt, among others, denounced sentimental representations of wildlife. The editors address conservation scientists' continuing concerns about inaccurate depictions of nature in popular culture. Despite its anthropomorphism, Seton's paradoxical book imparts a good deal of insightful and accurate natural history, even as its exaggerations shaped early-twentieth-century public opinion on conservation in often counterproductive ways. By complicating Seton's enthralling tale with scientific observations of grizzly behavior in the wild, Johnston and Preston evaluate the story's accuracy and bring the story of Yellowstone grizzlies into the present day. Preserving the 1900 edition's original design and illustrations, Wahb brings new understanding to an American classic, updating the book for current and future generations.

The Dingo Debate explores the intriguing and relatively unknown story of Australia's most controversial animal - the dingo. Throughout its existence, the dingo has been shaped by its interactions with human societies. With this as a central theme, the book traces the story of the dingo from its beginnings as a semi-domesticated wild dog in South-east Asia, to its current status as a wild Australian native animal under threat of extinction. It describes how dingoes made their way to Australia, their subsequent relationship with Indigenous Australians, their successful adaption to the Australian landscape and their constant battle against the agricultural industry. During these events, the dingo has demonstrated an unparalleled intelligence and adaptable nature seen in few species. The book concludes with a discussion of what the future of the dingo in Australia might look like, what we can learn from our past relationship with dingoes and how this can help to allow a peaceful co-existence. The Dingo Debate reveals the real dingo beneath the popular stereotypes, providing an account of the dingo's behaviour, ecology, impacts and management according to scientific and scholarly evidence rather than hearsay. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in Australian natural history, wild canids, and the relationship between humans and carnivores.

Among all the large whales on Earth, the most unusual and least studied is the narwhal, the northernmost whale on the planet and the one most threatened by global warming. Narwhals thrive in the fjords and inlets of northern Canada and Greenland. These elusive whales, whose long tusks were the stuff of medieval European myths and Inuit legends, are uniquely adapted to the Arctic ecosystem and are able to dive below thick sheets of ice to depths of up to 1,500 meters in search of their prey-halibut, cod, and squid. Join Todd McLeish as he travels high above the Arctic circle to meet: Teams of scientific researchers studying the narwhal's life cycle and the mysteries of its tusk Inuit storytellers and hunters Animals that share the narwhals' habitat: walruses, polar bears, bowhead and beluga whales, ivory gulls, and two kinds of seals McLeish consults logbooks kept by whalers and explorers and interviews folklorists and historians to tease out the relationship between the real narwhal and the mythical unicorn. In Colorado, he visits climatologists studying changes in the seasonal cycles of the Arctic ice. From a history of the trade in narwhal tusks to descriptions of narwhals' vocalizations as heard through hydrophones, Narwhals reveals the beauty and thrill of the narwhal and its habitat, and the threat it faces from a rapidly changing world. Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHwaqdKyLCQ&list=UUge4MONgLFncQ1w1C_BnHcw&index=9&feature=plcp

The evolution of high-crowned teeth, hypsodonty, is a defining characteristic of many terrestrial herbivores. To date, the most prominent focus in the study of the teeth of grazing herbivores has been co-evolution with grasses and grasslands. This book develops the idea further and looks at the myriad ways that soil can enter the diet. Madden then expands this analysis to examine the earth surface processes that mobilize sediment in the environment. The text delivers a global perspective on tooth wear and soil erosion, with examples from the islands of New Zealand to the South American Andes, highlighting how similar geological processes worldwide result in convergent evolution. The final chapter includes a review of elodonty in the fossil record and its environmental consequences. Offering new insights into geomorphology and adaptive and evolutionary morphology, this text will be of value to any researcher interested in the evolution of tooth size and shape.

For centuries, reports of man-eating tigers in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have circulated, shrouded in myth and anecdote. This fascinating book documents the "big cat"-human relationship in this area during its 350-year colonial period, re-creating a world in which people feared tigers but often came into contact with them, because these fierce predators prefer habitats created by human interference. Peter Boomgaard shows how people and tigers adapted to each other's behavior, each transmitting this learning from one generation to the next. He discusses the origins of stories and rituals about tigers and explains how cultural biases of Europeans and class differences among indigenous populations affected attitudes toward the tigers. He provides figures on their populations in different eras and analyzes the factors contributing to their present status as an endangered species. Interweaving stories about Malay kings, colonial rulers, tiger charmers, and bounty hunters with facts about tigers and their way of life, the book is an engrossing combination of environmental and micro history.

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of the biology, diet, eating habits and disorders of rabbits. Topics discussed in this volume include the rabbit brain as a model of structural neuroplasticity; a survey on the studies of rabbit prion proteins; the effect of reduced dietary consistency on the fibre properties of rabbit jaw muscles; the use of rabbits to investigate the pathogenesis of disease; the assessment of sperm DNA damage in rabbits using the Halomax assay; nutritional effects of plant oil and seeds in rabbit feeding; and current studies on the aetiology of obstructive dysfunction of the male rabbit urinary bladder.

Focusing on the physiological and behavioral factors that enable a species to live in a harsh seasonal environment, this book places the social biology of marmots in an environmental context. It draws on the results of a forty-year empirical study of the population biology of the yellow-bellied marmot near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in the Upper East River Valley in Colorado, USA. The text examines life-history features such as body-size, habitat use, environmental physiology, social dynamics, and kinship. Considerable new data analyses are integrated with material published over a fifty-year period, including extensive natural history observations, providing an essential foundation for integrating social and population processes. Finally, the results of research into the yellow-bellied marmot are related to major ecological and evolutionary theories, especially inclusive fitness and population regulation, making this a valuable resource for students and researchers in animal behavior, behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation.

A comprehensive work intended for anyone maintaining captive bats, Bats in Captivity is the only multi-volume series of its kind, detailing the captive care of bats worldwide. This volume comprises 25 papers by 37 contributing authors. It contains information on the legal aspects of maintaining and shipping bats, plus papers on developing traveling trunks and loan boxes, the use of ultrasonic mobility devices in education programs, conditioning and training bats for public demonstration, their use in outreach programs, and exhibiting bats in zoological institutions. In addition, there is comprehensive information on excluding bats from man-made structures, as well as how bat houses and artificial roosts are constructed and used.

Javelinas and Other Peccaries is certain to be regarded as the definitive source on this family of piglike creatures consisting of three species. Best known in the United States is the javelina, or collared peccary, but the firsthand observations and extensive information provided in this well-illustrated volume, cover all of the species. The javelina extends its range from the southwestern United States to northern Argentina, while the larger white-lipped peccary prefers warmer, moister tropical forests such as from extreme southern Mexico to northern Argentina. The Chacoan, or giant peccary, exists only in a small area known as the Chaco in western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and eastern Bolivia; scientists did not discover this species until 1972. Lyle K. Sowls, who has studied these animals for nearly forty years, examines this family of New World mammals and presents his findings on each species' anatomy and physiology, behavior, reproduction, effects on the environment, diet, reaction to diseases, and habitat. He also includes sonograms of peccary vocalizations representing their social communication. Additionally, Sowls provides a review of management practices, along with recommendations on the management and conservation of peccaries. He suggests that peccaries offer an opportunity for modern wildlife management to help bring better use of forest areas to sustained land use. He reviews the peccaries' importance as a game animal for sport hunters, and includes reports from early explorers and discussion of American Indians' use of the animals. This fully revised book, out of print since 1989, is a useful tool for mammalogists and other wildlife scientists, game specialists, and general readers interested in javelinas in the U.S. Southwest and peccaries throughout the Americas. LYLE K. SOWLS is Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Science in the School of Renewable Natural Resources at the College of Agriculture, University of Arizona.

Second only to humans in adapting to climate extremes, grey wolves once ranged from coast to coast and from Alaska to Mexico in North America. By the early 20th century, government-sponsored predator control programs and declines in prey brought grey wolves to near extinction in 48 states. This book examines the Endangered Species Act as it applies to grey wolves, with a focus on the grey wolf population, recovery, and biology in the United States today.

Fur seals and sea lions are large, charismatic carnivores that play and engage the public with both their skill and their dog-like appearance. Fur seals and sea lions are top level predators in southern Australian marine ecosystems and were harvested to near extinction 200 years ago. Fur seals are now recovering and are a common feature of islands and near-shore waters across southern Australia, and may reach pre-harvest levels in the next few decades. Sea lions, however, are still endangered and their numbers appear not to be recovering like fur seals and have declined at some locations. All species interact with fisheries, often to the detriment of both fishery and seal. This book outlines the comparative evolutionary ecology, biology, life-history, behavior, conservation status, threats, history of human interactions and latest research on the three species of otariids that live in the waters of southern Australia: the Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal and Australian sea lion. It also includes brief descriptions of Antarctic and Subantarctic seals that occupy the Antarctic pack-ice and remote Australian territories of Macquarie Island and Heard Island.

The study of primate ecology and conservation has advanced rapidly in recent years. This practical volume brings together a group of distinguished primate researchers to synthesize field, laboratory, and conservation management techniques for primate ecology and conservation. The synthesis focuses on new and emerging field methods alongside a comprehensive presentation of laboratory and data analysis techniques, as well as the latest methods for determining conservation status and conservation management. This book's particular focus is on innovative ways to study primates in a changing world, including emerging methods such as non-invasive genetic techniques and advanced spatial modeling. In addition to synthesizing field and lab methods, the authors also discuss data interpretation, as well as important guiding questions and principles for students and researchers to consider as they plan research projects in primate ecology and conservation such as: how to choose a field site, acquire research permits, connect with local authorities, communities and researchers, and many other considerations. Although three chapters are dedicated to conservation methods, consideration of conservation status and threats to primate populations are considered throughout this volume where appropriate. This latest publication in the Techniques in Ecology and Conservation Series aims to provide a practical empirical reference text with an international scope, appropriate for graduate students, researchers, and conservation professionals across the globe.

This book explores the biology, behaviour and health disorders of dogs. Topics discussed include chronic valve disease in dogs; Canine Leishmaniosis; dogs as the reservoirs and transmitters of the rabies virus; dog bites to the external genitalia in children; understanding the human gaze in dogs; strategies for dog rabies control in Bolivia; diagnosis of Brucella Canis by polymerase chain reaction and a study on cardiac enzymes in heart worm infection in dogs.

A comprehensive work intended for anyone maintaining captive bats. Bats in Captivity is the only multi-volume series of its kind, detailing the captive care of bats worldwide. This volume comprises 26 papers by 22 contributing authors. It contains a comprehensive discussion on nutrition, as well as dietary information for bats that eat insects, fruit, nectar, blood, fish and other vertebrates. Other subjects include methods for rearing insects, methods for collecting wild insects, environmental enrichment, roosting ecology, and environment and housing considerations for all bat groups, plus much more.

Mammals in the genus Martes are mid-sized carnivores of great importance to forest ecosystems. This book, the successor to Martens, Sables, and Fishers: Biology and Conservation, provides a scientific basis for management and conservation efforts designed to maintain or enhance the populations and habitats of Martes species throughout the world. The twenty synthesis chapters contained in this book bring together the perspectives and expertise of 63 scientists from twelve countries, and are organized by the five key themes of evolution and biogeography, population biology and management, habitat ecology and management, research techniques, and conservation.

Recent developments in research technologies such as modeling and genetics, biological knowledge about pathogens and parasites, and concerns about the potential effects of global warming on the distribution and status of Martes populations make new syntheses of these areas especially timely. The volume provides an overview of what is known while clarifying initiatives for future research and conservation priorities, and will be of interest to mammalogists, resource managers, applied ecologists, and conservation biologists.

Contributors: Alexei V. Abramov, Russian Academy of Sciences; Jon M. Arnemo, Hedmark University College, Norway; James A. Baldwin, USDA Forest Service; Jeff Bowman, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources; Scott M. Brainerd, Alaska Department of Fish and Game; Richard N. Brown, Humboldt State University; Steven W. Buskirk, University of Wyoming; Carlos Carroll, Klamath Center for Conservation Research; Joseph A. Cook, University of New Mexico; Samuel A. Cushman, USDA Forest Service; Natalie G. Dawson, University of Montana; John Fryxell, University of Guelph; Mourad W. Gabriel, Integral Ecology Research Center; Jonathan H. Gilbert, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission; Evan H. Girvetz, Nature Conservancy; Rebecca A. Green, USDA Forest Service; Daniel J. Harrison, University of Maine; J. Mark Higley, Hoopa Tribal Forestry; Eric P. Hoberg, USDA Agricultural Research Service; Susan S. Hughes, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Neil R. Jordan, Vincent Wildlife Trust; Anson V. A. Koehler, University of Otago; William B. Krohn, University of Maine; Joshua J. Lawler, University of Washington; Jeffrey C. Lewis, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Eric C. Lofroth, British Columbia Ministry of Environment; Robert A. Long, Montana State University; Paula MacKay, Montana State University; Bruce G. Marcot, USDA Forest Service; Ryuichi Masuda, Hokkaido University; Marina Mergey, Universite de Reims Champagne-Ardenne; Vladimir Monakhov, Russian Academy of Sciences; Takahiro Murakami, Shiretoko Museum; Anne-Mari Mustonen, University of Eastern Finland; Petteri Nieminen, University of Eastern Finland; Cino Pertoldi, Aarhus University; Roger A. Powell, North Carolina State University; Gilbert Proulx, Alpha Wildlife Research & Management Ltd.; Kathryn L. Purcell, USDA Forest Service; Catherine M. Raley, USDA Forest Service; Martin G. Raphael, USDA Forest Service; Luis M. Rosalino, Universidade de Lisboa; Aritz Ruiz-Gonzalez, Universidad del Pais Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea; Hugh D. Safford, USDA Forest Service; Margarida Santos-Reis, Universidade de Lisboa; Joel Sauder, Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game;Michael K. Schwartz, USDA Forest Service; Andrew J. Shirk, University of Washington; Keith M. Slauson, USDA Forest Service; Brian G. Slough, Yukon Territory; Wayne D. Spencer, Conservation Biology Institute; Richard A. Sweitzer, University of California, Berkeley; Craig M. Thompson, USDA Forest Service; Ian D. Thompson, Canadian Forest Service; Richard L. Truex, USDA Forest Service; Emilio Virgos, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; Tzeidle N. Wasserman, Northern Arizona University; Greta M. Wengert, Integral Ecology Research Center; J. Scott Yaeger, USDI U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Andrzej Zalewski, Polish Academy of Sciences; William J. Zielinski, USDA Forest Service; Patrick A. Zollner, Purdue University"

The captivating story of how a band of scientists has redrawn the genetic and behavioral lines that separate humans from our nearest cousins

In the fall of 2005, a band of researchers cracked the code of the chimpanzee genome and provided a startling new window into the differences between humans and our closest primate cousins. For the past several years, acclaimed "Science" reporter Jon Cohen has been following the DNA hunt, as well as eye-opening new studies in ape communication, human evolution, disease, diet, and more.

In "Almost Chimpanzee," Cohen invites us on a captivating scientific journey, taking us behind the scenes in cutting-edge genetics labs, rain forests in Uganda, sanctuaries in Iowa, experimental enclaves in Japan, even the Detroit Zoo. Along the way, he ferries fresh chimp sperm for a time-sensitive analysis, gets greeted by pant-hoots and chimp feces, and investigates an audacious attempt to breed a humanzee. Cohen offers a fresh and often frankly humorous insider's tour of the latest research, which promises to lead to everything from insights about the unique ways our bodies work to shedding light on stubborn human-only problems, ranging from infertility and asthma to speech disorders.

And in the end, Cohen explains why it's time to move on from Jane Goodall's plea that we focus on how the two species are alike and turns to examining why our differences matter in vital ways—for understanding humans and for increasing the chances to save the endangered chimpanzee.

This book provides an authoritative source of information on kangaroos and their relatives. Topics include: species characteristics and biology, adaptations and function, and conservation. The book also discusses culling and the commercial kangaroo harvest, as well as national attitudes to kangaroos and their value for tourism. There are 71 recognised species of kangaroo found in Australasia. Of these, 46 are endemic to Australia, 21 are endemic to the island of New Guinea, and four species are found in both regions. The various species have a number of common names, including bettong, kangaroo, pademelon, potoroo, quokka, rat kangaroo, rock wallaby, tree kangaroo, wallaby and wallaroo. Illustrated in full colour, Australia's Amazing Kangaroos will give readers insight into the world of this intriguing marsupial - an animal that has pride of place on the Australian Coat of Arms.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ The Romance Of Natural History: First And Second Series, Volume 1; The Romance Of Natural History: First And Second Series; Philip Henry Gosse Philip Henry Gosse J. Nisbet, 1861

The Centre for Fortean Zoology CFZ] is the only professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992, the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. In June 2008, a five-person team Russia in search of the almasty or wild man. It was a gruelling journey and expedition leader Richard Freeman nearly died twice. Here, for the first time, is their story...With an introduction by Jonathan Downes and forward by Dr. Karl Shuker