Myths and facts about the alligator and its relatives.

G. E. Rumphius, also known as the "Indian Pliny," was one of the great tropical naturalists of the seventeenth century. Born in Germany, he spent most of his life in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, stationed on the island of Ambon in eastern Indonesia. He wrote two major works; this one, the first modern work on tropical fauna, was published posthumously in Dutch in 1705. A classic text of natural history, it is now available in English for the first time.

The descriptions in "The Ambonese Curiosity Cabinet cover "the gamut of organisms found in the seas surrounding Ambon--crabs, shrimp, sea urchins, mussels--as well as minerals and rare concretions taken from animals and plants. A series of exquisite etchings accompanies the descriptions. The book has been masterfully translated and extensively annotated by E. M. Beekman, whose introduction provides the first biography of Rumphius in English that incorporates new material.

Estimating abundance of wildlife is an essential component of a wildlife research program, and a prerequisite for sound management. With the exception of a few highly mathematical volumes, there are no books on the subject for use by students and field workers. Also, the various techniques for counting animals found in scientific journals are often not accessible to African managers. The unavailability of the diverse literature necessitated the production of a textbook or field manual that covers the ground. The book compiles the most relevant techniques for counting African mammals, illustrated with many examples from the field. It provides guidelines for selecting the appropriate methodology for a range of conditions commonly found in the field, in terms of different animal species, habitat types, and management objectives.

This practical pocket field guide, published in association with the Wildlife Trusts, provides essential information on identifying and attracting eighty-eight species of garden bird. Each species account contains accurate artworks that show details to help readers differentiate between similar looking species, and male and female birds. A concise written account further outlines their size, plumage, voice, habitat, food and distribution in Britain and the near Continent. The book also includes general guidelines on food, feeders, nest boxes and other items that can greatly increase the presence of birds in your garden. The easy-to-follow layouts and illustrations aid quick identification, and make this book an indispensable reference in the field as well as at home. It is compact enough to fit in the pocket, yet filled with essential information for nature enthusiasts.

'A beautiful gift... Full of fascinating facts' Yorkshire Post 'We all want to help the beleaguered bee and Sally Coulthard's latest book is a great place to start' Amateur Gardening 'How to help bees thrive and give your garden a real buzz' You Magazine We need bees. These tiny, hardworking insects have transformed our lives with their quiet diligence; fertilizing the wild plants we rely on, and giving us thousands of years of sugary pleasure. But bees are in danger; across the planet, their numbers are plummeting. Sally Coulthard is here to share fifty ways we can all save bees. Whether you garden for bees, campaign for bees, or just learn a bit of bee-whispering, little things can make a big difference. Just ask a bee.

Learn all about lizards. They live all over the world and come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. You'll find out if a lizard can change colors to match its surroundings, if a lizard's tail can really grow back, which lizard runs on water, whether boy and girl lizards look the same, why lizards stick out their tongues, and if they are endangered.

Activities include a lizards crossword puzzle and a lizard puppet that sticks out his dewlap. (What's a dewlap? You'll find out )

This is a handy little reference book that brings together information that has also appeared in such periodicals as Cage Birds and Cage Birds Annual. The emphasis is on preventative measures rather than solely dealing with treatments and remedies. The remedies that are included in this book are those that have been tried and tested. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Contents Include Management of Ailing Birds Diseases and Accidents Useful Remedial Agents Table of Quantities Table of Proportions Seeking Expert Advice

Jonathan Kingdon, one of the world's foremost authorities on African mammals, has both written and illustrated this landmark field guide. The unique combination of his extensive field experience and artistic talent has produced a stunning work that sets new standards. The concise text provides full information on identification, distribution, ecology, relationships and conservation status, with introductory profiles that summarise the characteristics of each mammal group. All known species of African land mammal are covered, with coverage of several of the more complex groups of small mammals simplified by reference to genera. Classification has been fully updated and this new edition includes many newly recognised species. With over 780 colour illustrations, numerous line drawings and more than 520 maps, this book will be an essential companion to anyone visiting Africa or with an interest in the mammals of the continent. Competition note: There are regional mammal books covering southern Africa, for example, but none that covers the whole continent in a portable format. The smaller-format and more concise Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals may be more appealing to a more general safari market, but is much less comprehensive and more out of date.

From prairies to peak tops, Colorado attracts an intriguing mix of birds, from Mountain Plovers and Rosy-Finches to Lazuli Buntings and Black Swifts. Birders from all over the country visit the state to see the vast variety of western and prairie specialties. "Birding Colorado" guides you to the best birding sites at treeless prairies in Pawnee National Grassland; canyons, mesas, and mountains in four national parks and three national monuments; marshes, ponds, and streams in five national wildlife refuges; and mountain, mesa, and prairie highways and byways. Organized by region, this guide lists the likely birds at each site and the status and distribution of all species recorded in the state. For more than twenty-five years, FalconGuides(R) have set the standard for outdoor guidebooks. Written by top experts, each guide invites you to experience the adventure and beauty of the outdoors. Inside you'll find: - Where and when to go, how to get there, and likely birds - A description of each site, with information about key species - Where to find migrating eastern species, water birds, and such specialties as
Pygmy Nuthatch, Greater Roadrunner, and American Three-Toed Woodpecker - Details on the seasonal distributions of 482 bird species--where they occur,
their abundances there, and the best times to see them

The study of coelenterates is now one of the most active fields of invertebrate zoology. There are many reasons for this, and not everyone would agree on them, but certain facts stand out fairly clearly. One of them is that many of the people who study coelenterates do so simply because they are interested in the animals for their own sake. This, however, would be true for other invertebrate groups and cannot by itself explain the current boom in coelenterate work. The main reasons for all this activity seem to lie in the considerable concentration of research effort and funding into three broad, general areas of biology: marine ecology, cellular-developmental biology and neurobiology, in all of which coelenterates have a key role to play. They are the dominant organisms, or are involved in an important way, in a variety of marine habitats, of which coral reefs are only one, and this automatically ensures their claims on the attention of ecologists and marine scientists. Secondly, the convenience of hydra and some other hydroids as experimental animals has long made them a natural choice for a variety of studies on growth, nutrition, symbiosis, morphogenesis and sundry aspects of cell biology. Finally, the phylogenetic position of the coelenterates as the lowest metazoans having a nervous system makes them uniquely interesting to those neurobiologists and behaviorists who hope to gain insights into the functioning of higher nervous systems by working up from the lowest level.

Graced with bounteous natural beauty Costa Rica has become a popular destination for travellers from all over the world. Birds play a prominent role in attracting visitors, too. The shimmering quetzals, gaudy macaws, and comical toucans that populate tourism posters only begin to hint at the impressive avian diversity to be found throughout this small country. The principal objective of this book is to help you correctly identify birds in Costa Rica. Each family of birds is introduced by a brief description that should help the novice birder determine to which group a bird belongs. Nearly every species is illustrated by one or more images, as needed. Corresponding to each species' illustration is a written account on the facing page. The account begins with the unique field marks to look for that will distinguish each species from similar ones. Following the description is information about status, distribution and vocalisation. Most species accounts include a a map showing the distribution within Costa Rica. This new edition features 903 species in total, including 64 that are illustrated here for the first time. The 174 colour plates include 360 new images from artist Robert Dean. The text and maps have been fully updated to ensure that this guide is the definitive field guide for anyone visiting Costa Rica.

The sea has been an endless source of fascination, at once both alluring and mysterious, a place of wonder and terror. The Sea Journal contains first-hand records by a great range of travellers of their encounters with strange creatures and new lands, full of dangers and delights, pleasures and perils. In this remarkable gathering of private journals, log books, letters and diaries, we follow the voyages of intrepid sailors, from the frozen polar wastes to South Seas paradise islands, as they set down their immediate impressions of all they saw. They capture their experiences while at sea, giving us a precious view of the oceans and the creatures that live in them as they were when they were scarcely known and right up to the present day. In a series of biographical portraits, we meet officers and ordinary sailors, cooks and whalers, surgeons and artists, explorers and adventurers. A handful of contemporary mariners provide their thoughts on how art remains integral to their voyaging lives. Often still bearing the traces of their nautical past, the intriguing and enchanting sketches and drawings in this book brilliantly capture the spirit of the oceans and the magic of the sea.

Fishermen, marine aquarists, biologists studying seashore and coastal waters, and those involved in trading shellfish and even restaurateurs are aware of the great diversity of crustaceans inhabiting the seas around the British Isles, Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Crayfishes, Lobsters and Crabs of Europe will enable the reader to identify 42 crustacean species of commercial importance found in these regions during coastal explorations, fishing trips, displayed in public aquaria or available in restaurants, including selected freshwater crayfishes, deep-sea species and some imported species. The book also includes sections on the gross internal and external structure of these Crustacea, their life histories, classification and nomenclature. The book is of interest to students of marine biology and researchers in fisheries science.

Originally published in 1882, Snakes: Curiosities & Wonders of Serpent Life, by naturalist and artist Catherine Hopley, is a fascinating examination of the snake, from anatomy and biology, to common myths, to individual species and habits, and even speculation on "the great sea serpents." In the late 19th century, snakes were considered mysterious, evil creatures, stained from the sin in the Garden of Eden. Hopley's careful study shed new light on creatures long-thought to be vicious and deadly. In a new introduction, cryptozoologist Loren Coleman comments, "The mystery of snakes and the passion many of us experience among the serpents may seem commonplace enough today, but when this masterpiece appeared over a hundred years ago, in 1882, it was a remarkable event. The result was an interesting and scientifically insightful book on the curiosities of serpent life. It mixed Hopley's keen sense for observations and facts with her wonderful illustrations." This new edition, a replica of the original 1882 edition and complete with original illustrations, is part of Cosimo Classic's Loren Coleman Presents series. LOREN COLEMAN is the author of numerous books on cryptozoology, including Bigfoot : The True Story of Apes in America and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters. CATHERINE COOPER HOPLEY was an artist, author, and naturalist from the late 19th century. She has written such titles as British Reptiles and Batrachians (1888), Life in the South from the Commencement of the War (1863), Stonewall Jackson (1863), and Rambles and Adventures in the Wilds of the West(1872). She wrote several natural history books and became known for her realistic watercolor paintings, and her 1856 painting of the old stone church in the Cleveland Public Square is in the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio. LOREN COLEMAN is one of the world's lead crypozoologist. In 1960 he started his fieldwork and after years pursuing cryptozoological mysteries he began writing. He is the author of numerous books of cryptozoology, including Bigfoot : The True Story of Apes in America and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters.

Well over 300 freshwater fish species found in the region’s rivers, lakes and dams feature in this fully revised third edition of Freshwater Fishes of Southern Africa. Updated and expanded, this definitive guide includes newly described species, the latest taxonomic changes, new photographs and illustrations, and updated distribution maps.

An in-depth introduction, supported by explanatory illustrations and photographs, covers:

• a short history of fish science in the region
• ecoregions in which species occur
• anatomy, biology and ecology of fishes
• human impacts on fishes
• conservation status
• new understanding of evolutionary relationships between different fish groups.

The book also includes:

• succinct descriptions of large taxonomic groups of fish, with global distribution charts
• detailed species accounts covering size, identification features, distribution, biology, ecology, conservation, and uses by humans
• full-colour illustrations and up-to-date distribution maps for each species.

An invaluable tool for anglers, students and academics in the field, and conservationists

Musician and naturalist Bernie Krause is one of the world's leading experts in natural sound, and he's spent his life discovering and recording nature's rich chorus. Searching far beyond our modern world's honking horns and buzzing machinery, he has sought out the truly wild places that remain, where natural soundscapes exist virtually unchanged from when the earliest humans first inhabited the earth.
Krause shares fascinating insight into how deeply animals rely on their aural habitat to survive and the damaging effects of extraneous noise on the delicate balance between predator and prey. But natural soundscapes aren't vital only to the animal kingdom; Krause explores how the myriad voices and rhythms of the natural world formed a basis from which our own musical expression emerged.
From snapping shrimp, popping viruses, and the songs of humpback whales-whose voices, if unimpeded, could circle the earth in hours-to cracking glaciers, bubbling streams, and the roar of intense storms; from melody-singing birds to the organlike drone of wind blowing over reeds, the sounds Krause has experienced and describes are like no others. And from recording jaguars at night in the Amazon rain forest to encountering mountain gorillas in Africa's Virunga Mountains, Krause offers an intense and intensely personal narrative of the planet's deep and connected natural sounds and rhythm.
"The Great Animal Orchestra" is the story of one man's pursuit of natural music in its purest form, and an impassioned case for the conservation of one of our most overlooked natural resources-the music of the wild.