Product Description

Since 2001, when the previous edition of this award-winning encyclopedia was published, new advances in molecular evolution and changes in how scientists view the classification of mammals resulted in a restructuring of the older classification system. This new approach means that certain animals, such as moles, shrews, and insectivores, are now reclassed based on molecular and other biological evidence that has been collected over the last five years. In three comprehensive, beautifully illustrated volumes, "The Encyclopedia of Mammals, Second Edition" brings the extensive research on this topic up to date as it reflects the latest thinking on mammalian evolution. All information in this set has been reviewed, updated, and expanded from the first edition, including six new special feature sections and an abundance of full-color photographs and illustrations. With the emergence of new archaeological evidence, the discussion of the age and evolution of man has been reopened, and this set addresses the role and development of mammalian evolution in the 21st century. Written by a team of advisory editors and some of the world's leading biologists, "The Encyclopedia of Mammals, Second Edition" remains unparalleled in scope and authority. New features include: current information on various threats to endangered species during the 21st century; two new essays covering recent developments in mammalian conservation; a completely new essay in the Primates section on the evolution of hominids; and a featured essay on man as a single species.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1323181 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 3
• Binding: Hardcover
• 930 pages

Review
"After a major revision of both text and graphics, this encyclopedia..., filled with beautiful photographs, drawings, diagrams, and distribution maps, is a delight to use...[good] graphics, an up-to-date bibliography, and an easy to use format...For all life science collections; secondary school through university." - Choice "This comprehensive encyclopedia...should reach a broad audience...color photographs, maps, and sketches make the set visually appealing. At the same time, each entry is authoritative and informative enough to be useful to students...an excellent resource. Recommended for all libraries needing a comprehensive, up-do-date animal reference..." - Library Journal "...presents the latest facts about some 4,600 mammalian species in clearly written, signed entries... The many photographs and illustrations are both beautiful and informative." - School Library Journal"

British Wildlife
'If you are interested in mammals, it will be hard to resist buying this excellent publication'

Irish Times
'an ultimate in natural history books'

Customer Reviews

Impressive, but capable of improvement
Whilst I am very pleased to have this book, I do not wish to give unqualified praise. I think the coverage is unfortunately scanty in some areas, and often says nothing about familiar species.

This is a beautiful book with a lot of lovely pictures and information, and not over-populist in its content. However given the number of mammalian species, there is a limit to what you can cover in 1000 pages, and I think the balance is sometimes unfortunate. It is sometimes said that this encyclopaedia covers all mammalian species, however a great many are found only in a list of names. Entire families are given this treatment. Many other species are covered only with an uninformative three-line one-column entry. The coverage of bats is particularly weak, which is disappointing given that such a large proportion of mammalian species are bats. I have a slimmer encyclopaedia covering all vertebrate animals, which has at least a drawing of and a paragraph describing at least one representative of every mammalian family.

Just because an animal is familiar doesn't mean you will find any information on it. I give two examples. 1. A recent BBC programme on African wild-life spent some time showing Simien Foxes hunting African Mole Rats, a common and unusually large rodent much used as a human food source. It is related to the Bamboo Rat eaten in SE Asia. If you look up the African Mole Rat in the index, you will be referred to the section on Mole-Rats, which is an entirely different group of rodents. When you eventually find it many pages away, there is only a misleading and brief mention. 2. If, like many tourists, you travel to the high Andes of Peru or Bolivia, you will probably see Mountain Viscachas, and very little else. They are much photographed, featured in TV programmes, etc. But you will find no information on this animal beyond its name. However a drawing of the rarely-seen Plains Viscacha is provided.

The taxonomic list of all mammals would be much improved if it had page cross-references to the main section of the book.

Thoroughly comprehensive.
Far more detailed than any other mammalian encyclopaedia that I have come across. It includes many excellent pictures and illustrations, as well as a very usefull size comparison of each animal next to a man.
Information about the state of species populations is given, as is the state of endangerment.
Case study-like articles, about 2 pages in length, provide interesting facts about many of the mammals in the book.
The only caveat, however, is that it did not include humans in the book. We are the only living mammals left out of the book, but should deserve as much as the other great apes for that is what we are.
However, an excellent purchase, and something that I will spend countless hours reading and learning.

A comprehensive, easy to read and gorgeous book
The new encyclopedia of mammals is a pleasant and surprising mix of photographs, illustrations and text that consisely but comprehensively describes every mammal known to man today. The layout is easy to navigate considering the amount of information within the pages and the mix of scientific and layman's information is refreshing as was a diagramatic comparison of physical size rather than just a given measurement.