Review by Choice Review
This volume, the labor of authors Hoffmann, Darrin Lunde, John MacKinnon, and Don E. Wilson and superb illustrator Federico Gemma, also benefits from the contributions of the two editors and Wang Sung and W. Chris Wozencraft. It is the most comprehensive single-volume reference to China's mammals and perhaps to those of Asia as well. This guide to China's 556 mammal species is organized in an interesting, useful way. Under "Contents" the taxonomic framework of the species is given with page references for immediate access. The introductory chapter briefly outlines China's geography and mammalian biogeography, a history of Chinese mammalogy, and current conservation efforts, along with the country's Protected Area System. What follows, still within the introductory chapter, are six maps that detail provinces and autonomous regions (for "Xizang" read "Tibet"), landforms and rivers, biogeographic regions, and protected areas.Twenty-five color photos depict the same number of different habitats. Sixty-one plates depict, as excellent colored drawings, the species of mammals. The main body of the book, "Taxonomic Descriptions," follows. Each species account includes a small map of China with dots representing the distribution of a particular species taxon. It is difficult to overestimate the usefulness of this outstanding book--not only for naturalists and mammalogists, but also for all conservation-minded people who are very concerned about the struggle between China's 1.3 billion people, with their often-disastrous culinary and pharmacological habits, and that country's precious wildlife. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. F. S. Szalay University of New Mexico
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
