"For most of us, the story of mammal evolution starts after the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, but over the last 20 years scientists have uncovered new fossils and used new technologies that have upended this story. In Beasts Before Us, palaeontologist Elsa Panciroli charts the emergence of the mammal lineage, Synapsida, beginning at their murky split from the reptiles in the Carboniferous period, over three-hundred million years ago....

"Madagascar has a unique mammal fauna. Of the 184 species, at least 103 are found nowhere else on earth. It is best known for its 33 species of lemur, but there are also a great variety of tenrecs, bats, rodents, viverrids and mongooses. As the only mammal taxa present on Madagascar, these groups have demonstrated remarkable adaptive radiation, giving rise to some of the most remarkable species in the world, such as the witch-like Aye-aye, the elegant...

A simple and enlighting book that explains to children what marine mammals are, what they do, and how they live. An afterword--which includes a glossary and recommended books and websites--provides further detail for children and their parents about a wide variety of marine mammals.

The most comprehensive reference guide to mammal tracks and sign for North America. This new edition is more visual, with more than 1300 photos and 450 illustrations for easy comparison and identification of similar sign. Each species account includes information on tracks and trails, scat and urine, nests and lodges, as well as sign on the ground, in trees and shrubs, on fungi and on plants.

Among the most important books ever written about our connection to the natural world, Gorillas in the Mist is the riveting account of Dian Fossey's thirteen years in a remote African rain forest with the greatest of the great apes. Fossey's extraordinary efforts to ensure the future of the rain forest and its remaining mountain gorillas are captured in her own words and in candid photographs of this fascinating endangered species. Fossey combines...

Introduces viewers to the most diverse group of animals ever to live on this planet. From the smallest to the largest, from the slowest to the fastest, from the least attractive to the most irresistible. Looks at 4,000 species, including ones that have outlived the dinosaurs and conquered the farthest places on Earth. Examine how their adaptations for finding food have had an effect on the way they socialize, mate and live.