New Titles

1) Phillipps, Quentin, and Karen Phillipps. Phillipps' Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo and Their Ecology: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan. 2016. John Beaufoy Publishing/ Princeton University Press. Paperback: 400 pages. Price: $35.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: This is the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and easily accessible field guide to the mammals of Borneo—the ideal travel companion for anyone visiting this region of the world. Covering Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan, the book provides essential information on 277 species of land and marine mammals and features 141 breathtaking color plates. Detailed facing-page species accounts describe taxonomy, size, range, distribution, habits, and status. This unique at-a-glance guide also includes distribution maps, habitat plates, regional maps, fast-find graphic indexes, top mammal sites, and a complete overview of the vegetation, climate, and ecology of Borneo.
RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for those with an interest in the mammals of the region.

2) Wijeyeratne, Gehan de Silva. A Naturalist's Guide to the Butterflies & Dragonflies of Sri Lanka. 2015. John Beaufoy Publishing. Paperback: 176 pages. Price: $17.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY:  Increasingly the segmentation between birders, butterfly watchers, dragonfly watchers and photographers is reducing as interests overlap and there is a demand for books that cover the three popular groups of birds, butterflies and dragonflies. Having written and photographed the guide to the birds of Sri Lanka in the series, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne has produced a single, compact and portable photographic guide to the butterflies and dragonflies of the country. The emphasis in the 280 species featured is on the commoner species, covering around 90 per cent of the species that a visitor is likely to see. It is also an excellent book for residents to learn about the commoner butterflies and dragonflies before progressing to more advanced technical books.

     The guide is focused on field use to help beginners and experts identify species and provides information on their distribution and habitats. As identification of butterflies and dragonflies require a different approach, the two sections are done as two mini photographic field guides with common introductory sections to wildlife watching in Sri Lanka. The book includes information on the key wildlife sites, general introductions to the biology of dragonflies and butterflies, up-to-date checklists with local status and useful references for people who wish to progress further with their study of these charismatic and photogenic animals.
RECOMMENDATION: A well illustrated introduction to these insects of the region.