New Titles

1) Brennan,  Leonard A. et al.. The Upland and Webless Migratory Game Birds of Texas. 2017.
Texas A&M University Press. Hardbound: 253 pages. Price: $40.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Authored by some of the state’s top wildlife scientists, The Upland and Webless Migratory Game Birds of Texas presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive information covering twenty-one species of game birds. Ranging from the most well-known, like the Wild Turkey and Mourning Dove, to the marsh-loving rails and other more elusive species, these birds have widespread appeal among both hunters and birders and underscore the diverse challenges facing wildlife scientists, land managers, and conservationists in Texas today.
     From cultural significance to taxonomy and evolutionary history, this volume provides a wealth of background information on these species. Additionally, the book offers illustrated species accounts, detailed range maps, and information about habitat and management requirements, hunting regulations, and research priorities. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of these game birds and the array of terrestrial and wetland landscapes key to their survival. This will serve as a convenient and thorough reference volume for wildlife biologists and enthusiasts, as well as landowners and hunters.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with a serious interest in these game birds of Texas.

2) Huskey, Steve. The Skeleton Revealed: An Illustrated Tour of the Vertebrates. 2017. Johns Hopkins University Press. Hardbound: 351 pages. Price: $49.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: The vertebrate skeleton is one of nature’s most amazing feats. Composed of cartilage and bone, it forms the supportive structure for all the remaining aspects of our anatomy. Stripped of skin, we can see the body’s fascinating underlying architecture.

     In this one-of-a-kind book, biologist and skeletal reconstructionist Steve Huskey lays bare the vertebrate skeleton, providing a guided tour of the nuanced differences among the many featured vertebrate species. Using skeletal preparations he has spent decades assembling, Huskey helps us understand why animals live the way they do. He shows us the jaw and fang structures that allow venomous snakes to both kill and consume their prey whole. We see that the eastern mole is built like a weightlifter, allowing it to "swim through soil." Startling images demonstrate that the odd-looking trumpetfish is built not for music but for suction, with a skull that expands to vacuum in its prey.
     The pages of The Skeleton Revealed illuminate not only the elegance of each skeleton, but also the natural history story each skeleton tells. Come along―let’s take a voyage through the boneyard.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in vertebrate anatomy.

3) Koch, Falynn Christine. Science Comics: Bats: Learning to Fly. 2017. First Second. Paperback: 122 pages. Price: $12.99 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Every volume of Science Comics offers a complete introduction to a particular topic―dinosaurs, coral reefs, the solar system, volcanoes, bats, flying machines, and more. These gorgeously illustrated graphic novels offer wildly entertaining views of their subjects. Whether you're a fourth grader doing a natural science unit at school or a thirty year old with a secret passion for airplanes, these books are for you!

     This volume: In Bats, we follow a little brown bat whose wing is injured by humans on a nature hike. He is taken to a bat rehabilitation center where he meets many different species of bats. They teach him how they fly, what they eat, and where they like to live.
RECOMMENDATION: If you like the other books in the Science Comics series, you should enjoy this one too!

New Title

1) Unwin, Mike and David Tipling. The Enigma of the Owl: An Illustrated Natural History. 2017. Yale University Press. Hardbound: 288 pages. Price: $40.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: A rare invitation into the mysterious lives of owls around the world, with spectacularly revealing photographs and fascinating details.
     Perhaps no other creature has so compelling a gaze as the owl. Its unblinking stare mesmerizes; its nocturnal lifestyle suggests secrets and mystery. This lavishly illustrated book celebrates owls from every corner of the world and offers abundant details on fifty-three of the most striking and interesting species, from the tiny Elf Owl of southwestern American deserts to the formidable Blakiston’s Fish Owl, the largest of all owls.  
     Mike Unwin has long studied and admired these remarkable birds from cold northern forests to tropical rivers and beyond. He explains how owls evolved into the supreme feathered predators of the night, and he examines their breeding and hunting behaviors, unusual calls, and the cultural myths and superstitions that surround different species. More than two hundred dramatic color photographs in the wild, taken or selected by David Tipling, capture the wondrous beauty of each owl and the drama of life in its own home region. 
RECOMMENDATION: A well illustrated introduction to the owls of the World.

New Title

1) Schutt, Bill. Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History. 2017. Algonquin Books. Hardbound: 332 pages. Price: $26.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: For centuries scientists have written off cannibalism as a bizarre phenomenon with little biological significance. Its presence in nature was dismissed as a desperate response to starvation or other life-threatening circumstances, and few spent time studying it. A taboo subject in our culture, the behavior was portrayed mostly through horror movies or tabloids sensationalizing the crimes of real-life flesh-eaters. But the true nature of cannibalism--the role it plays in evolution as well as human history--is even more intriguing (and more normal) than the misconceptions we’ve come to accept as fact.
     In Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History,zoologist Bill Schutt sets the record straight, debunking common myths and investigating our new understanding of cannibalism’s role in biology, anthropology, and history in the most fascinating account yet written on this complex topic. Schutt takes readers from Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains, where he wades through ponds full of tadpoles devouring their siblings, to the Sierra Nevadas, where he joins researchers who are shedding new light on what happened to the Donner Party--the most infamous episode of cannibalism in American history. He even meets with an expert on the preparation and consumption of human placenta (and, yes, it goes well with Chianti).
     Bringing together the latest cutting-edge science, Schutt answers questions such as why some amphibians consume their mother’s skin; why certain insects bite the heads off their partners after sex; why, up until the end of the twentieth century, Europeans regularly ate human body parts as medical curatives; and how cannibalism might be linked to the extinction of the Neanderthals. He takes us into the future as well, investigating whether, as climate change causes famine, disease, and overcrowding, we may see more outbreaks of cannibalism in many more species--including our own. 
     Cannibalism places a perfectly natural occurrence into a vital new context and invites us to explore why it both enthralls and repels us.
RECOMMENDATION: This book offers food for thought!

New Title

1) del Hoyo, Josep and Nigel J. Collar. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. 2016. Lynx Edicions. Hardbound: 1013 pages. Price: $275.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: The first ever Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World is really two works in one. It is a complete checklist whose taxonomy incorporates the most up-to-date information and an exhaustive methodology (Tobias et al. 2010) in an entirely systematic and consistent way. At the same time, it contains illustrations and distribution maps for every bird species in the world. This includes the original artwork from the HBW series, as well as hundreds of new illustrations. This volume covers the passerines with 440 plates, 12,100 bird illustrations and 6,638 distribution maps.
RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for anyone with a serious interest in birds!