New Title

1) Pyle, Robert Michael. Magdalena Mountain: A Novel. 2018. Counterpoint. Paperback: 388 pages. Price: $16.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: In Magdalena Mountain, Robert Michael Pyle's first and long-awaited novel, the award-winning naturalist proves he is as at home in an imagined landscape as he is in the natural one. At the center of this story of majesty and high mountain magic are three Magdalenas―Mary, a woman whose uncertain journey opens the book; Magdalena Mountain, shrouded in mystery and menace; and the all-black Magdalena alpine butterfly, the most elusive of several rare and beautiful species found on the mountain. 
     And high in the Colorado Rocky Mountain wilderness, sharing the remote territory of the Erebia magdalena butterfly, lives the enigmatic Oberon, a reluctant de facto leader of the Grove, a diverse community of monks who share a devotion to nature. Converging in the same wilderness are October Carson, a beachcomber-wanderer in pursuit of the alpine butterflies he collects for museums; James Mead, a young graduate student intent upon learning the ecology of this seductive creature; and Mary Glanville, who also seeks the butterfly but can't remember why. 
    While the mystery surrounding Mary takes a menacing turn, their shared quest pulls them deeper into the high mountain wilderness, culminating in a harrowing encounter on the stony slopes of Magdalena Mountain.
RECOMMENDATION: If you like Pyle's non-fictional works, you should like this fictional one!

New Title

1) Peterson, Merrill A. Pacific Northwest Insects. 2018. Seattle Audubon Society. Paperback: 520 pages. Price: $34.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: This field guide sets a new standard for insect identification, making it an indispensable resource to naturalists, educators, gardeners, and others. Engaging and accessible, Pacific Northwest Insects features detailed species accounts, each with a vivid photograph of a living adult, along with information for distinguishing similar species, allowing the reader to identify more than 3,000 species found from southern British Columbia to northern California, and as far east as Montana. The book features most of the commonly encountered insects, spiders, scorpions, millipedes, centipedes, and kin in the Pacific Northwest, as well as representatives of an amazing variety of unusual and interesting insects living in the area. After more than a decade of research, reviewing hundreds of thousands of museum specimens and scouring the technical entomological literature, Merrill Peterson has brought together for the first time in a single volume a wealth of information on the region's insect life.

     Detailed identifying information on over 3,000 species
     Complete description of 1,200 species
     Organized by insect group for easy identification
     Up-to-date taxonomy
     1,725 color photos, 50 line drawings, and 2 maps

RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for all naturalists in the region!

New Titles

1) Arlott, Norman. Birds of the Greater Sundas, the Philippines, and Wallacea. 2018. Princeton University Press. Paperback: 416 pages. Price: $29.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Birds of the Greater Sundas, the Philippines, and Wallacea is a comprehensive illustrated guide to the varied and fascinating avian population inhabiting these Southeast Asian islands, which include Indonesian territories, the Philippine archipelago, and Borneo, the third-largest island in the world. Covering more than 1,900 species, this volume contains 179 beautiful color plates and 476 maps. The accompanying text provides detailed information about plumage, voice, range, distribution, status, and habitat. This accessible and much-needed guide will be essential for all bird enthusiasts traveling to this unique region.

• A comprehensive look at the more than 1,900 bird species of the Greater Sundas, the Philippines, and Wallacea
• Lavishly illustrated with 179 stunning color plates
• Gives detailed information about plumage, voice, range, distribution, status, and habitat
• Handy and easy to use

RECOMMENDATION: This compact guide is best suited for ecotourists or for birders who  want to travel lightly. 

2) Stevens, Guy et al.. Guide to the Manta and Devil Rays of the World. 2018. Princeton University Press. Paperback: 144 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Manta and devil rays are some of the most intriguing creatures in the ocean. Driven forward by powerful beats of wing-like pectoral fins, these filter feeders search the waters for prey, their horn-like head fins giving rise to ancient mariners’ tales of fearsome devilfish dragging boats into the ocean depths. Beloved by scuba divers and marine biologists alike, these impressive animals have never had a comprehensive field guide dedicated to them―until now.
     Guide to the Manta and Devil Rays of the World includes detailed information on the identification, characteristics, threats, and distribution for each species in this family. Illustrated with more than 200 color photos, drawings, and plates, this guide also contains an expansive introduction to the general taxonomy, biology, and behavior of these iconic animals. This book will be an essential resource for fisheries management and international trade enforcement, and for anyone involved in ongoing manta and devil ray research and conservation.

• The first dedicated field guide for manta and devil rays
• Exhaustive treatment of every aspect related to their identification and biology
• Filled with 200+ color drawings, photos, and diagrams

 RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those with an interest in these rays.

New Title

1) Brazil, Mark. Birds of Japan. 2018. Bloomsbury/Helm. Paperback: 416 pages. Price: $40.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Japan is home to a spectacular and diverse range of birds, and this up-to-date text covers the identification, voice, habitat, behavior, and range of all the species and subspecies found across the beautiful and fascinating Japanese archipelago.

     The authoritative text is accompanied by superb full-color plates painted by an expert artist and covers all major plumage variations. Birds of Japan will ensure that this top birding destination is made accessible to all.
RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for those birding Japan!

New Title

1) Treesucon, Uthai and Wich'yanan Limparungpatthanakij. Birds of Thailand. 2018. Lynx and Birdlife International. Hardbound: 452 pages. Price: $89.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: This new field guide will help you identify all 1049 species to have been recorded in the country to date, including the 20 species endemic or near-endemic to Thailand. Detailed texts covering status, habitat and behavior, age, sex and geographical variation, voice, and confusion species. Almost 2200 illustrations covering all species and distinctive subspecies, birds in flight, males and females, juveniles and non-breeding plumages, where appropriate.
RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for those birding Thailand!

New Title

1) van Grouw, Katrina. Unnatural Selection. 2018. Princeton University Press. Hardbound: 284 pages. Price: $45.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Unnatural Selection is a stunningly illustrated book about selective breeding--the ongoing transformation of animals at the hand of man. More important, it's a book about selective breeding on a far, far grander scale―a scale that encompasses all life on Earth. We'd call it evolution.
     A unique fusion of art, science, and history, this book celebrates the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's monumental work The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, and is intended as a tribute to what Darwin might have achieved had he possessed that elusive missing piece to the evolutionary puzzle―the knowledge of how individual traits are passed from one generation to the next. With the benefit of a century and a half of hindsight, Katrina van Grouw explains evolution by building on the analogy that Darwin himself used―comparing the selective breeding process with natural selection in the wild, and, like Darwin, featuring a multitude of fascinating examples.
     This is more than just a book about pets and livestock, however. The revelation of Unnatural Selection is that identical traits can occur in all animals, wild and domesticated, and both are governed by the same evolutionary principles. As van Grouw shows, animals are plastic things, constantly changing. In wild animals the changes are usually too slow to see―species appear to stay the same. When it comes to domesticated animals, however, change happens fast, making them the perfect model of evolution in action.
     Suitable for the lay reader and student, as well as the more seasoned biologist, and featuring more than four hundred breathtaking illustrations of living animals, skeletons, and historical specimens, Unnatural Selection will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in natural history and the history of evolutionary thinking.
RECOMMENDATION: If you have the author's The Unfeathered Bird, you will want this book!

New Title

1) Nowak, Ronald M.. Walker's Mammals of the World: Monotremes, Marsupials, Afrotherians, Xenarthrans, and Sundatherians. 2018. Johns Hopkins University Press. Hardbound: 757 pages. Price: $99.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Since its first publication in 1964, Walker's Mammals of the World has become a favorite guide to the natural world for general readers and professionals alike. This new Walker’s volume is a completely revised and updated compendium of information on five of the earliest clades to diverge from ancient mammal stock. Uniquely comprehensive in inimitable Walker’s style, it incorporates a full account of every genus that has lived in the past 5,000 years. Every named species of each genus is listed in systematic order and accompanied by detailed descriptions of past and present range.

    This new edition includes
• 500+ full-color images throughout
• citations to more than 2,200 new references
• extensive bioconservation data, with discussion of every species in an IUCN Red List threatened category
    This volume’s thorough updates reflect 20 years of advances in our knowledge of taxonomy, ecology, behavior, life history, and conservation. Substantive changes to 100% of previously existing generic accounts, plus the addition of 17 entirely new generic accounts, double the information in the last edition on the 19 orders covered. The black-and-white illustrations of earlier editions have been replaced by over 500 superb new color images.
     Remaining true to Ernest P. Walker’s vision, the text smoothly combines in-depth scholarship with a popular, readable style to preserve and enhance what the Washington Post called a "landmark of zoological literature."
RECOMMENDATION: If you have other titles in the Walker's Mammals of the World series, you'll want this one!