FEATURED TITLE

                                                                               
1) Long, John A.. The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution. 2011. Johns Hopkins University Press. Hardbound: 287 pages. Price: $65.00 U.S.

SUMMARY: Fishes that walk, fishes that breathe air, fishes that look like -- and are -- monsters from the deep. These and many more strange creatures swim through The Rise of Fishes, John A. Long's richly illustrated tour of the past 500 million years. Long has updated his classic work with illustrations of recent fossil discoveries and new interpretations based on genetic analyses. He reveals how fishes evolved from ancient, jawless animals, explains why fishes have survived on the Earth for so long, and describes how they have become the dominant aquatic life—form. Indeed, to take things a step further, we learn much about ourselves through this book, for all amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are descendants of ancient fishes.
      Clear, accessible, and engaging, The Rise of Fishes combines scientific expertise with entertaining stories about Long's own excursions, which span the oceans and continents. The book includes photographs of fossils from around the world as well as dramatic color illustrations depicting what those fishes may have actually looked like.
RECOMMENDATION: This well illustrated book is a must have for those interested in fossil fishes! For an article and video about Long's research see here:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sex-mother-fish

New Titles

                                                                                   
1) Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. The Natural History of Birds: 9 Volume set. 2010. Cambridge University Press. 9 paperback books. Price: $35.99 to $45.00 U.S. per volume ($360.00 U.S. for the set).

SUMMARY: Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707–88), was a French mathematician who was considered one of the leading naturalists of the Enlightenment. An acquaintance of Voltaire and other intellectuals, he worked as Keeper at the Jardin du Roi from 1739, and this inspired him to research and publish a vast encyclopaedia and survey of natural history, the ground-breaking Histoire Naturelle, which he published in forty-four volumes between 1749 and 1804. These volumes, first published between 1770 and 1783 and translated into English in 1793, contain Buffon's survey and descriptions of birds from the Histoire Naturelle. Based on recorded observations of birds both in France and in other countries, these volumes provide detailed descriptions of various bird species, their habitats and behaviours and were the first publications to present a comprehensive account of eighteenth-century ornithology. Edited and translated by William Smellie.
RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those with an interest in the history of ornithology.

New Title

1) Mulvaney, Kieran. The Great White Bear: A Natural and Unnatural History of the Polar Bear. 2011. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Hardbound: 251 Pages. Price: $26.00 U.S.

SUMMARY: Polar bears are creatures of paradox: They are white bears whose skin is black; massive predators who can walk almost silently; Arctic residents whose major problem is not staying warm, but keeping cool. Fully grown they can measure 10 feet and weigh close to 2,000 pounds, but at birth they are just 20 ounces. Creatures that may wander thousands of miles over the course of a year, they begin life in a snowdrift.
     Human encounters with these legendary beasts are cause for both excitement and apprehension. Tales throughout history describe the ferocity of polar bear attacks on humans; but human hunting of polar bears has exacted a far larger toll, obliging Arctic nations to try to protect their region’s iconic species before it’s too late.
      Now, however, another threat to the polar bears’ survival has emerged, one that is steadily removing sea ice and the life it supports. Without this habitat, polar bears cannot exist. The Great White Bear celebrates the story of this unique species. Through a blend of history, both natural and human, through myth and reality and observations both personal and scientific, Kieran Mulvaney masterfully provides a context for readers to consider the polar bear, its history, its life, and its uncertain fate.
RECOMMENDATION: A detailed and readable account on the life and future of the Polar Bear.

FEATURED TITLES

1) Duivendijk, Nils van. Advanced Bird ID Guide: The Western Palearctic. 2010. New Holland. Paperback: 304 pages. Price: 14.99 GBP (about $23.30 U.S.).

SUMMARY: This innovative guide will be an essential addition to the library of any serious birder. It accurately describes every key detail of every plumage of all 1,000 species that have ever occurred in Britain, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East - the region known to all keen birdwatchers as the Western Palearctic. Its level of detail is unprecedented for a book of this size, and it will be sought after by all bird enthusiasts.
     A large number of existing bird field guides cover Europe and the Western Palearctic. This, however, is a guide with a difference. It has no colour plates or illustrations, but instead its unique selling point is that for every species the detailed text lists the key characters of each recognizable plumage, including male, female, immature, juvenile, all subspecies and all other variations. This level of detail includes, for example, all eleven forms of 'Canada goose' and all nine forms of 'yellow wagtail' known in the region. In the past such in-depth detail has only been available in huge multi-volume tomes such as Birds of the Western Palearctic. The Advanced Bird ID Guide enables birders to take this information into the field for the first time.
RECOMMENDATION: Advanced birders in the Western Palearctic will want this book! It is not for beginning birders though! I wonder if a similar book would work here in North America?

2) Gooddie, Chris. The Jewel Hunter. 2010. Wild Guides. Paperback: 344 pages. Price: 17.99 GBP (about $27.97 U.S.).
SUMMARY: A tale of one man’s obsession with rainforest jewels, this is the story of an impossible dream: a quest to see every one of the world’s most elusive avian gems – a group of birds known as pittas – in a single year.
     Insightful, compelling and laugh-out-loud funny, this is more than a book about birds. It's a true story detailing the lengths to which a man will go to escape his mid-life crisis. A travelogue with a difference, it follows a journey from the suburban straitjacket of High Wycombe to the steamy, leech-infested rainforests of remotest Asia, Africa and Australia.
     Dangerous situations, personal traumas and logistical nightmares threaten The Jewel Hunter's progress. Will venomous snakes or razor-clawed bears intervene? Or will running out of fuel mid-Pacific ultimately sink the mission? The race is on...
     If you’ve ever yearned to escape your day job, wondered what makes men tick, or simply puzzled over how to make a truly world-class cup of tea, this is a book for you.
RECOMMENDATION: If you enjoyed reading The Big Year and The Biggest Twitch you will enjoy this book! You can visit the author's website here:
http://www.pittasworld.com/Site/PITTASWORLD_HOME.html

The weekly Birdbooker Report

My WEEKLY Birdbooker Report can be found here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2010/dec/19/4

New Title

                                                                             
1) Walk, Jeffery W. et al.. Illinois Birds: A Century of Change. Illinois Natural History Survey Special Publication 31. 2010. University of Illinois. Paperback: 230 pages. Price: $25.00 U.S. (plus shipping and handling).

SUMMARY: This new book, Illinois Birds: A Century of Change, literally took 100 years to write. The first comprehensive survey of birds in Illinois was conducted from 1906-1909. It was repeated from 1956-1958 and a technical book was written comparing the two surveys. When the 100-year anniversary of that first survey was approaching, ornithologists Mike Ward, Jeff Walk, Steve Bailey, and Jeff Brawn seized the window of opportunity to do it again and write a book, this time with 100 years of data, lots of pictures, and a broader appeal.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with an advanced interest in the birds of Illinois. The book can be ordered here: https://shop.inrs.illinois.edu/inhs-spec-pub.html

New Title

1) Wilson, Edward O. and Jose M. Gomez Duran. Kingdom of Ants: Jose Celestino Mutis and the Dawn of Natural History in the New World. 2010. Johns Hopkins University Press. Hardbound: 99 pages. Price: $24.95 U.S.
SUMMARY: One of the earliest New World naturalists, José Celestino Mutis began his professional life as a physician in Spain and ended it as a scientist and natural philosopher in modern—day Colombia. Drawing on new translations of Mutis's nearly forgotten writings, this fascinating story of scientific adventure in eighteenth—century South America retrieves Mutis's contributions from obscurity.

      In 1760, the 28—year—old Mutis -- newly appointed as the personal physician of the Viceroy of the New Kingdom of Granada -- embarked on a 48—year exploration of the natural world of northern South America. His thirst for knowledge led Mutis to study the region's flora, become a professor of mathematics, construct the first astronomical observatory in the Western Hemisphere, and amass one of the largest scientific libraries in the world. He translated Newton's writings and penned essays about Copernicus; lectured extensively on astronomy, geography, and meteorology; and eventually became a priest. But, as two—time Pulitzer Prize–winner Edward O. Wilson and Spanish natural history scholar José M. Gómez Durán reveal in this enjoyable and illustrative account, one of Mutis's most magnificent accomplishments involved ants.
     Acting at the urging of Carl Linnaeus -- the father of taxonomy -- shortly after he arrived in the New Kingdom of Granada, Mutis began studying the ants that swarmed everywhere. Though he lacked any entomological training, Mutis built his own classification for the species he found and named at a time when New World entomology was largely nonexistent. His unorthodox catalog of army ants, leafcutters, and other six—legged creatures found along the banks of the Magdalena provided a starting point for future study.
     Wilson and Durán weave a compelling, fast—paced story of ants on the march and the eighteenth—century scientist who followed them. A unique glance into the early world of science exploration, Kingdom of Ants is a delight to read and filled with intriguing information.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in Neotropical entomological history.