Reflecting the expertise and perspective of five leading mammalogists, the fourth edition of Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology significantly updates taxonomy, includes a new chapter on mammalian molecular phylogenetics, and highlights several recently described species.
There are close to 5,500 species in the class Mammalia, including the blue whale—the largest animal that has ever lived—and the pygmy shrew, which weighs little more than a penny. The functional diversity of mammals has allowed them to play critical roles in every ecosystem, whether marine, freshwater, alpine, tundra, forest, or desert.
Many mammal species are critically endangered and present complex conservation and management challenges. This book touches on those challenges, which are often precipitated by overharvesting and habitat loss, as well as emerging threats, such as the impact of wind turbines and white nose syndrome on bats and chronic wasting disease on deer.
Among the updates and additions to the fourth edition of Mammalogy are numerous new photos, figures, and cladograms, over 4,200 references, as well as
• A completely new chapter on mammalian phylogeny and genomics
• Current taxonomy—including major changes to orders, suborders, and superfamilies of bats and rodents
• An explanation of the recent inclusion of whales with terrestrial even-toed ungulates
• Updates on mammalian structural, functional adaptations, and fossil history
• recent advances in our understanding of phylogeny, biogeography, social behavior, and ecology
• A discussion of two new orders and thirteen newly recognized extant families
• Reflections on the implications of climate change for mammals
• Thorough examinations of several recently described species, including Durrell's vontsira (Salanoia durrelli) and the Laotian rock rat (Laonastes aenigmamus)
• An explanation of mammalian biomechanics, such as that seen in lunge feeding of baleen whales
• Breakout boxes on unique aspects of mammals, including the syntax of bat songs, singing mice, and why there are no green mammals (unless we count algae-covered sloths)
Maintaining the accessible, readable style for which Feldhamer and his coauthors are well known, this new edition of Mammalogy is the authoritative textbook on this amazingly diverse class of vertebrates.
George A. Feldhamer is professor emeritus of zoology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is the coeditor of Wild Mammals of North America: Biology, Management, and Conservation and the coauthor of Mammals of the National Parks. Lee C. Drickamer is Regents’ Professor Emeritus in biology at Northern Arizona University and the coauthor of Animal Behavior: Mechanisms, Ecology, Evolution. Stephen H. Vessey is professor emeritus of biological sciences at Bowling Green State University. He is the coauthor of Animal Behavior: Mechanisms, Ecology, Evolution. Joseph F. Merritt is a senior mammalogist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the editor of the Journal of Mammalogy. He is the author of Biology of Small Mammals and the coauthor of Terrestrial Vertebrates of Pennsylvania: A Complete Guide to Species of Conservation Concern. Carey Krajewski is a professor and chair of zoology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is the associate editor of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution and Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
