Walker's Primates of the World - Softcover

Nowak, Ronald M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801862515 ISBN 13: 9780801862519

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999

Synopsis

From Nigeria's needle-clawed bush baby to the snub-nosed langur of Tibet, from loris to lemur, from the woolly monkey to the "naked ape," primates are among the world's most diverse―and distinctive―groups of mammals. Seventy million years of evolving primate anatomy (much of it significantly influenced by a tree-dwelling lifestyle) has resulted in such defining characteristics as stereoscopic vision, a relatively large brain, grasping hands and feet, and superior levels of dexterity and muscular coordination.

Now Ronald M. Nowak offers a comprehensive guide to this fascinating and varied order of mammals. Walker's Primates of the World includes scientific and common names, the number and distribution of species, measurements and physical traits, habitat, daily and seasonal activity, population dynamics, home range, social life, reproduction, longevity, and status of threatened species. Recently extinct genera, such as the giant lemurs of Madagascar, are covered in full. Textual summaries present accurate, well-documented descriptions of the physical characteristics and living habits of primates in every part of the world.

In a new introduction, noted primate conservationists Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands, and William R. Konstant discuss the taxonomy and distribution of primates as well as their distinguishing characteristics, special adaptations and particularly striking features, such as sociality. They also report on conservation efforts past and future, and assess the factors, largely human-caused, that are threatening non-human primates with extinction.

About this title

Book Description:

In paperback, the primate section of the acclaimed Walker's Mammals of the World

About the Author:

Ernest P. Walker (1891-1969) began work on Mammals of the World in the early 1930s, when he became assistant director of the National Zoo in Washington. His work reflected an unequaled store of knowledge about the world's mammals. Ronald M. Nowak is the author of the fifth and sixth editions of Walker's Mammals of the World. His other works on mammalogy include North American Quaternary Canis and several parts of the National Geographic Society's Wild Animals of North America, for which he also was editorial consultant. He received a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Kansas in 1973 and was staff mammalogist at the former Office of Endangered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, from 1974 to 1987. He served as an Air Force officer for four years and is a private pilot.

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0801862515
• ISBN 13: 9780801862519
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232