Animal Fact-File: Head-To-Tail Profiles of over 90 Mammals

Describes the physical features and behavior of over 100 mammals, including the elephant and polar bear.

Grade 4-8-A mix of fascinating information and surprising omissions and contradictions. The clear and sensible format presents an alphabetical guide to mammals from aardvarks to wombats. The full-color illustrations are excellent. Pictures show external and internal views of the animals as a whole and highlight distinctive body parts. Interesting comparison drawings abound; for example, the dromedary nose is compared to that of a bactrian camel. And there is, for every entry, an easy reference chart giving the mammal's classification, size, coloration, and features. Here is where the confusion starts. On page one, the author discusses the orders of mammals and presents a chart that lists the scientific names of typical species. On this page, the elephant is listed as a Macroscelidea and a Proboscidea. On the elephant page, neither of these classifications appears. Its genus is given as Loxodonta and its species is africana. Then, on the last page, another chart shows the elephant as a member of the Proboscidea genus. There is no explanation of what the scientific name is as compared to the genus and species. To add to the confusion, occasionally two animals appear on the same page. For instance, on the aardvark page, the hyrax is featured as well. But there's no chart about the hyrax, no explanation of how it is related to the aardvark (if, indeed, it is), and there is no hyrax entry in the book. Despite these shortcomings, the book provides a lot of easily accessed information in digestible bits.
Randi Hacker, Montgomery Elementary School, VT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.