Mammals of the Neotropics by John Eisenberg & Kent Redford, University of
Chicago Press, $80, ISBN 0226195414
THE PATCH of South America covered by Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia is
probably the Earth鈥檚 richest, biologically speaking. It follows then that
Mammals of the Neotropics would be a project of jaw-dropping complexity and
awesome reach.
In a volume thick as a city phone book, biologists John Eisenberg and Kent
Redford display the glorious breadth and quality of our knowledge, describing
what we know of the region鈥檚 more than 650 mammal species comprehensibly and
accessibly. Not content with this, they also provide the present panoply with a
historical context. Guest authors outline the origin of South American mammals,
imagine Pleistocene Amazonia, and argue about the distribution of today鈥檚
mammals. There are keys, line drawings of salient features, tips for field
identifications and a wealth of ecological and taxonomic data. Fiona Reid鈥檚
colour plates are superb in accuracy and detail.
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It is pleasing to see their focus on bats, a group which many previous guides
have either ignored or treated very badly in terms of illustration.
Overall, this is a magnificent compendium of existing knowledge, and one that
is certain to be a standard reference for many years to come, providing both a
superlative reference work and an exciting jumping-off point for new
investigations.
All that鈥檚 left is to wait for volume four, which will cover Central America
and Mexico.