Walker's Mammals of the World
Walker's Mammals of the World , founded in 1964 by Ernest P. Walker as Mammals of the World , is an English-language , popular science to scientific manual on special zoology published by the Johns Hopkins University . It contains descriptions of all known recent genera of mammals and is based on the Genera of Recent Mammals of the World project begun by Walker before 1933 . The sixth edition, revised by Ronald M. Nowak , appeared in 1999.
content
The generic descriptions contain information on the scientific name and common English name , the number and range of the species , the body dimensions and body characteristics, the habitat , locomotion , daily and seasonal activity, nutrition , population dynamics , action space , and social life , reproduction , life expectancy and relationships with humans. If available, a description of the genus is supplemented by a picture, if possible a photo of a living animal. Information on anatomy , physiology , genetics , laboratory tests, parasitology , pathology and paleontology are weighted lower.
Descriptions of the orders and families are also included. The descriptions are preceded by a tabular overview in which the distribution of each genus is shown according to geographical regions. By dispensing with technical language , the work should be understandable not only to experts but also to the general public.
Mammals of the World (1964 to 1975)
Ernest P. Walker wrote the first edition together with co-authors Florence Warnick , Sybil E. Hamlet , Kenneth I. Lange , Mary A. Davis , Howard E. Uible and Patricia F. Wright . With a foreword by Henry Fairfield Osborn junior , the work was published in 1964 under the title Mammals of the World . The first two volumes comprised a total of 1499 pages. On 769 pages, the individually available third volume with the subtitle A Classified Bibliography contained a general bibliography of the mammalian literature published until the end of 1960. A reprint with 169 corrections and 7 image changes was published in 1965. The second edition was written by the same authors and revised by John L. Paradiso . It appeared in 1968 in two volumes with a total of 1500 pages and contained more than 80 new photos.
Work also began in 1968 on the third edition, which was again written by the same authors and revised by John L. Paradiso. With a foreword by Paradiso, it was published in 1975, several years after the death of Ernest P. Walker, in two volumes with a total of 1500 pages. The general bibliography in a third volume has been dispensed with and over 270 new photos have been added. Reprints of the third edition appeared in 1978 and 1980.
Walker's Mammals of the World (from 1983)
The fourth edition was revised by Ronald M. Nowak and John L. Paradiso, the preface was written by E. Raymond Hall . It was published in 1983 under the title Walker's Mammals of the World in two volumes with a total of 1362 pages. Compared to the third edition, the text volume increased by 50 to 60 percent and 90 percent of the genre descriptions were significantly changed. The original limit of each description to one book page has been abandoned and around 350 new images have been used. For the first time, the genus descriptions contained a list of all species with their distribution area. The system was partially checked using the first edition of A World List of Mammalian Species (1980) and a total of 19 orders, 134 families and 1018 genera with 4154 species were treated.
Work on the fifth edition began at the end of 1986. Revised by Ronald M. Nowak and with a foreword by Durward L. Allen , it appeared in 1991 in two volumes with a total of 1629 pages. Compared to the fourth edition, the text volume increased by 22 percent and around 80 percent of the genre descriptions were significantly changed. About 300 new pictures were used and photos of live animals were added for about 100 species. The system was checked using the second edition of A World List of Mammalian Species (1986) and the first edition of Mammal Species of the World (1982). 106 new genera were added, 8 were deleted and a total of 21 orders, 135 families and 1116 genera with 4444 species were treated.
Work on the sixth edition began in mid-1993. Again revised by Nowak and with a foreword by Don E. Wilson , it appeared in 1999 in two volumes with a total of 1936 pages. Compared to the fifth edition, the text volume has increased by 25 percent and around 95 percent of the genre descriptions have been significantly changed. For the first time, the work also contained an introduction to the class of mammals. About 150 new pictures were used and photos of live animals were added for about 50 species. The system largely follows the third edition of Mammal Species of the World (1993). 81 new genera were added, 5 were deleted and a total of 28 orders, 146 families and 1192 genera with 4809 species were treated.
In July 2018, another work from the series about the groups Afrotheria , Sundatheria ( Spitzhörnchen and Riesengleiter ), Monotremata , Marsupialia and Xenarthra was published . 17 new genera were added. The volume contains 508 color photographs and over 2,200 new references.
List of editions
- Ernest P. Walker: Mammals of the World . The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London 1965 (1499 pages, English).
- Ernest P. Walker: Mammals of the World. A Classified Bibliography . The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London 1965, ISBN 0-8018-0652-6 (xii + 769 pages, English).
- Ernest P. Walker: Mammals of the World . 2nd Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London 1968 (lvi + 1500 pages, English).
- Ernest P. Walker: Mammals of the World . 3. Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London 1975, ISBN 0-8018-1657-2 (lvi + 1500 pages, English).
- Ronald M. Nowak, John L. Paradiso: Walker's Mammals of the World . 4th edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London 1983, ISBN 0-8018-2525-3 (lxxxvi + 1362 pages, English).
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . 5th edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London 1993, ISBN 0-8018-3970-X (lxx + 1629 pages, English).
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . 6th edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 (lxxx + 1936 pages, English).
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World: Monotremes, Marsupials, Afrotherians, Xenarthrans, and Sundatherians . The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London 2018, ISBN 1-4214-2467-3 (757 pages, English).