A Guide
to the Large Mammals of Thailand by John Parr is an excellent
field guide to this group of animals; one which is small enough
to be carried in a large pocket. The publication concentrates
on the more identifiable mammals that one is likely to see,
excluding bats, small rodents and shrews, but including squirrels,
treeshrews and civets, meaning that the plates are not overcrowded
and the book can easily be used in the field to identify mammals.
The Large
Mammals of Thailand comprises a 25 page introduction, 39 colour
plates, 65 pages of species accounts and 12 pages of mammal
tracks.
The introduction
to this book is concise and informative, containing notes
on habitats, consevation issues and protected areas important
for large mammals, making for interesting reading before trips
to the field. The colour plates are excellently illustrated
and uncluttered, something which cannot be said for many bird
field guides, and the species accounts contain useful identification
information and range maps. This book really does make identifying
mammals as easy as it can.
A Guide
to the Large Mammals of Thailand is one of the simplest, most
straight-forward and useable field guides that I have ever
owned and highly recommended for birders who are also interested
in identifying mammals; this publication is particularly enlightening
when it comes to putting a name on all the squirrels that
one sees.
It is
difficult to critisize this excellent book, but one thing
that springs to mind is that more use could have been put
to the pages that list common and scientific names opposite
the plates; there is quite enough room for a little text and/or
range maps.
One other
possible issue with this book is that I notice that it uses
slightly different taxonomy to some other books, particularly
in regard to some splits of monkeys and civets. Not being
intimately familiar with this taxonomy, I am unable to say
if the taxonomy used in this book is outdated or better-informed
than other publications.
These
minor faults aside, carrying a copy of this book when out
birding will most certainly allow for quick identification
of the mammals that are encountered. There are still
copies of this book available online - A
Guide to the Large Mammals of Thailand
Score: 8/10
Other Relevant Books
Birds
of Thailand - Published in 2018 this field guide
was based on the taxonomy used in Handbook of the Birds
of the World with several new plates created on consultation
with the authors. Inclusion of all subspecies know to occur
in Thailand makes this book excellent as it makes it relevant
to all taxonomies while anticipating future splits.
Mammals
of South East Asia - A very comprehensive book covering
all of Southeast Asia's mammals from the smallest to the
largest. Although this is fairly large to carry around it
can be used as a field guide and is also a useful reference
book. The most complete guide for the region.
Birds
of Thailand
Mammals
of South East Asia
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