• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

HMW Handbook of the Mammals of the World (3 Viewers)

Nope, because there is a big difference between gathering a lot of data, analyzing it, and making interpretations that as a professional I disagree with, and spending half an hour writing on your website and naming taxa that other people identified.

P.S. Please keep your disagreements with me on Raymond Hoser to the actual thread in the taxonomy section please. This has nothing to do with that subject.
 
Marc van Roosmalen's famous dwarf manatee (Trichechus "pygmaeus") will have no entry in this volume as it is just a young of the Amazonian manatee (Thomas O'Shea pers. comment).
 
Copy came last Thursday. Not had time for a detailed look, but overall very impressed. The best collection of cetacean photos you could wish to see. Surprised to see orca called "killer whale" and whilst orca taxonomy is discussed, they do not come to any conclusions.
Not impressed by the use of "Steller" sealion - a sloppy Americanism.

Rob
 
Do they use the new scientific combination for the Hawaiian monk seal i.e. Neomonachus (erected 2014) or the old one Monachus schauinslandi? Is there an entry for the Caribbean monk seal (despite the fact that it is extinct)?
 
Last edited:
God I hope they don't use Neomonachus. That was a totally pointless taxonomic revision

How do they treat Bryde's/Eden complex? South American river dolphins?

Also..don't see the reason why Steller's Sea Lion is bad. From personal experience...that is the most common name used within the English speaking range of the animal. Also, I generally consider "Northern Sea Lion" as a rather bad name, since Northern and California Sea Lions do overlap for a good chunk of their range. One would think that taxa that largely exist in "America" might actually use the common name often employed for that region.
 
I thought Stellar was the problem, but I see nothing star-like in this particular pinniped.

No sign of my HMW in Hampshire, UK yet, but did get a UPS despatch email today...

cheers, a
 
lewis20126 said:
I thought Stellar was the problem, but I see nothing star-like in this particular pinniped.

No sign of my HMW in Hampshire, UK yet, but did get a UPS despatch email today...

cheers, a
Click to expand...

Vol 4 arrived in Hampshire today. I've only spent ten minutes looking at it but I think this is the best volume so far - OK so the species count is much lower than prior volumes, so there is plenty of space but the photos are stunning (eg a great collection of beaked whales shots), the plates excellent (although the whiskers on the Bearded Seal seem to have been lost against the background!).

I'm not up on Cetacean taxonomy but in a brief check note that Bryde's Whale is (just) one species here whilst (and Morgan won't like this) Boto is three species including the Bolivian (Beni) and the Araguaian.

cheers, alan
 
It is no surprise that Inia is considered as three species. Inia boliviensis was accepted by the Society for Marine Mammalogy in 2012 and Inia araguaiaensis was recognized as new species in 2014. Only the IUCN is still hasiting to recognize all three botos.
 
Melanie said:
It is no surprise that Inia is considered as three species. Inia boliviensis was accepted by the Society for Marine Mammalogy in 2012 and Inia araguaiaensis was recognized as new species in 2014. Only the IUCN is still hasiting to recognize all three botos.
Click to expand...

The dataset is pretty small for both - I think the Bolivian Boto is described from two female specimens only and araguaiaensis from perhaps only one specimen? Whilst I'd never recommend large scale collection I would have thought larger datasets would have been achievable.

I also note that Ganges and Indus River Dolphin are united as one here but I'm sure that is not a surprise. ;)

cheers, alan
 
UHHH....yeah there is considerable more evidence I feel for multiple species within Bryde's than three species of Boto. I can buy the Bolivian form as a separate species, but not the new Araguaian. Especially if you are for some reason lumping Indus and Ganges River dolphins.

I assume the taxonomy was decided upon by the different authors who authored different sections.

Man we need a 4th edition of Mammal Species of the World, with a single group of experts assessing mammal species. I was hoping the Handbook might fill that need, but between this and the hoofed mammal volume, that plainly is not going to be the case
 
Mysticete said:
Man we need a 4th edition of Mammal Species of the World, with a single group of experts assessing mammal species. I was hoping the Handbook might fill that need, but between this and the hoofed mammal volume, that plainly is not going to be the case
Click to expand...

Perhaps we will get a new checklist of mammals a la new 2 volume BLI checklist with a small group of authors who might then be able to take a consistent approach between the various families..

cheers, alan
 
lewis20126 said:
Perhaps we will get a new checklist of mammals a la new 2 volume BLI checklist with a small group of authors who might then be able to take a consistent approach between the various families..
Click to expand...
HMW 1–4: 2009–2014
HMW 5–8: 2015–2020?
HMW Illustrated Checklist: 2022+? ;)
 
Warning! This thread is more than 3 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

Andy Adcock
Handbook of Mammals of the World vol 6
Replies
8
Views
3K
Melanie
Melanie
Swissboy
HMW Vol 2
Replies
2
Views
1K
Swissboy
Swissboy
Frenchy
Taiwan - endemics and spoonbills. Dec 2006.
Replies
1
Views
3K
Mark Bruce
Mark Bruce
sushil_yadav
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment
16 17 18
Replies
354
Views
55K
chris butterworth
chris butterworth

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 4 (members: 0, guests: 4)
Back
Top