Lynx Edicions - What Next ? (1 Viewer)

[Pet]

Everyone knows the high-quality book series of Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) and Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW) by Lynx Edicions.

I know this is a Bird Forum but I do hope, most members here will agree with me that there's a whole Natural World out there besides birds, birds and every time birds !

Having said that, i think Lynx Edicions should now think outside the box and should start a new series on other natural creatures or in other words other natural wonders.

Starting with,

Handbook of the Amphibians of the World (HAW) - Approximately 8,000 species !
Handbook of the Reptiles of the World (HRW) - Approximately 11,000 species !
Handbook of the Fishes of the World (HFW) - Approximately 35,000 species !

Handbook of the Invertebrates (Arachnids & Insects) of the World (HIW) - over 1 million species described so far !

And also, as many people may have missed in their latest Mammals of the World Checklist ,

Handbook of the Domesticated Mammals of the World (HDMW)

for example, there are at least 305 breeds of domestic rabbit, 400 different breeds of horse and many other Domesticated Mammals...

Just wondering, what next project series members here are interested more...

 

[jurek]

I think Reptiles of the world would be best. Additional market would be pet reptile keepers. This would also require frequent updates, for many new reptiles are discovered every year!

Domesticated animals - I don't think Lynx has expertise to compete with dog, cat etc. specialists. And I have no interest in domestic animals. Completely different markets.

 

[RafaelMatias]

I think Reptiles of the world would be best. Additional market would be pet reptile keepers. This would also require frequent updates, for many new reptiles are discovered every year!

This looks like a recipe to stimulate the illegal reptile pet trade, in particular for people that collect the rarest of the species. I'm not sure Lynx would be interested to have such a role in this.

 

[Swissboy]

This looks like a recipe to stimulate the illegal reptile pet trade, in particular for people that collect the rarest of the species. I'm not sure Lynx would be interested to have such a role in this.

Good point!

 

[jurek]

I think it would be no problem to keep precise locality of some rare reptiles secret. Otherwise, I see no problem. Seeing how Lynx stamped logos of Birdlife etc. all over the recent 'All the birds of the world' I suppose it would greatly support reptile protection too.

 

[Mysticete]

I think a series that included reptiles and amphibians is the next best option, especially if you consider Lynx edition's strategy of taking the art produced in these books and spinning them off into future field guides. And I would bundle them together (obviously separate volumes) as a single series. Although given how lopsided the diversity is (Squamates and frogs make up most of the members of the group), I am not sure how they would set it up.

I wouldn't worry either about such a series inspiring poaching, anymore than I would worry about the parrot volume of HBW encouraging the pet trade. The ven diagram of people who would invest money in a Herp series (which are pricey books), and the people who actually have access and collecting ability, is minimal. And the range maps included are not exactly going to be specific enough to direct people to critters.

 

[njlarsen]

I think it is more the case that some of those who are collectors will see a species they are unaware of and think: I need that. Once they are aware it is a question of money to make someone act on it.

Niels

 

[Swissboy]

I think it is more the case that some of those who are collectors will see a species they are unaware of and think: I need that. Once they are aware it is a question of money to make someone act on it.

Niels

That is my concern too, widening the spectrum in public, so to speak.

 

[Ries]

Handbook of the Insects of the World...how many books would thát take!

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Depends if the illustrations are life size!

 

[Mysticete]

I think it is more the case that some of those who are collectors will see a species they are unaware of and think: I need that. Once they are aware it is a question of money to make someone act on it.

Niels

There are two assumptions here:

One, that those individuals don't already know about the existence of said species, either through literature or because a species is already in the trade. Many herpetological journals no longer publish exact locality information for just this reason.

Two, just because they are interested in something, they also equally have access. The ability to collect species tends to be focused in certain areas. Just because you want a certain cool looking gecko, doesn't mean you can logistically acquire one if the region if remote, the animal is reclusive, and there isn't already folks actively collecting things for the trade.

I also sort of have to wonder if the hobby is sort of moving on from this anyway. While there are certainly wild caught species entering trade, most of the big money and interest is in the various captive bred morphs, which are often more stunning than many wild species, and a lot easier to care for. From personal observation I have noticed the diversity of reptile for sale has decreased: There are a lot more strains of particular species, but fewer different species in the hobby.

I think the fear of an encyclopedia somehow contributing to increase collecting pressure on wild populations is absurd, especially given the vast number of species that are likely drab and boring. The reptile trade isn't like birding, where one can see a pretty bird and usually find some tour hitting that region and see it. apples and oranges.

 

[Maffong]

Anyway Lynx has recently commented (I think on Instagram) that no such encyclopedias are planned at the moment. I guess they'll stick to field guides for a while

 

[Mysticete]

I wonder how the mammal series did compared to the birds?

 

[Pet]

This looks like a recipe to stimulate the illegal reptile pet trade, in particular for people that collect the rarest of the species. I'm not sure Lynx would be interested to have such a role in this.

Good point!

I think it is more the case that some of those who are collectors will see a species they are unaware of and think: I need that. Once they are aware it is a question of money to make someone act on it.

Niels

That is my concern too, widening the spectrum in public, so to speak.

If we talk about Illegal Wildlife Trade, then there would be no Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW) by Lynx Edicions ! Not to mention, their recent inexpensive checklist (compared to complete series) because many mammal species are already included in Illegal Wildlife Trade. For example, Pangolins are believed to be the world's most trafficked mammal.

I think, the goal should not be to hide the Natural Wonders present in our world But the goal should be to understand and protect them.

Also, each year there are new books and field guides that are already being published on Reptiles of many countries from around the world. Just write "Reptiles" on search bar at nhbs.com and a long list of books and field guides will show up.

I think it would be no problem to keep precise locality of some rare reptiles secret. Otherwise, I see no problem. Seeing how Lynx stamped logos of Birdlife etc. all over the recent 'All the birds of the world' I suppose it would greatly support reptile protection too.

Exactly.

 

[RafaelMatias]

My opinion came from jurek's remarks: "Additional market would be pet reptile keepers. This would also require frequent updates, for many new reptiles are discovered every year!"
If pet reptile keepers are to be targeted then it's a no brainer that it will indeed stimulate commerce and possibly traffic.
Mammals are not comparable in any way. Pangolins obviously also not comparable, it's not a matter of which species of pangolin is best, they're all equally "usable" and illegal traffic is already in full swing.

And books on parrots obviously also have their role. I didn't get the argument of how pricey these books are for pet keepers. I hope you're aware of how much people will pay for the right species, these books are peanuts in their budget.

 

[Mysticete]

My opinion came from jurek's remarks: "Additional market would be pet reptile keepers. This would also require frequent updates, for many new reptiles are discovered every year!"
If pet reptile keepers are to be targeted then it's a no brainer that it will indeed stimulate commerce and possibly traffic.
Mammals are not comparable in any way. Pangolins obviously also not comparable, it's not a matter of which species of pangolin is best, they're all equally "usable" and illegal traffic is already in full swing.

And books on parrots obviously also have their role. I didn't get the argument of how pricey these books are for pet keepers. I hope you're aware of how much people will pay for the right species, these books are peanuts in their budget.

I think it's a big leap to conclude that folks who like reptiles = will plunder wild populations. Beyond the whole logistics issues, a lot of folks like to look through these sort of books just because they think the animals are interesting. Snow Leopard are cool, and I love the different spreads of carnivores in the Carnivore volume I own, but I don't seriously expect I will ever see most of these species in the wild. Most reptiles folks with an interest in natural history may dream of seeing these in the wild, but that doesn't mean they are going to fly to Sulawesi and try to hunt one down.

Besides, reptile keeping is a huge hobby...that is mostly supported nowadays by captive breeding. The big money spenders are probably lavishing there money on weird burmese python morphs more than anything else.

 

[RafaelMatias]

I don't think it's such a great leap, but it seems it's mostly a matter of opinion in the absence of concrete data.

 

[John Cantelo]

Relatively small beer compared to previous suggestions but I'd like to see their English edition of 'The Birds of Spain' and a translation of the 'Aves de Portugal' (which already share the same illustrations) combined and re-issued as "The Birds of Iberia" (inc. Atlantic islands). I can't see why they didn't do this in the first place as it seems to make economic sense to me - that the Portugal book hasn't been translated suggests a relatively small market for it.

 

[Mysticete]

Going back to the original topic, I actually wouldn't mind seeing a new North American Mammal guide come out of this. While Fiona Reed's update is good, I still find the guide incredibly annoying to look through, with text and range maps separated from the actual illustrations. For mammals (and herps), range and habitat is often far more important for ID, given that members of these groups contain many cryptic allopatric species, and are mostly not prone to vagrancy.

 

[njlarsen]

I think the one I have is Kaufman?

Niels