Product Description

This uniquely thorough reference and guidebook offers illustrations, descriptions, and measurements for the skulls of some 275 animal species found throughout North America. The skull--the collection of bones that house and protect a creature’s brain and sensory organs--is the key anatomical feature used to identify an animal and understand many of its behaviors. This book describes in words and pictures the bones and regions of the skull important to identification, including illustrations of all the bones in the cranium, leading to a greater understanding of a creature’s place in the natural world. Life-size drawings and detailed measurements make this guide an invaluable reference for wildlife professionals, trackers, and animal-lovers alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91246 in Books
• Brand: Stackpole Books
• Published on: 2006-11-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 740 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780811733090
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"This book will appeal to anyone with a deep fascination with the structure, function, variety and beauty of the vertebrate skull, which, as we mentioned at the outset, is just about everyone." -- Mark S. Hafner and Eric A. Rickart, Journal of Mammology, 88(4): 1112-1113, 2007.

About the Author
Mark Elbroch is the author of NOBA award-winning Mammal Tracks and Sign (0811726266) and coauthor of the Peterson Field Guide Animal Tracks (061851743X), Bird Tracks and Sign (0811726967), and Animal Tracks of New England (1551052466). He is a certified master tracker who has been involved in numerous wildlife and tracking projects throughout North America and in Africa. He lives in Vermont and California.

Customer Reviews

A Comprehensive and Easy-to-Use Guide
This is a thorough and well-written book, which goes into great detail about the skulls of each North American mammal species, in addition to having a section on birds and reptiles/amphibians. The first several chapters, which I found surprisingly readable given the technical subject matter, are devoted to identifying skull bones and landmarks as well as interpreting the function and meaning behind various skull features, determining age and sex, and even obtaining, cleaning and preparing your own animal skulls. What I found most helpful in this book were the real-life sized illustrations of both skulls and jaws, which the author conveniently locates in one section of the book, for easy comparison. I was amazed at how easy it was to identify skulls I had found in years past- skulls that I had spent hours attempting to identify using information pieced together from the internet and other sources. This book is not only incredibly thorough and rich with information, but also well-organized and easy to understand, with helpful diagrams and plenty of beautiful, detailed illustrations. Overall, it is an excellent book that I will be sure to refer back to many times in the future.

Finally a Real Guide to Skulls
A complete book on skulls was not available until this one was so beautifully put together. Elbroch introduces the rather complex study of skulls in such a way that anyone can easily learn the language and terms to more precisely discuss and understand their many and varied features. He goes well beyond simply identifying what species a given skull is from and delves into functions of structures of the skull, how they change with age as well as how they compare with those of other species (not to mention variations found within a given species). Mammals (and their jaws, 188 in all), birds (71), amphibians and reptiles (13) are covered in great detail within the 700+ pages of this book. Clear color prints, drawings and heaps of data round out what I believe to be the most comprehensive guide of its kind. Well done Mark and well worth the cost.

Great resource!
Outstanding book...wonderful photos of animal skulls...I was able to identify a fragment of a skull that I found by using this book. I know that it's the upper jaw of a house cat instead of a bobcat because of the small premolar tooth that bobcats and lynxes never have, cougars and ocelots always have, and house cats sometimes have. Should be on every naturalist's bookshelf.