The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals .The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals by Bo Beolens; Michael Watkins; Michael GraysonReview by: By George A. FeldhamerThe Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 86, No. 1 (March 2011), p. 64Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/658462 .

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editor Stuart Parsons have done an excellent jobbalancing old and new, and traditional with cut-ting edge to produce an authoritative volume.

And the book certainly is authoritative, coveringvirtually all aspects of bat biology that one couldimagine. Arranged into 11 parts, each containingnumerous related chapters, there are contribu-tions ranging from morphological analyses tomonitoring and tracking to the analysis of a di-verse suite of substances, to name but three. Thetopics and chapters will also appeal variously to thewide variety of bat enthusiasts, be they amateur bataficionados, museum workers and curators, zoo-keepers, or senior research scientists. There is sim-ply something here for everyone.

What is somewhat hidden in this book is that ithas the potential to expand beyond its bat-centered audience to really include “everyone.”Many of the chapters, although focused on bats,are excellent descriptions of diverse ecologicaland behavioral methods that could easily be ap-plied to other organismal groups. Two particularlygood examples here are the chapters on phyloge-netic tools (Jones and Teeling) and morphomet-rics (Bogdanowicz). The former chapter doublesas a wonderful summary of phylogenetic compar-ative methods in general, whereas the latter doesthe same for morphometrics while simultaneouslyproviding an invaluable list of diverse computerprograms for morphometric analysis in the broad-est sense. Other chapters contain similarly useful,global resources. In short, although bat biologistswill love this book, and for good reason, manyother biologists should as well.

Olaf R. P. Bininda-Emonds, Institut fur Biologieund Umweltwissenschaften (IBU), Carl von OssietzkyUniversitat, Oldenburg, Germany

The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals.By Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, and Michael Gray-son. Baltimore (Maryland): Johns Hopkins UniversityPress. $65.00. xv � 574 p.; ill.; no index. ISBN:978-0-8010-9304-9. 2009.

I suspect that there are few people interested in pick-ing up a dictionary for “fun” reading. The Eponym Dic-tionary of Mammals should be an exception, however.Although it is intended as a reference for professionalsand students of mammalogy, it will also serve as anenjoyable, nontechnical read for all curious naturalistsor anyone interested in mammals. You can check outyour favorite species or just thumb through for a trea-sure trove of fun facts and fascinating folks.

In a brief, four-page introduction, the authorsdiscuss their standard format of entries, includingall mammalian species named for an individual,common and scientific names, descriptor, anddate described. Each biography also includes

other nonmammalian taxa named for the person.All mammalian species extant within the past 500years are considered—a reasonable decision toavoid fossil material—in the 2351 entries thathonor 1388 people. Perusing page-by-page, well-known American mammalogists past and presentare there, several with multiple species named forthem. For example, C. Hart Merriam, the firstpresident of the American Society of Mammalo-gists, has ten named mammalian taxa. J. A. Allen,curator of mammals at the American Museum ofNatural History from 1885 until 1921, is associatedwith 11 species. Top honors, however, go to Amer-ican naturalist M. R. Oldfield Thomas (1858-1929)with 29 mammalian taxa carrying his name; theGerman naturalist Wilhelm K. H. Peters (1815-1883) is honored with 23 mammalian taxa. Ofequal interest are the supposedly eponymous spe-cies that in actuality are not named for a person. Infact, there are 62 species named for indigenoustribes, fictional characters, biblical references, orfrom classical mythology. For example, the Chal-chalero viscacha rat is named for an Argentinemusical group. For a few species, the historicalbackground is shrouded and entries are based onthe author’s best guess, and in ten cases the ep-onyms remain unresolved.

Kudos to Beolens et al. for a unique contribu-tion to the mammalian literature that provides arare combination of useful and interesting infor-mation that is also highly enjoyable reading. If anyvolume typifies the cliche “don’t judge a book byits cover” (or title) this is it. At first blush, it sug-gests an appeal to a rather narrow range of aca-demics—and given its appendixes of scientific andvernacular eponymous names, and short bibliog-raphies, it meets the needs of scholars. But thisvolume will also appeal to anyone interested notonly in nomenclature, but the stories and historybehind the names that are forever immortalized—regardless of how obscure the species.

George A. Feldhamer, Zoology, Southern IllinoisUniversity, Carbondale, Illinois

Mammals of North America. Second Edition.Princeton Field Guides.

By Roland W. Kays and Don E. Wilson. Princeton(New Jersey): Princeton University Press. $45.00(hardcover); $19.95 (paper). 248 p. � 4 pl.; ill.;index. ISBN: 978-0-691-14278-4 (hc); 978-0-691-14092-6 (pb). 2009.

With the obvious exception of “charismatic mega-fauna” such as bison or bears, many mammalianspecies are small, cryptic, and fairly nondescript.In fact, about 62% of living mammalian speciesworldwide are rodents and bats. For many bats,mice, and shrews, species identification with any

64 Volume 86THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY

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