No photos to help them sadly but good to hear the next one's gearing up - I'm expecting quite a fun one - as it should be all the mammals left that aren't bats there should be some nice weird stuff in there!
Handbook of the Mammals of the World
- Thread starter Hix
- Start date
No photos to help them sadly but good to hear the next one's gearing up - I'm expecting quite a fun one - as it should be all the mammals left that aren't bats there should be some nice weird stuff in there!
I'd be happy for HMW to use my colugo photos.
See here for instructions: HMW is Looking for Photos - Colugos, Solendons, Golden Moles and more - Mammal Watching
They particularly go for behavioural photos (I remember one of yours showed a colugo "relieving itself" which I thought was really interesting).
Now that the first few volumes have been out a couple of years, what do you guys think? I've considered buying the ones I'm most interested in (probably carnivores and sea mammals, though volume 2 and the rodents are also very tempting if I can convince myself the expense is worth it), but I know some of the cat species don't quite line up with the general opinion, and there's a lot of "issues" with the ungulates. Some parts, like the giraffes, would already be considered outdated. Do you think these will hold up over the next decade or two? Are zoos, etc starting to go by the species described in HMW?
I feel like they're already kind of outdated in a few ways. I doubt most of those bovid splits will stick around for example.
But honestly all I want are those sweet sweet plates! If they released cheaper plate-only volumes by some miracle I'd be all over them.
But honestly all I want are those sweet sweet plates! If they released cheaper plate-only volumes by some miracle I'd be all over them.
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
I prefair to use the word "logic" rather than "outdated".
The problem with books is that they are outdated the moment they are available and HMW is no exception. HMW is however still the best collection of mammal books out there, though it has some serious flaws:
- There is a huge inconsistency between chapters, both in level of detail, as in what is described under certain sections (especially obvious in "relationships with humans"). The taxonomy used is also inconsistent between chapters, especially obvious when looking at the Ungulates volume, but also in the recognition of subspecies or not.
- The taxonomy of the Ungulate book is hugely flawed, with only the Bovids family using the new taxonomy proposed by G&G, which is both arguably wrong and unaccepted by the scientific community.
- The plates in the Primates volume are done by Nash and not by Toni Llobet, who illustrates the other volumes. Llobet's image quality is about 100x better than Nash, so the plates in the primate volume are a real eyesore...
Lynx did 2 volumes of plates for the bird volumes. I think that it will do the same for mammals as well as pictures of new species since the original volumes were published.
Lynx posted the publication date for volume 8 as June 2018 on their website today! Looking forward to this volume!
Thank you! I know that they quickly become outdated, but with a series like this, that makes all these changes to currently-held beliefs, it's a bit more of questioning whether institutions change to go along with what HMW has put out, or whether it gets talked about for a bit and then forgotten about/blown off (like the bovid species).
I read the initial posts about the primates volume, I'm glad I'm not very interested in primates
I think I'll pass on the ungulates as well, it seems a bit pointless to get that one to help me learn species if their classifications are so out of sync with the rest of zoology.
Not too bad, given that was the original publication date anyway.....
Interestingly, the Lynxeds site updated to state the book was in-stock on the 23rd, a week early. However, I have still not had any confirmation that my pre-order has been shipped as yet, so perhaps they are keeping to the publication date for the purposes of pre-orders
Anyone else who *has* received shipping confirmation - or failing that, who knows roughly how long it usually takes between publication and shipping from prior experience of HMW volumes?
Interestingly, the Lynxeds site updated to state the book was in-stock on the 23rd, a week early. However, I have still not had any confirmation that my pre-order has been shipped as yet, so perhaps they are keeping to the publication date for the purposes of pre-orders
Anyone else who *has* received shipping confirmation - or failing that, who knows roughly how long it usually takes between publication and shipping from prior experience of HMW volumes?
In fact the volume was printed about a week earlier, around 23-26 of July, and was most probably shipped immediately after the printing (according to the fact that a BirdForum's member who lives in southern France received his copy on 28 of July, around 2-5 days after the ''in stock'' sign), so I don't think that the pre-orders statement could be true. Now, concerning the shipping information and shipping time length, the issue is more complicated. Until very recently (about 2 or 3 months ago) in the sales conditions section of Lynx's website it was stated that the delivery in all EU countries was via a courier company and the time needed for arrival was about 3-8 days. Indeed, it was true, as when I pre-ordered the 7th volume last year I received a mail from UPS with shipping information and route until delivery 1 day after the publication. The volume also arrived around 5 days after this e-mail was sent. But, as I already said, the things have changed now. The main cause was that when I ordered the 5th volume 2-3 months ago I waited about 8 days for shipping information of any kind, but received nothing. So, I communicated with Lynx Editions about it and learned that for some EU countries, like mine (Greece), the delivery is not anymore via courier but via postal service. So no shipping information and no traceable deliveries. The good thing is that because of this misconception and the fact I noticed their unintended misinforming in their Sales Conditions section they updated it. Finally, my volume arrived 2 days later, exactly 10 days after buying, via postal service. In my opinion, based on the fact that Great Britain is excluded from EU countries (at least at their site's section) you most probably won't receive any shipping information and the delivery will take at least 10 days to arrive, just like mine. So most probably you will have your copy some time in the next 2 or at max 3 weeks.
The following is a shortcut to Lynx's Sales Conditions section if somebody else wants to check what applies to European countries after the update:
Sales conditions | Lynx Edicions
That link contains an interesting little caveat where delivery to the UK is concerned....
Subject to import duties and taxes. Any additional charges for customs clearance is the responsibility of the customer. Customs policies vary from country to country.
Given the size and price of the book, if a customs fee is required this will *substantially* increase the overall cost.
Subject to import duties and taxes. Any additional charges for customs clearance is the responsibility of the customer. Customs policies vary from country to country.
Given the size and price of the book, if a customs fee is required this will *substantially* increase the overall cost.
Currently best price I can see for UK is £125 [seems to be free shipping]
Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Vol. 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos by Wilson, D.e.; Mittermeier, R.a. (eds); Llobet, T. (illus)
Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Vol. 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos by Wilson, D.e.; Mittermeier, R.a. (eds); Llobet, T. (illus)
Not even a month has passed from the publication of Volume 8 and Lynx is already asking for photos of bats for the 9th Volume. Wow, that was really fast!
Request for Photos for the Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Bats - Mammal Watching
By the way, has anyone received his copy of the 8th Volume yet? And if he/she has, is it as astonishing and good-edited as the other installments of the series? (I bet that it is, but I haven't had my copy yet, so I can't have a clear opinion)
Request for Photos for the Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Bats - Mammal Watching
By the way, has anyone received his copy of the 8th Volume yet? And if he/she has, is it as astonishing and good-edited as the other installments of the series? (I bet that it is, but I haven't had my copy yet, so I can't have a clear opinion)