Mammals of Northern Alaska: On the Arctic Slope

Abstract

James W. Bee, E. Raymond Hall. Mammals of Northern Alaska: on the Arctic Slope. Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist. Misc. Publ. No. 8. 309 pp., 5 pl., 1 colored. March 10, 1956. Price $1.00 (paper), $4.00 (cloth). On a day in July, of the year 1741, Georg Wilhelm Steller, the German naturalist attached to Virus Bering's expedition of discovery, stepped ashore on Alaskan soil near Cape St. Elias. The occasion marked the culmination of four long years of hard work and arduous travel, and it was unfortunate that Steller was able to spend less than ten hours ashore, observing the flora and fauna of this unknown part of the New World. Scientists nowadays fare better, and literally hundreds have been able to conduct field research in Alaska during the last ten years, under the sponsorship of government agencies and various other organizations. The U.S. Navy's Arctic Research Laboratory at Barrow has played a major role in supporting field work in the Alaskan Arctic, primarily during the summer months, and the attractive new book Mammals of Northern Alaska presents the results of one such field study. It is an excellent example of the extent to which scientists can capitalize upon the opportunity for even limited field work in the Arctic, but its several deficiencies illustrate the ease with which perspective and a sense of proportion may be lost under the modern come-and-go research programs. The book is composed of a 4-page Introduction, a 2-page Check List of the Mammals of the Arctic Slope of Northern Alaska, accounts of the individual species or subspecies (248 pp.), a Key to the Species (12 pp.), and a final section of 23 pages covering Characteristics of the Mammalian Fauna, Geography and Climate, Northern Arctic Slope versus Southern Arctic Alpine Areas, Biotic Communities, Itinerary, and Acknowledgments. A section of Literature Cited concludes the volume with 174 titles. The report covers the area from the crest of the Brooks Range north to and including the coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean. For each of …