Texas Natural History: A Century of Change

Abstract

D. J. Schmidly 2002. Texas Natural History: A Century of Change. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, xv + 534 pp. ISBN 0-89672-469-7, price (hardcover), $39.95. About 3 decades ago, the Texas state tourism bureau promoted the state as a “land of contrasts.” A visitor to Texas could experience a wide range of landscapes, all within the borders of just 1 state. The tourism bureau, however, was not the 1st to recognize the vast ecological diversity of Texas. C. Hart Merriam perceived this richness late in the 19th century and chose Texas as 1 of the states where the United States Bureau of Biological Survey could conduct such a survey (Bailey 1905). The introductory chapter of Schmidly's book is of as much interest to a biological historian as to a mammalogist. This historical account was developed from exhaustive search and study of records housed in the Library of Congress, National Archives, National Museum of Natural History, and Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. Chapter 1 begins with a brief account of the formation of the U.S. Biological Survey, focusing on the career of its founder (Merriam) before addressing the Texas survey. From 1889 through 1906, a dozen “survey contributors” invested 2,185 “man days” of field effort; of these, the best known to mammalogists were Vernon Bailey, Ned Hollister, and A. H. Howell. More than 20 black and white photographs show many expedition participants in portrait, field, and museum settings. Additional photographs depict habitat and “typical night's captures” of small mammals. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, famed biological illustrator, produced a portfolio of mammal sketches from Trans-Pecos Texas; several of these are reproduced in Chapter 2. Excerpts from conespondence and field journals offer insight into activities of and field conditions experienced by field investigators. The important role of local naturalists and of farmers, ranchers, and woodsmen in this effort is acknowledged and described. Schmidly briefly describes life zones, biotic provinces, and ecological regions of Texas and plots the localities …