The Natural History of Costa Rican Mammals

Abstract

M. Wainwright 2002 [2003] The Natural History of Costa Rican Mammals, with a preface by O. Arias. Zona Tropical, S.A. 383 pp. + 38 plates. ISBN 0-9705678-1-2 price (paper), $25.95. This entertaining, clear, and fact-filled book might be classified as a hybrid between a field guide and a text on Costa Rican mammals. Its size precludes it from being an easy-to-transport pocket guide, but its depth and breadth more than make up for this. Containing an incredible wealth of information, The Natural History of Costa Rican Mammals is an excellent reference for serious naturalists, tour guides, educators, and researchers who teach or work in the tropics. Mark Wainwright is a nature guide and instructor for tropical ecology courses in Costa Rica, and has written and illustrated Costa Rican field identification pamphlets and children's books. He also is an accomplished illustrator, and this book contains more than 400 of his original illustrations. He has firsthand experience with a considerable number of Neotropical mammals, including kinkajous ( Potos flavus) that steal sugar water from his hummingbird feeders, agile olingos ( Bassaricyon gabbii) that occasionally catch and consume hummingbirds at the feeders, and the poorly-known climbing rat ( Tylomys watsoni) and vesper mouse ( Nyctomys sumichrasti) that are house pests at Monteverde. Wainwright's expertise and observations emphasize midsized and larger mammals, and, accordingly, those accounts are stronger …