Francis, C. 2008. A Guide to the Mammals of South-East Asia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, and Oxford, United Kingdom, 392 pp. ISBN 978-0-691-13551-9, price (hardbound), $55.00.

Abstract

The timing could not be better for the release of this guide. It complements the recent publication of A Guide to the Mammals of China. Together with the earlier work, A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo (Payne and Francis 1985), these 3 guides provide a comprehensive examination of Southeast Asian mammals. Countries represented in this book are Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Peninsular Malaysia, and Singapore. Although Sumatra and Java are not included in this book, they are illustrated in A Photographic Guide to Mammals of Southeast Asia (Francis 2007). The 30 years Charles Francis spent in the field in Southeast Asia are evidenced by the complete and thoughtful nature of this guide. He stresses in the preface that this is a secondary source and should be used accordingly. Descriptions are included for approximately 470 species of land mammals, 28 species of cetaceans known or suspected of occurring in Southeast Asian waters, and the dugong (Dugong dugon). The diversity of habitat encountered in Southeast Asia ranges from montane at 5,000 m at the edge of the Himalayas in northern Myanmar, to coastal mangrove forests in peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.