Mammals of Sri Lanka - Special Price

The Mammals of Sri Lanka

Asoka Yapa (author) and Gamini Ratnavira (artist). Published in 2013 by the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka. 1,012 pages.

 

Special Offer: Reduced to 1/3 original price

Priced initially at Rupees 7,500 remaining stocks of the book are now available at a special stock disposal price of Rupees 2,500 from the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL), Dept. of Zoology, University of Colombo, Kumaratunga Munidasa Mawatha, Colombo 3 (Tel: 250 1332).

 

Overview

 

The Mammals of Sri Lanka' by Asoka Yapa (author) and Gamini Ratnavira (artist) (published by the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, University of Colombo, 2013) is the first comprehensive book on Sri Lanka's mammal fauna since 1935. A foreword by zoological icon Rohan Pethiyagoda, an introduction to the island's mammals, a survey of Sri Lankan zoogeography, and a review of primary literary sources precede the treatment of mammals. The book introduces the taxonomic orders of mammals in Sri Lanka in their evolutionary, taxonomic, and ecological contexts. Family descriptions follow, after which are species by species accounts that cover morphology, behaviour, ecology, diet, reproduction, distribution within Sri Lanka, and conservation status and concerns. Where there are significant differences among subspecies within the island, these are described and illustrated. For the first time, there are distribution maps for all the terrestrial mammals, drawings of dive sequences for the large whales, and representations of footprints and scat of selected species.

The 1012-page, 20.5 x 28 cm book is richly illustrated in full colour with plates by internationally famed wildlife artist Ratnavira and by the stunning photographs of Sri Lanka's leading wildlife photographers. Most of the illustrations have never been published before and include species that have only recently been discovered. A comprehensive bibliography containing over 500 references will assist those wanting to find out more about Sri Lanka's rich mammal fauna. Written with the wildlife enthusiast in mind, the book will be also useful to students and professional zoologists. The volume was printed and bound in Sri Lanka using sustainably-sourced papers and inks and the authors and illustrators have donated all proceeds to promote wildlife conservation in Sri Lanka.

Priced initially at 7500/- rupees per volume, the book is now available from FOGSL, Dept. of Zoology, University of Colombo, Kumaratunga Munidasa Mawatha, Colombo 3 (Tel.: 250-1332) for the cost price of 2,500 rupees, an astonishing bargain.

 

Reviews

''The Mammals of Sri Lanka' is not merely the work of reference its hundreds of pages would seem to make it. It can be read with pleasure from cover to cover and, despite its heft, will prove invaluable also in the field'.

Rohan Pethiyagoda in Foreword to the book.

'(A) sumptuously illustrated opus... exquisitely written...the meticulous attention to detail by the first author has created an encyclopaedic volume on the current knowledge of mammals in Sri Lanka'
Dr. Burton Lim in book review in Journal of Mammalogy (USA).

 '(The book is) lovely, very lovely'

Prof. Hal Whitehead, Professor, Cetacean Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

 'An absolutely impressive book. The pictures and painting are superb...the scientific content... is very strong. The sections on bats, shrews and whales, relatively neglected groups in most books on mammals, are absolutely excellent. I love your style: a strong concern for accuracy of facts interspersed with occasional and always relevant personal comments. I particularly enjoyed your anecdote on wild boar curry on page 614' .

Emeritus Professor Cyrille Barrette, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

'...a mammoth effort'

Malaka Rodrigo, Sunday Times, Sri Lanka.

 

 

 

 

Contents

Foreword by Rohan Pethiyagoda   11

Encomiums   17

Sri Lanka's Mammals: An Introduction   23

Mammals in Sri Lanka: Primary Sources   35

Sri Lanka: Geology and Biogeography   43

Author's Note and Acknowledgements   51

 

Sri Lanka's Terrestrial and Marine Mammals   63

   Order Sirenia: Dugongs and Manatees   65

   Order Proboscidea: Elephants   79

   Order Primates: Lorises, Monkeys, Lemurs, and Relatives   121

   Order Rodentia: Rats, Squirrels, Mice, Porcupines, and Relatives   189

   Order Lagomorpha: Hares and Pikas   293

   Order Eulipotyphla: Shrews, Hedgehogs, and Moles   303

   Order Chiroptera: Bats   337

   Order Carnivora: Cats, Civets, Mongooses, Dogs, Bears, Weasels, and Pinnipeds   459

   Order Pholidota: Pangolins  585

   Super-Order Cetartiodactyla: Even-Toed Ungulates and Whales   599

   Order Artiodactyla: Deer, Chevrotains, Antelopes, Pigs, Giraffes, True Ruminants, and Hippopotamuses   605

   Order Cetacea: Whales and Dolphins   685

 

Introduced Mammals   857

Bibliography   876

 

Appendix I: Glossary   916

Appendix II: The Cetacean-Watching Industry   930

Appendix III: Dive Sequences of the Larger Whales   936

Appendix IV: Spoor and Scat of Selected Genera of Sri Lankan Mammals   944

Appendix V: Dental Formulae of Selected Genera of Sri Lankan Mammals   954

 

Addenda   960

Index of Common Names   972

Index of Scientific Names   976

Sri Lanka's Mammals Names: Scientific, English, and Sinhala Equivalents   980

Sri Lanka's Mammals Names: Scientific, English, and Tamil Equivalents   988

Checklist of Sri Lankan Mammals   996

LNHS Learning: Posters of London's Wildlife

'LNHS Learning' in its present form is a series of educational posters through which the London Natural History Society (LNHS) plans to cover many of the commoner fauna and flora of London. The posters which are aimed at a young audience are intended to be printed off onto A3 so that they can be put up on a classroom wall or child's bedroom. They will also print onto A4. Over time, posters covering advanced topics (e.g. identification of gulls) will also be prepared catering to an older audience.  Anyone is welcome to upload these posters to a private or commercial website or blog as long as the pdf is kept in entirety.

You can drag and drop the entire set of PDFs easily way, from this Google folder. Alternatively open the poster PDFs individually from the table below.

LNHS Learn Poster	High Res version (Use these versions for high quality printing)	Email friendly version
LNHS Learning 10 Birds of London	Click here	Click here
LNHS Learning 20 Butterflies of London Part 1	Click here	Click here
LNHS Learning 20 Butterflies of London Part 2	Click here	Click here
LNHS Learning 10 Dragonflies of London	Click here	Click here

 
 

Note that this is not an official LNHS page. As the series coordinator I am using my blog as a test page.

Book Review: Phillipps' Guide to the Mammals of Borneo and their Ecology

Phillipps' Guide to the Mammals of Borneo and their Ecology

By Quentin Phillipps and Karen Phillipps. 372 pages. John Beaufoy Publishing Ltd: UK. Published in March 2016

 Reviewed by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne

This is an extraordinary book and is a paradigm shift from what a field guide should be. It is also likely to generate some debate on the layout. The genre police are also likely to get quite upset with this book which seems to be a handbook, field guide, a rainforest ecology book and a bedside read with various interesting titbits thrown in of ‘…did you know that….’

 

 

We all know what a field guide should be. There are text accounts of species and plates with photographs of the species or illustrations usually on a white background. In the bad old days when colour printing was expensive, the colour plates were in a block of pages which required some furious thumbing to and fro to read the text and check the colour plates to figure out how you told apart the ‘Greater Forest-thing’ from the ‘Lesser Forest-thing’  for some guidance (field characters in technical parlance), or how else to figure out ‘Long-tailed Forest-skulk’ from the ’Short-tailed Forest-skulk’ because when you photographed it, it was unfortunately not sufficiently obliging as to bring its tail into view. By and large, field guides to mammals were fished out of the book bag on a ‘need to’ basis and did not result in anti-social behaviour. This field guide runs the risk that some tour participants may find themselves dipping into the field guide for its various insights into ecology or behaviour or historical titbits (e.g. how some animal or plant was collected by a zoological explorer in the 19^th century) etc. to the detriment of social interaction with other tour participants.

Would it work as a field guide? I am confident that this book would have served me well on my previous trips to Borneo. The plates are good with many species having geographical races and colour morphs illustrated and the text on identification is clear. But what is more interesting is that users of this book will come away with a dimension that is typically missing in other field guides; which is the wider and possibly more interesting issues on ecology, behaviour and conservation. Many field guides attempt to address this in the front and end sections. As an author myself of photographic field guides, I have introduced text boxes to provide additional detail. What makes this book so intriguing is the degree to which it has introduced additional information. This comes at a cost. It looks busy. I tested the book on others and the initial reaction was the same with people who are used to field guides. It feels too cluttered was the initial complaint. But once the culture shock has worn off, it is not long before you wish all field guides were as informative as this. What is more, unlike a conventional field guide, this is one you will feel like leaving around to dip into. It is a field guide with a lot of extras.

The amount of detail in the book is extraordinary and the author has taken a further leap with departing from the tradition of popular field guides by providing references in the text. This is at odds with the young audience layout style which is used to cram the rainforest ecology into the field guide. All in all, a bold adventure by the author, artist and publisher. The experiment works because the type of person who buys a field guide to the mammals of Borneo is likely to be a well-read and interested adult who will have the appetite for reading this extra content.

I was not initially comfortable with the light yellow shading on the text boxes, and the sheer density of information. But after a few sessions with the book, any discomfort with the packed layout fades away and you begin instead to take in the wealth of material. Normally, on wildlife tours, a heavy field guide may be kept in the book bag in the vehicle and some long form books on the natural history of a country will be in the luggage left behind in the hotel room. This book combines multiple books which makes it a tad heavy. As someone who carries a lot of photographic gear into the field and a bird field guide, I anticipate that birders who are similarly laden with gear will leave this one in the vehicle so that it is close at hand for consultation and carry with them the field guide to the birds of Borneo if they have to ration the books in their day pack. (The same author and artist duo have also published a field guide to the birds of Borneo in which they began their experiment with introducing a lot of text boxes). But if mammals are your thing, I can’t imagine someone not wanting to have this in the field with them.

In addition to the illustrations by Karen Phillipps, a number of photographs are also used, many of which are from camera traps which illustrate something about the nocturnal behaviour or elusiveness of many of these mammals. The text by Quentin Phillipps is first-rate and shows not only the personal insight of someone who has been in the field but the voracious appetite he has for consuming  a vast amount of scientific material and his passion for sharing it with a popular audience.

The book covers the 247 land mammals (an incredible 63 are endemic) and 30 marine mammals. But in several places there are references to scientific papers which hint that the actual number of mammal species may be much higher due to what are known as cryptic species; animals that look the same as another but are shown to be different from studying their genetic make-up. At the end is a very useful guide to 25 of Borneo’s top wildlife watching sites and throughout, the book is richly illustrated with 150 distribution maps. For a book on mammals, there is a huge wealth of material on plants which provides the ecological context for many of the mammals. The front has a visual index to the mammalian orders and the endpapers have a map of Borneo.

 

 

Many double-page layouts cover just 2-3 species, indicating a generous allocation of pages. But so many illustrations and fact boxes are included, there is not much white space which may give the contrary impression that the allocation of space per species has not been generous. A number of species have an entire page or even a double page allowing this to be more of a full-fledged handbook in content although in field guide shape and weight for portability. The page allocation allows many subspecies of mammals to be illustrated and their ranges to be shown in maps with text boxes discussing taxonomic issues and recent research on efforts to establish how many species are present. The confusion around Prevsot’s Squirrel with its many forms is one of many such examples which has warranted a useful double page just for this animal. Having a gifted illustrator has also helped whether it is to show a party of Sculptor Squirrels feeding together or the gliding action of the Colugo. A cute mother and baby of the Red Langur illustrates how some babies grow into the adult colour and some do not. Accompanying this is a discussion of asymmetric mimicry. Red Langurs seem to mimic the Orang Utan. With classical mimicry, the model is more abundant. In this example, the mimic is ten times more abundant. Why? I won’t spoil it by explaining it here. You turn over the page and there is the cute Western Tarsier with illustrations of pitcher plants which bring together botany and historical accounts of naturalist explorers; something which the author is very adept at doing.

The double page on the False Vampire Bat and the Hollow-faced Bat is another radical departure from the classic field guide format. Here we have a molecular phylogenetic diagram that shows these two very similar animals actually belong to different evolutionary branches that diverged 50 million years ago. The illustrations by Karen Phillipps and a full-page photo show the remarkable convergent evolution of how two animals that separated 50 million years ago still came out looking so similar. But there is also the even more extraordinary fact that both evolutionary branches evolved the use of sonar independently. It is a bold step by the publisher and author to depart from the classical field guide but the results are wonderful in a book which drives home so many important messages varying from evolution and biogeography to the difficult choices faced in practical conservation. This book also reminds us that the role of the illustrator will continue to remain important in the age of digital photography. It would be so difficult to obtain quality images of a Mountain Treeshrew perched atop a pitcher plant or a cut-out showing a Woolly Bat roosting inside a pitcher plant.  You will need to read the book to understand more of the relationship between these different mammals and the enigmatic pitcher plants or to read about the discovery that a particular pitcher plant species has evolved a special acoustic reflector to enable Woolly Bats to echo-locate them in dense vegetation.

With most field guides, the objective is to help you put a name to a species you have seen. To understand context, you may need the equivalent of a book like John Kricher’s ‘A Neotropical Companion’ (Princeton University Press) or ‘Kenya A natural History by Stephen Spawls and Glenn Mathews (Bloomsbury). Quentin and Karen Phillipps have put together a fascinating field guide which provides the identification information plus useful context for the role of an animal in an eco system or historical or other relevance with topics varying from archaeological evidence to the Economics of Externalities.

 

 

Alfred Russell Wallace who independently arrived at the theory of evolution by natural selection spent time collecting in Sarawak (a part of Malaysian Borneo) thereby adding an important historical aspect on how Borneo has influenced thinking on evolution. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and together with Madagascar is especially of interest to botanists and zoologists for the large number of species and the high rates of endemism arising from species evolving in isolation from the mainland. I have long been fascinated by Borneo and its natural history ever since I first visited the island as a backpacking birder in search of the special birds and other wildlife on Mount Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in South-East Asia. I was back again a few years ago with my family in Mount Kinabalu listening to the evocative calls of Mountain Barbets echoing across forested valleys and holding my breath as a Yellow-throated Marten bounded past me. Even if you are not planning an immediate trip to Borneo, this is a book you can dip into, to experience some of the magic of being in a tropical rainforest. If you are going to Borneo take this in your hand luggage so that your in-flight reading is taken care of.

 

 

 

 

 

The images of the Colugo and Tourists in Borneo are not from the book. Images taken in Borneo by the reviewer of the book.

 

Amazon UK

 

Amazon USA



London Bird Club: Coach Trips 2015/2016

Fantastic guided day trips from London for British Wildlife

 

For ease of reference, I have copied below into my blog an extract of the forthcoming coach trips. Visit the website for more details http://www.lnhs.org.uk/ and also consider becoming a member of the London Natural History Society (LNHS). Non LNHS members are welcome.
 

7 May 2016 Sat.  Dungeness for passage sea birds and migrants, with chance of rarities. Previous trips have produced Whiskered Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Great White Egret and White Stork. Neil Anderson. Meet 08.00 at Embankment Underground Stn. Bring lunch. £20 to leader. Permit fee for non-RSPB members.

25 June 2016 Sat.  Strumpshaw Fen for warblers, Bittern, Marsh Harrier,

Swallowtails and Norfolk Hawker, maybe Otter, Chinese Water Deer, Water Vole. Neil Anderson. Coach trip 08.00 from Embankment Underground Stn. Bring lunch. £20 to leader (contact details page 15). Fee for RSPB Reserve for non-RSPB members.

More details below.

Images below of Brent Geese and Sanderling are from the London Bird Club Coach trip to Holkham NNR in Norfolk on Saturday 16 January 2016.

 

NOTES

Changes to the Programme

Changes are posted on the LNHS website (www.lnhs.org.uk). Changes are also posted (for members only) on its message board and in the newsletter.

 

Coach Trips

These go to well-known wildlife sites in the South and East of England. Bookings must be made in advance using the booking form that is mailed to members. It can also be downloaded from the LNHS website. Members can bring guests (at the same rate per person) so long as they are included on the booking form. The coach trip organiser is Neil Anderson TEL: (020) 8578 2464. neil@anders42.freeserve.co.uk

Members are asked not to travel to coach meetings independently, although in some cases the organiser may be prepared to allow this if application is made in advance.

Coaches normally leave from the road alongside the south entrance to Embankment Underground station. Occasionally they can pick up at a second point en route on the outskirts of London (check with organiser). Bear in mind that engineering work and weekend line closures are taking place on the Underground - please check in advance whether your route to Embankment station will be affected.

 

The London Bird Club (LBC) is a part of the London Natural History Society (LNHS). See www.lnhs.org.uk The LBC and LNHS have a varied program of walks, talks and coach trips many of which are free and these are open to non members. People can join these walks by reaching the location at the stated meet up point using the good public transport infrastructure in London. For specially arranged coach trips there is a charge for the cost of transport.

I have over the years joined many of these events and seen a lot and learnt a lot from walk leaders and others who join these walks. It’s a wonderful way to spend time on the week end and especially so if you are interested in wildlife. It’s also a terrific way to accelerate your learning and upping your skill levels if you are looking to pursue a career in field biology or conservation. As someone very keen on wildlife photography, I have found them useful to learn locations and how to find subjects for photography.

In addition a varied programme of events, members also receive three high quality publications, The London Naturalist its annual journal, the annual London Bird Report, a fact filled chunky tome published annually, and a quarterly slim Newsletter. Members get a lot for what is a relatively modest annual membership fee.

The images below were taken on the coach trip to HIckling Broad on 6th June 2015. Black-tailed Skimmer, Broad-bodied Chaser, Four-spotted Chaser, Painted Lady, Swallowtail and Wall Brown.

 

 

 

RSPB Central London Events: March - August 2016

I have copied below details of the Central London Group of the RSPB who organize a super programme of talks and field trips in which I participate in. For more details click here.


Thursday 10th March 2016. ‘A Very Fine Swan Indeed: Art, Science & The Unfeathered Bird’ by Katrina van Grouw
The Unfeathered Bird is a unique combination of art and science aimed at anyone with an interest in birds or bird art. Join Katrina van Grouw as she discusses her inspirations for the book, and the 25-year journey to create it. Katrina is an artist, taxidermist, bird ringer, author and former curator of the ornithological collections at London’s Natural History Museum. Venue: St. Columba's Church Hall, Pont St. London SW1. Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.45pm. £4.00 RSPB members, £5.00 non-members.



Tuesday 15th March, at the Chiswick Pier Trust. ‘The Life of the Swift’, a talk by Catherine Day of the RSPB Central London Local Group and Brenna Boyle of Wild Capital
Did you know that swifts spend their whole lives on the wing, landing only to nest and rear their young; that they mate for life and return to the same nest site each year; and that they are the world’s fastest bird in level flight? Come and learn more about these fascinating birds, the new Chiswick Swift Project and how you can help these iconic summer visitors. Click Here for more information.

Venue: Chiswick Pier Trust, The Pier House, Corney Reach Way, London W4 2UG. 7pm for 7.30pm. Free to CPT Members. £3 to non-members. Refreshments will be available. 


Saturday 9th April 2016. Day trip to Oare Marshes
09.07am train from Victoria (arrives Faversham 10.29am, check nearer the day) then we will take a bus or share taxis to Oare. Possible garganey, ruff, avocet, yellow wagtail, warblers. Toilets at Faversham. Bring lunch. Leader: Andrew Peel. No need to book.


Thursday 14th April 2016. ‘Hen harriers and grouse shooting’ by Dr Mark Avery
Mark is a scientist by training and a naturalist by inclination. He worked for the RSPB for 25 years and was its Conservation Director for nearly 13 years. Expect passion and huge knowledge when he speaks to us about the campaign to ban driven grouse shooting which is persecuting the hen harrier to the edge of extinction in England. He will also describe the other negative effects of intensive management of upland areas for grouse shooting. . Venue: St. Columba's Church Hall, Pont St. London SW1. Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.45pm. £4.00 RSPB members, £5.00 non-members.


Saturday 23rd April 2016. Coach trip to Paxton Pits, Cambs
Lakes, meadow, grassland, scrub and woodland by the River Great Ouse. The place for singing nightingales. Warblers, all 3 woodpeckers, cuckoo, peregrine. Visitor centre, shop, tearoom, toilets. Requested donation £2.50. Coach leaves Embankment Station at 8am. Booking essential, contact Derik Palmer on 07768 121 435, or email cllgcoachbookings@gmail.com. CLLG members £18.00, non-members £20.00.


Thursday 12th May 2016. AGM, Summer Social Evening and Talk
Our AGM (6.45–7.15pm) will be followed by our talk, ‘All about House Sparrows’ by Jacqueline Weir, Woodland Biodiversity Adviser at the RSPB. This charismatic bird has disappeared from large swathes of London life. Jacqueline will talk about the findings of the recent London House Sparrow Project and will describe current research to try and get to the bottom of the problem. Food and drinks will follow the talk. Venue: St. Columba's Church Hall, Pont St. London SW1. Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.45pm. £4.00 RSPB members, £5.00 non-members, plus £1 for food.


Saturday 14th May 2016. Coach trip to WWT Welney, Norfolk
Waders inc. avocet, and wildfowl, poss. garganey. Warblers, yellow wagtail, cuckoo, hobby, peregrine and marsh harrier. Visitor centre and café. Entry £6.17 for non-WWT members. Coach leaves Embankment Station at 8am. Booking essential, contact Derik Palmer on 07768 121 435, or email cllgcoachbookings@gmail.com. CLLG members £18.00, non-members £20.00.


Saturday 11th June 2016. Coach trip to Ashdown Forest, E. Sussex
Heath, grassland, bog, scrub, woodland. Hobby, tree pipit, warblers, woodlark, and redstart. Dragonflies and butterflies. Toilets at Forest Centre and Information Barn. Booking essential. Coach leaves Embankment Station at 8am. Booking essential, contact Derik Palmer on 07768 121 435, or email cllgcoachbookings@gmail.com. CLLG members £18.00, non-members £20.00.


Saturday July 2nd 2016. Day trip to Spade Oak Nature Reserve, Little Marlow, Bucks, and Cookham, Berks
Meet at Paddington Railway Station 9.30am for 9.42 train to Maidenhead.and connection to Bourne End. Visit nature reserve then walk along Thames and return from Cookham. For half day, return from Bourne End. Check times nearer the day. Red kites, hirundines, common tern, water fowl, possible waders and hobby. Toilets. Shops in Cookham. Pub near reserve. Leader: Catherine Day. No need to book.


Saturday 9th July 2016. Coach trip to Wicken Fen, Cambs
Ancient fenland habitat. Meadows, sedge and reed beds. Hobby, marsh and hen harrier, grasshopper warbler, poss turtle dove. Dragonflies and butterflies. wildflowers and watervole. Toilets, café, hides. Entry £5.75 for non NT members. Booking essential. Coach leaves Embankment Station at 8am. Booking essential, contact Derik Palmer on 07768 121 435, or email cllgcoachbookings@gmail.com. CLLG members £18.00, non-members £20.00.


Saturday 13th August 2016. Coach trip to Rye Harbour, E. Sussex
Seashore, shingle, grassland, lagoons. Seabirds inc.common, Sandwich and little terns, waders and wildfowl, poss. wheatear and yellow wagtail. Hides. Café near coach park. Toilets. Suggested donation £1. Booking essential. Coach leaves Embankment Station at 8am. Booking essential, contact Derik Palmer on 07768 121 435, or email cllgcoachbookings@gmail.com. CLLG members £18.00, non-members £20.00.