May 2002 BOOK REVIEWS 633

THAILAND,,SINGAPORE,MYANMAR, LAOS,VIETNAM,CAMBODIA,,, AND . Ralph Curtis Publishing, Inc., Sanibel, Florida, 128 pp. ISBN 0-88359-052-2, price (paperback), $15.95; New Holland Pub- lishers Ltd., London, United Kingdom, ISBN 185974-507-5, price (paperback), £7.99. This slim (9 by 19 cm) pocket guide packs an amazing amount of information, including 255 full-color photographs illustrating 192 species, a map of the with annotations and locations Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/83/2/633/2373397 by guest on 08 October 2021 of major national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and conservation areas, and a brief description of mammalian biogeography of the region. In ad- dition, conservation issues are discussed, with descriptions of several newly discovered genera and species. To put this in perspective, the region that is covered harbors over 500 species of mammals. The region spans about 2,000 km, east to west, and about 3,500 km, north to south. Of this, roughly two-thirds is land and the rest shallow seas separating major islands and the Malay Peninsula (which includes parts of Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar). The region is about one-third the size of the continental United States. The region covered in the book does not al- ways coincide with current political boundaries, though for most species the correlation is quite remarkable. Apparently, natural barriers of hu- man populations in this region are also faunistic barriers. The countries included in the region are Cam- bodia, western , Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Vietnam. However, some of the species also occur in wet tropical areas of China (particularly southern Yunnan Province) and India (Assam). The region has been recognized since the time of Alfred Wallace as being divisible into 2 rather distinct in regard to fauna and, to a somewhat lesser extent, ¯ora. To the south, which includes nearly all of the islands and the Malay Peninsula (up to the Isthmus of Kra, the narrowest part) is the Sunda , rich in wet tropical rain forests. To the north of the Isth- mus is the Indochinese subregion. Journal of Mammalogy, 83(2):633 634, 2002 The Sunda subregion is separated from the eastern part of Indonesia by the famous ``Wal- Francis, C. M. 2001. A PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE lace's Line,'' a deep trench between the islands TO MAMMALS OF SOUTH-EAST INCLUDING of Borneo and . Though only several 634 JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY Vol. 83, No. 2 dozen kilometers apart at the narrows, these is- review of the mammals of this region.ÐILLAR lands support remarkably different fauna. In MUUL, Integrated Conservation Research, 5627 contrast, the Malay Peninsula is more than 600 Woodlyn Road, Frederick, MD 21703. km from Borneo, yet most of the mammalian species are shared. Deep trenches also separate the Philippine Is- lands from the Sunda Islands and continental Asia. Consequently, fauna of the Philippines dif- fers in most mammalian taxa and is generally depauperate compared with the Sunda and In-

dochinese subregions. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/83/2/633/2373397 by guest on 08 October 2021 The faunistic land barrier between the 2 sub- is more problematic. Some genera and species seem to bypass it, whereas the majority do not. Wet tropical forests extend north into peninsular Myanmar and occur in pockets as far north as southern Yunnan Province of China. But most mammalian species of the Sunda sub- region stop at the Isthmus of Kra. For example, of the 8 genera of tree squirrels, all are repre- sented in Sunda, but only 4 in the Indochinese subregion. Sunda has 7 genera of ¯ying squir- rels, and the Indochinese subregion has 4 (of which all but 1 also occur in the Sunda subre- gion). The guide is organized by orders of mammals (14 included), which are easy to locate by colored corner tabs. In most cases, 20% or more of each of the orders is illustrated. The author's main in- terest is revealed in the fact that the best photo- graphs are of bats. Photographs have been pro- cured from a wide number of sources and include the recently discovered saola (Pseudoryx nghetin- hensis) and striped rabbit (Nesolagus) from the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam. Each order has a brief description, often in- cluding the number of families, genera, and spe- cies. Species descriptions include total length, or forearm length for bats, and shoulder height for ungulates. Brief descriptions are given of col- oration, habitat, nest sites, reproduction, calls, and conservation status. In some cases, diet, so- cial behavior, and differences between sexes are included. Some families are treated fairly comprehen- sively (e.g., carnivores and bats), whereas some with large numbers of species, such as Muridae, receive less individual attention. The last pages include a Glossary, a Further Reading section, and an Index. Overall, this guide is useful to travelers interested in mam- mals, as well as to professional mammalogists who wish to have a quick introduction to and