Overview

This book is the first comprehensive account of all 46 species of land-breeding mammals known in New Zealand, native and exotic, wild and feral, living and extinct. It describes their history, biology, and ecology, and brings together much information which has been gathered from widely scattered sources or was hitherto unpublished. The description of each species is arranged under conventional headings, and is standardized for easy reference. Because the only native land-breeding mammals in New Zealand are bats and seals, the great majority of the modern mammal fauna comprises introduced species, whose arrival has had profound effects, both for themselves and for the native fauna and flora. Each species account emphasizes the ecological effects of the introductions: for the natives, changes in numbers and distribution, and for the arrivals, changes in habitat, diet, numbers, and size in comparison with their ancestral stocks. The editor's introduction summarizes the general history and characteristics of the mammal fauna of New Zealand, and describes some of the problems that mammals present to resource managers in contemporary times. The twenty-nine contributors are all leading authorities in mammal science in New Zealand, and all have studied in the field the species they describe. This book will become the definitive work on the mammals of New Zealand, and a standard source of reference for mammal biologists both in New Zealand and elsewhere in the world. It will also be of considerable interest to ecologists interested in evolutionary adaptation in mammals.

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9780195583205

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