Book Review: Primates of the World

I just recently received a copy of "PRIMATES OF THE WORLD" and am delighted to write about it today.  Originally published in French, the English version of this stunningly beautiful book is elegantly translated and will be available as of September 18.  It is "the" reference everyone interested in primates should have by their bedside.

It opens with a great overview of primates, their origins, evolution, anatomy, habitats, social organization and communication.  Although succinct, it clearly outlines the diversity of species and how they share resources.  It is full of interesting facts - for instance, a reduction in the number of large trees in the forests of Madagascar "could have led to the first locomotion specializations in ancestral indrids, leading them to leap from trunk to trunk instead of moving around on branches." Or did you know that the slender Asian loris, when sensing danger, rears up and that the "undulating movements of its body combined with the markings on its head give the impression of a cobra"?  I had never reflected upon the fact that a predator invasion from North America may have led to "the development of specialized prehensile (grasping) tails in certain New World monkeys".

The second part is dedicated to the classification of primates - it features a beautiful graphic which clearly illustrates the branches of the order Primates, followed by handy classification tables.

The third part of the book is the most comprehensive documentation of primates I have ever come across.  Each page comes with a color coded map, description of the species and magnificent illustrations depicting sub-species, males, females, babies in different postures.  Each drawing is lively, colorful and very practical to identify animals one might come across either in captivity or in the wild.

As stated by the authors: "Our generation is privileged in comparison with those that will follow because we are still able to witness, before it is destroyed, what is left of a natural world that helps us to understand a little about our own origins.  If we do not protect our monkey and ape "brothers", it will no longer be possible to observe that, according to many criteria, they were barely more primitive than we are."

For those of you interested in getting a copy, the book is coming out on September 18.
Here are the title and ISBN reference:

PRIMATES OF THE WORLD

An Illustrated Guide

Jean-Jacques Petter & François DesbordesTranslated by Robert Martin
Princeton Univesity Press

Cloth | $29.95 / £19.95 | ISBN: 9780691156958

About the Authors & Translator:

Jean-Jacques Petter (1927-2002) was a world authority on lemurs and one of France's leading primatologists. He was a research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. François Desbordes is one of France's premier wildlife illustrators.Robert Martin is the A. Watson Armour III Curator of Biological Anthropology at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Illustration examples from the book:

Indri and Avahis

Howler monkeys