(Part 3) Best animal biology books according to redditors
We found 1,080 Reddit comments discussing the best animal biology books. We ranked the 466 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 41-60. You can also go back to the previous section.
Front cover of this book. Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom
>The best way to control mosquito transmitted diseases is proper sanitation and human behavioral changes.
Yes, perhaps in places that have the luxury to afford such things. The eradication of malaria in the southern United States is well documented, arising from the draining of swamps and the installation of permanent dwellings and screen doors(1). Unfortunately, many of the areas of the world in which mosquito-borne diseases remain endemic are quite impoverished.
Secondly, these engineered mosquitoes do not carry a mutation that prevents Dengue from being transmitted per se, but rather encode a developmentally lethal gene. If this system became defective, they would simply become ordinary mosquitoes.
Lastly, you are right to point out that the goal is to "cure" Dengue from the mosquito population, which does not necessitate eradication of the species, but rather a sufficient reduction of the population sustained for a period long enough to break the cycle of transmission. Again, think of the case of malaria in the southern US. The mosquitoes which transmitted malaria are still around, but the disease is not because the transmission cycle was broken.
(1) Spielman, A., & D’Antonio, M. (2001). Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent and Deadly Foe (p. 256). Hyperion. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Natural-History-Persistent-Deadly/dp/0786867817
>What am I allowed to collect?
For the most part the vast majority of what you collect will not be treated or listed and you are totally allowed to collect them. Collections normally consist mostly of adult insects and since most insects have short lives so you are likely killing them after they have already reproduced and are near death anyways. It is all worth noting that insect population are also so large that when you are only take a small number for a collection you are not affecting the species very much at all. That being said there are only a few insects that are listed as endangered and you should avoid collecting. I assume you live in the US so you can look up endangered species here.
>Can I collect at a state park?
State parks are normally not ok to collect in but it depends where you are. A good rule of thumb is to collect on private property (your own or with permission), Bureau of Land Management land, and National Forests (not National Parks) link for more info and exceptions.
>Where's the best place to learn about preserving and mounting?
Short videos (scroll to the bottom of page for videos)
text
bugguide
more info on traps and advanced methods
I didn't notice this mentioned on the links but make sure to keep some sort of poison inside of the box you stope insects in. If you do not carpet beetles (dermestids) will eat your collection. My favorite method is to crush up a mothball (made with para-Dichlorobenzene not naphthalene) and sprinkle it in the box replacing when scent is gone. Also if you live someplace with high humidity consider putting in desiccant packs to keep things dry and help prevent mold.
>How's, uh, the odor of a mounting workbench?
I work on my collection in my bedroom and the smell is fine. Some big beetles can stink as they dry (insides rotting) and if you pin a stink bug or darkling beetle you will smell them but it isn't bad enough to warrant putting them in the garage and most things will have no smell at all. I would also encourage you not to store insects in the garage since it is best for pinned insects to stay dry and garages can be moist. The things that do smell, however, will be poison (ethyl acetate, acetone, and PDB) so store those in your garage.
>apparently a good starter's kit is ~120$
If you want to spend that much that's fine but you can really start a lot cheaper. You can start with only a few dollars by collecting things in jars then putting them in the freezer to die. I suggest that you buy directly from BioQuip, pretty much the only entomology supply company. I think this starter kit would be perfect for your needs and only costs $40. I believe you were looking at this which is nice and if you are wanting nicer quality things it works, I personally liked starting with the basic kit then upgrading piece by piece once I knew what I liked and wanted.
Identifying:
When IDing here are some good resources
If you can't ID something try:
Happy collecting!
Yes, actually. There's an excellent book I read a while back called Mosquito that goes into a lot of detail about it.
The ecological purpose that mosquitoes serve is similar to the ones that predators serve, namely population control. Species have evolved in such a way that they're actually reliant on parasites and disease, which mosquitoes spread like crazy.
That sounds dumb, I know, but bear with me. Let's imagine you have a bunch of rabbits in a field. Rabbits have evolved to eat as much grass and leaves as possible, and fuck when they're not eating. Predators have evolved to eat rabbits, but rabbits are sneaky and hard to catch so a given rabbit population will outpace a predator population pretty easily.
Rabbits will keep fucking no matter how much food is actually available, so what happens is you end up with a billion rabbits and they eat all the food. Then, all the rabbits just starve to death. It doesn't keep the population in balance, they just all die except for a lucky few. When that happens, the predators die off too.
Diseases and insects live and die incredibly short lifespans, though, so they don't need much time to suddenly show up and kill a whole bunch of rabbits. If there's suddenly a ton of rabbits, the foxes won't keep up with the population explosion, but the mosquitoes and their associated diseases absolutely will. That keeps the rabbits in check, and they won't eat all their food and kill themselves out of sheer stupidity.
There are also a number of other non-ecological reasons why we can't just wipe out mosquitoes. During the 50's and 60's, there were widespread campaigns of "FUCK MOSQUITOES," and they sprayed insecticide over pretty much the entire world. It killed a lot of mosquitoes, but what ended up happening is that the mosquitoes that were resistant to the insecticide just kept happily doing their thing. When you're trying to eradicate a species where a single individual can produce millions of offspring in a week, killing 90% of the population actually doesn't do much: they just show up later all insecticide-immune. The unintended effects of all the spraying was also... let's say not ideal for the people and wildlife in the areas where it happened.
Please don't.
Most likely those were water snakes. They can be aggressive if confronted and mimic the colors of moccasins. However they're essentially harmless, except they will bite you and poop on you if caught.
Snakes are not bad guys, and help keep small rodent populations down. (much better than cats, feral cat populations do a lot of harm) You want to encourage proper native species to flourish in your area, and help maintain that balance otherwise you have to deal with the side effects. As a hunter this should be very important to you, imo.
Also, you might bear in mind that any large-ish snake you see took a few years to get that size, they don't grow fast like mammals tend to do. I recommend learning more about snakes and reptiles, especially species that live in your area.
Maybe next time, borrow or buy a field guide take it with you and see what you discover.
This should concern you.
Not being a jerk here. I've got 20+ years experience with snakes, including working with them at multiple zoos and wildlife refuges, and I've seen some heck -- people getting bit due to misidentifying snakes and thinking they're cool or cute, or people who work with hots getting bit because they thought they knew the snake.
It's a disaster waiting to happen. Take some time. Pick up the green book, study it. Learn the snakes in your area and be able to identify them properly before every handling a snake. And remember that juveniles often have very different patterns and markings than adults.
If you're not 100% certain what kind of snake it is AND have a good reason to pick it up, just don't do it. For the snake's sake and your own.
/endrant
I have a fly fishing book called Trout and Their Food written by a fisherman/biologist/artist who would snorkel with a weight belt in rivers and observe the trout and where they held, how, what and when they ate, etc. It's very eye opening. Anyone who fly fishes should read it. Totally changed how I approach fishing.
Stephen Brusatte's Dinosaur Paleobiology might be right up your alley; very readable while remaining rigorously academic.
There are a number of resources for snake ID and this list is nowhere near comprehensive.
Globally, comprehensive species lists are available via Reptile Database Advanced Search. Reptile Database is mostly correct and up to date in terms of taxonomy. Another worldwide resource is Snakes of the World which, in addition to being comprehensive for extant snakes, also provides a wealth of information on fossil taxa.
Regional guides are useful. If you're in North America, the Eastern Peterson Guide and Western Peterson Guide are great tools, as is Snakes of the United States and Canada. While plagiarized and problematic, the book Snakes of Mexico is the best easily accessible information for the region. For Central America, the Kohler book as well as Savage's Costa Rica book are excellent resources. South America is tough but has a diagnostic catalog. Australia has Cogger as a herp bible. SE Asia has two guides one in German and one comprehensive. For Europe, you simply can't get better than the three volumes of Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas. Africa is also difficult - no comprehensive guide exists but there are a few good regional guides like Reptiles of East Africa and Guide to the Reptiles of Southern Africa. Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar is a good source for that distinct region. For the Indian subcontinent, use Snakes of India
Remember, species names are hypotheses that are tested and revised - old books become dated by the nature of science itself. One of your best resources is going to be following /r/whatsthissnake, or (for North America) with the SSAR Standard Names List for the most recent accepted taxonomic changes.
Here is an example of a small personal herpetology library.
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I am a bot created for /r/whatsthissnake, /r/snakes and /r/herpetology to help with snake identification and natural history education. You can find more information, including a comprehensive list of commands, here and report problems here.
There are some links below - basic field guides for your region, that might be good gifts to get started. These are the better texts in what is sort of becoming a bit of a media-saturated market. You're going to be tempted to buy books by authors like Mattison and Hubbs - don't do it! They are garbage that will have to be unlearned.
Additional links for CA - missed the location before
Western Peterson Guide - recently updated, a little janky in terms of taxonomy and reflecting modern methods in herpetology, but a good start
CA herps website - not every state is so lucky to have such a comprehensive and up to date website. It's not perfect but they mostly know what they are doing.
!resources
Get him "A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians." There's a couple of different editions out there that depend on where you live (you wouldn't want the West Coast edition when you live on the East Coast). It's informative and very helpful if he's into catching and learning about different kinds of reptiles.
Here's one version from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Reptiles-Amphibians-Peterson/dp/0395904528
If you live in the western half of the US and Canada, I'll send you my copy of the book! Here's a pic of the area covered in my book: http://imgur.com/0K4VV1I.
I got this book for one of my last classes in college back in spring. It's brand new, never been opened, and a little dusty from sitting on my self for 9 months. I would much rather see someone more interested in reptiles to enjoy the book, use it to catch reptiles, and to actually learn something from it. And you can have it for free!
If you're interested, just pm me where your address. If not, I hope that you'll find something great for your brother!
That guy represents a height of 6 feet (1.83 m). This is from the book Prehistoric Life.
If you're interested in fostering a moth obsession, I recommend this book to help set the stage!
This is probably your best bet. There is a lot of literature out there on this, but just to name a few sources:
UCMP Berkley has a pretty decent overview.
If you can get a hold of it at your local library, The Dinosaur Heresies by Robert T. Bakker helped popularize the notion, and his prescience may help you out a bit. It's dated, but the chapter on dinosaur-bird similarities holds up pretty well today.
Tom Holtz's Dinosaurs has a couple chapters detailing metabolism and bird evolution that should pretty useful.
Finally, there are a lot of paleontology blogs out there written by working paleontologists that talk about this subject in great depth. Use Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings as a starting point then search for your desired subject using the search box, and for more simply check out the links to the right of the page to go to other fairly reputable sites.
Happy homework!
The second edition is now really dated (though the 3rd ed should be out next year). It's really not a good book to start on though, if you have no more than a general interest in dinosaurs you need something more basic to build up your knowledge and understanding to tackle something like that which is very technical.
Look to something that's more aimed at college students or equivalents like these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dinosaur-Paleobiology-TOPA-Topics/dp/0470656581 and https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dinosaurs-Concise-Natural-David-Fastovsky/dp/1316501159/ref=pd_sim_14_8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KKXQASPCZSWD9F1TT35H
I have this. I like it, and it is fun to thumb through it. But as another user said, shit gets discovered pretty quickly though.
Depending on his interests, here are a few options:
I may encourage reading this book. It details 47 different interspecies relationships, including more famous ones like Koko and gorilla and her cat All Ball.
It has examples of relationships mixing wild and domesticated animals, even wild predator and domesticated prey, all of different species for various reasons.
Sounds good to me: Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions
The Peterson Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexico should suit you just fine. Of course it covers a wide range and isn't specific to just your area but you should still be able to get to the family level with this book. The only downside of this book is that it was written a while ago and so some names and classifications have changed, but other information is valid and accurate. I personally have this and would recommend it. I am not aware of other field guides for insects that are specific to eastern/central North America except where specific orders or insect types are concerned, like the Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America, or perhaps something relating to specific geography like the Rockies or PNW or something.
Death in the Grizzly Maze
Anything by Stephen Jay Gould for evolution, zoology, and earth science. Some of the science is dated - he passed in 2002 - but he always gives a comprehensive read of his subject material without being dry or overly academic.
In particular, Wonderful Life tells the story of the Burgess Shale, which details the discovery of a trove of unknown extinct species. The science has been updated since - see The Crucible of Creation - but Gould tells a better story.
Along these lines, also check out The Dinosaur Heresies by Robert Bakker.
I've seen bears a few times. They are rarely kept in zoos (you are more likely to find a lion in a zoo) but there is one zoo near my parent's summer cabin that has a couple. Also Clark's Trading Post is a weird little theme park that has trained bears.
I've never seen one in the wild, but I understand in the state north of me black bears getting into your garbage is commonplace.
​
Bears are solitary omnivores. (Except for polar bears...which are carnivores). Because they can live off things other then meat they survive in woods too small to support a large pure carnivore...and are thus the biggest baddest predator left any where near here.
Black bears are the smallest, cutest, and least aggressive kind in the US. They are good climbers.
Grizzlies are bigger, more aggressive, and rarer. Their claws are more optimized for digging then climbing.
​
A book by a guy who loved bears...
Among Grizzlies: Living with Wild Bears in Alaska: Timothy
..and a book about how that guy was killed by bears.
Death in the Grizzly Maze: The Timothy Treadwell Story
​
Or if you want a comedy, Threadbear by Andrew Selpie is a novel about a magically animated teddy bear. More violent then it sounds
For beetles north of Mexico, I recommend the old favourite, Peterson Field Guides: Beetles of North America. People who complain that the book should have photos instead line drawings don't know what they're talking about. Line drawings are superior for identification because diagnostic traits are more visible. The purpose of a field guide of identification, not to a pretty coffee book (if you want a pretty coffee book, The Book of Beetles is my favorite, and I have it in my living room at the moment).
For insects in general north of Mexico, I recommend the counterpart from the same series.
If you insist on photos, I recommend the National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders & Related Species of North America (which, by the way, was written by a member of BugGuide.net). Since it has photos, I'd recommend it for beginners. Once they feel more comfortable with insect taxonomy, they should add the Peterson Field Guides to their collection. Avoid the popular Audubon series because it values pretty photos over practicality.
The Peterson Field Guides are great because they provide keys, diagnostic traits, similar families, collecting methods, and a plethora of amazingly detailed line drawings (and color slides). They also have great introductory material. The taxonomy is outdated, but it's not a big issue when you have online guides, like BugGuide.net, that keep their taxonomy current. The more important takeaway is that these guides will quickly teach you insect taxonomy, and you quickly develop a big-picture sense--that is, the diversity--and a granular sense--that is, the subtle difference between similar clades.
As for "state by state" guides, I have the California Natural History Guides: Field Guide to Beetles of California. There aren't line drawings like those in the Peterson Field Guides, but you do have some photographic slides in the middle section. For this, I would only recommend the book for those with enough familiarity with beetles.
Like you said, "the scope of insects is way too huge for a simple, small field guide." Many reviewers don't understand this, and complain about the lack of specificity. To satisfy their specificity, you'd probably need a guide at the city or county level (without exceeding a million pages, and assuming an entomologist is willing to take on that task LOL). Insects are so grossly misunderstood by most people (that is, most people compare the taxonomic scope of insects with that of let's say, mammals, which is like comparing travel guides for the Vatican with that of Russia--or the United States), you are better off ignoring most laymen reviews if your goal is to actually learn.
I was listening to an interview on NPR a few weeks ago. The interviewee was a guy known as "the Indiana Jones of entomology," and he'd written a book about ants.
Apparently there is an ant war whose front lines stretch all the way across the state of California. It is between two super-giant ant colonies, one of which basically stretches from Los Angeles into parts of Northern Mexico, and one of which stretches from San Francisco to Los Angeles, or some such craziness. Ants are apparently incredibly nationalistic, and form nations by chemical scent, and have no concept of peace. If they run across another ant that smells different, they have no choice but to kill, and they do not retreat, ever. So there's this crazy long line of ants that just clash somewhere around San Francisco, across the whole fucking state and kill each other, endlessly.
Ants are motherfucking intense.
EDIT: Link to book.
You'd be surprised how few forests there are on earth that have remained untouched for "millennia". It's basically none.
Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% for conservation, but I'm just saying don't get attached to the idea of returning nature to its "default" state because it basically doesn't have one.
I read this book last month and if you're into this kind of stuff, it's a really good read. It's all about invasive species and humanity's short sighted understanding of the way nature "should" be.
For those interested, the image is from this book. The thing is full of images and stories like this. Got it for my mom for no real occasion, cheapest brownie points I know of. She loves it and it makes a great coffee table book.
I quickly searched and found a book called Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth . It seems like this is the best one out there.
Ok ok.. well The Dinosaur Heresies isn't an encyclopedia, but Robert Bakker is the wild man of dinosaurs. I see he has a Picture book. Still, that part where the dinosaur lifts up the roof of Danny's house, that is classic.
Hmm, books are tricky. You'll have better luck looking up individual snakes. Here's a few of my favorites though.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0691124361/ref=mp_s_a_1_28?ie=UTF8&qid=1481930124&sr=1-28&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=snakes
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/mobile/w/snake-chris-mattison/1100488504?ean=9780756613655&st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Core+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP62465
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0520224876/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1481930293&sr=1-16&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=snakes&dpPl=1&dpID=51haSGah73L&ref=plSrch
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0084ETQCC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481930435&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=handbook+of+venomous+snakes&dpPl=1&dpID=51cl0ph79uL&ref=plSrch
Those should do a pretty good job of keeping you busy. I tried to list them from most broad to most technical.
Amazon.com. For instance, I bought Dinosaurs: A Concise Natural History, which is an undergrad textbook, for $7.25, including shipping. Just search for the books you want and look to the used section in the listing. Most of the ones I've bought on Amazon came from libraries so they have the tough plastic outer jackets on them, which helps reduce wear and tear.
this book, along with "tactical fly fishing" both changed the way i fish
https://www.amazon.com/Trout-Their-Food-Compact-Fishers/dp/1602396930
We actually have five species of water snakes, but based on the information you've given, I think that N. sipedon is the only one in your area (although N. erythrogaster and N. taxispilota get close, so you might see them if you're a little further south than I'm picturing).
If you're ever in the market for local snake books, I highly recommend Amphibians and Reptiles of Georgia or Snakes of the Southeast. The latter is part of a series whose books collectively cover frogs & toads, salamanders, snakes, lizards, crocodilians, and turtles of the southeastern United States. I personally own the snakes and salamanders books and think that they are really good guides which are useful to both experienced and amateur individuals; I also own Amphibians and Reptiles of Georgia and love it, too!
Permaculture: A Designer's Manual is considered the bible for permaculture because of how comprehensive it is and how much information is packed into that book. It won't explain all of the effective strategies for different climates that we've developed over the last 30 years but I would definitely start there for the foundation. Then move on to books on topics that are specific to a particular topic within permaculture design.
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My Recommendations:
I'd also suggest ditching the Audubon guide. Quite frankly, it's rubbish. Poorly organized, and a number of the photos are incorrectly ID'd. I highly recommend the Kauffman Guide to Insects by Eric Eaton for a broad overview of North American insect fauna.
Otherwise, if you're focusing on butterflies, the Peterson guides are quite useful. The eastern and western volumes by Opler are both useful, but lack quality keys.
The recently revised Peterson guide to Northeastern moths by Beadle & Leckie is impressive in its coverage (but by no means comprehensive) but similarly lacks any sort of useful key for identification.
If you're looking for other field guide recommendations, I'd be happy to share!
Peterson is pretty good.
The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing. Small book, 240 tips on every aspect. It's a great book to have on your bed table, glove box, bathroom, etc. when you just want to read a few pages at a time.
http://www.amazon.ca/The-Little-Red-Book-Fishing/dp/1602399816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332948274&sr=8-1
I was bored and decided to practice my Google fu. From what I could find Jed Hollan used to (perhaps he still does, although I doubt it since The Little Red Flyshop, of which he used to manage, has since closed down) publish a flyfishing report every two weeks. It seems he was mainly a fly fishing journalist, and he wrote a lot for Arkansas Fly Fishers magazine. You can see one of his reports featured in this issue if you are looking to read him, specifically (the link is to the download of the pdf).
I am wondering, however, if you might have gotten mixed up and you are really looking for The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing? Welp, I suppose I'm done now...Back to being bored again, aha. Tight lines, my friend.
As a fellow Georgian, I would recommend "Amphibians and Reptiles of Georgia" as linked here It has relevant information about ranges, habitats, colorations, habits, everything. Its a little big for a field guide (huge) but is a wonderful tool to learn from and then reference when you get back to the field.
Hey, it doesn't look like anyone got back to you about the dinosaurs (or I'm just too lazy to check all the sub-threads)
Here are two textbooks that are sometimes used:
I would recommend Snakes by Harry W Greene. A professor of mine gave it to me when I graduated. It is a beautiful book and has a ton of great information. Link to Amazon It only comes in paperback but it is a great book. If they are into going out and looking for herps I would recommend a field guide. Depending on where you are in the US there is a field guide, one for the Eastern and Central US and one for the Western US. The scientific names are outdated but the range maps and photos are still handy for learning about all of the herps in your area. Hope this helps!
The best thing you can do is become familiar with the terminology. This book was useful for looking up various nomenclatures on certain body parts or regions, like which veins are which on wings. Otherwise This book had some good keys in it, but it's primarily description based, and many other keys I've used beyond it are this way as well. For the book, it was convenient that it had many pictures to reference in earlier chapters if you wanted some visual confirmation you were on the right path in the key. Otherwise, I'd suggest getting with the professor and asking for sources they might suggest to become better with the terminology.
The keys I've used with as many pictures as descriptions were constrained to species-level ID of one insect. There might be some sources you can find with some internet searches, though those aren't so easy to find all the time.
Bugguide.net might be a resource you can consider, though it doesn't act as a key, and is more useful if you are already familiar with the different types of insects and their classifications.
There is a very good book http://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Natural-History-Persistent-Deadly/dp/0786867817 that describes this creature. I'm not sure if there is a book about Mr. Gates.
What level course is this? Undergrad or high school? Do you need to cite the primary scientific literature or are you allowed to use popular media sources? If the latter, go to your local bookstore or library and see if they have: http://www.amazon.com/Prehistoric-Life-Definitive-Visual-History/dp/0756655730/ It's not going to be sufficient for typical grad or advanced undergrad course citation requirements, but it should fit the bill for lower level courses.
If you need something online, you can try http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/history_of_the_earth/Paleocene
Both of these can also serve as spring boards for searching Google Scholar or Web of Science for actual scientific papers if you have more stringent source requirements.
I know it is not an answer to your question for good books to further your education, but a good Sci-Fi Author to check out would be Frederik Pohl. Specifically, The World at the End of Time was a really good book. It has probably some of the best descriptions of relativistic effects of any Sci-Fi I have read. I'd also recommend continuing to read the Rama series. It gets a bit.. different... when Clarke isn't writing it, but it is still worth a read. Also, finish the Odyssey series if you haven't (2010, 2061, and 3001). Shelly's Frankenstein (not any of the movies, although Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder is a funny spoof that I'd recommend) is worth a read. The book is completely different from most popular adaptations of it. Also, there are several good Sci-Fi writers here on reddit, and /r/WritingPrompts usually has interesting stuff going on in it.
Finally, here is a list of Non-fiction Dinosaur books: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/17226.The_Best_Non_fiction_Dinosaur_Books, with http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Concise-Natural-David-Fastovsky/dp/052171902X/ being a good book too, I hear.
A less expensive alternative is Mark W. Moffett's Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions. The front and back cover boast endorsements from E.O. Wilson and Jane Goodall, among others.
Edit: Added subtitle and better link. As of the time of this edit, there are used copies available on Amazon for under $5.00.
I fricken love field guides and my favorite Herp guide is Peterson's Eastern and Central North America or Peterson's Western North America depending on your location, assuming you live in North America.
There are two books I highly recommend to you. The first being The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing by Kirk Deeter and Charlie Myers. I keep it in my tackle box. This book was invaluable to my self development as a fly thrower.
Next I recommend Colorado's Best Fly Fishing. This book gives you need to know information on the most popular places to catch fish. It might not have the hidden and secret spots but it has gotten me to places with some great trout.
With that said, the only time I ever caught fish on Clear Creek was when I was 12 using a gold blue fox lure in September along I-70 just south of Idaho Springs. That doesn't mean they aren't there, I just haven't tried on a fly.
I'm in the same boat as you and have been researching on Amazon. So far I've come up with:
http://www.amazon.com/Princeton-Field-Guide-Dinosaurs-Guides/dp/069113720X
http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Prehistoric-Animals-Smithsonian-Handbooks/dp/0789493616/
http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Complete-Up-Date-Encyclopedia/dp/0375824197/
http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Concise-Natural-David-Fastovsky/dp/052171902X/
The biosphere is never going back to the 1900s, it literally can't, and nor should it.
We have a somewhat artificial idea that there was a 'best' time for the biosphere, but it has been changin and adapting for a very long time, and it will continue to do so if we give it half a chance.
Read 'The New Wild" by Fred Pearce .
californiaherps.com
This book doesn't have accurate taxonomy but is still an invaluable resource for IDs and general information:
Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles & Amphibians, Fourth Edition (Peterson Field Guides) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1328715507/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_xd7YBbKB95P8S
Audubon Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians
http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-American-Reptiles-Amphibians/dp/0394508246
Audubon Guide to North American Insects and Spiders
http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Insects/dp/0394507630
The Audubon Guides were beautiful color-photographic plates over several hundred pages that detailed almost all major species. I found them on my father's shelves when I was 5 or 6 and carried them around with me for about 6 years. It is, to this day, why I know most snakes by sight, immediately, and the same for insects and spiders.
I wish I still had them.
I recently got this book, Adventures Among Ants http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Among-Ants-Global-Trillions/dp/0520261992, which has photos of the exploding ants any many other crazy ant things - definitely recommended! I actually had lunch with the author, very funny guy, as you would imagine an ant expert to be.
Introduction to Paleontology and the fossil record
You can download the .pdf somewhere in a torrent.
A lot of paleontology involves geology so don't forget that! You also want to have a good understanding of the evolution of species as well as the common physiological, morphological traits of the major orders, classes etc.
There are a few other books such as Fossils: A very short introduction which is a short easy to understand book if you have no background knowledge.
There are a bunch of textbooks that you can find online in .pdf format.
Possibly the greatest coffee table book ever would be this which is packed full of information, pictures, illustrations, 3D models on all of life from the very beginning of life (pre-cambrian) all the way to modern humans. It also includes the formation and early history of Earth.
In paleontology you would rarely find a complete fossil. You have to rely on the small pieces of the puzzle and try to figure out what the rest of the animal would look like based on clues given from modern animals. It's sort of like being given a book but 90 percent of the pages have been torn out and you must figure out what happened in the rest of the story based on the 10 percent of the book that is left.
I'm not an expert but this thread was empty and since for the past month I've become obsessed with natural history I figured I'd comment.
Some of the best times spent with my dad were going into the woods and looking for snakes, turtles, and frogs. We would go to a lake and catch frogs or turtles or into the woods looking for snakes. Assuming you live in an area where there are no venomous snakes, look on rocks in sunny spots or under wood in fields. Think about where mice might go and that is where you will find snakes. Step on the tip of their tail and grab behind their heads so they can't bite you.
[Get this book]http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-American-Reptiles-Amphibians/dp/0394508246/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341604390&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=field+guide+to+north+american+reptiles+and+anphibians and your own notebook. When you find a reptile or anphibian look it up in the book. Put down where and when you found it, how big it is, and maybe sketch a picture of it. Soon you will have a journal of all the animals you have found. Again Don't do this if you live in an area where dangerous snakes are an issue and always with your parents permission. I grew up in NY and dangerous snakes are very rare so I didn't have to worry about it.
I have Trout and Their Food by Dave Whitlock and Colorado's Best Fly Fishing by Landon Mayer. Both books are nearly brand new. I received a duplicate as a gift and I re-bought the Whitlock book at last year's Fly Fishing Show in Winston-Salem to have Dave sign a copy.
I'm looking to trade pretty much anything fly fishing related--tying materials or tools, other books, etc.
Thanks for lookin'!
I may encourage reading this book (https://www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Friendships-Remarkable-Stories-Kingdom/dp/0761159134). It details 47 different interspecies relationships, including more famous ones like Koko and gorilla and her cat All Ball.
It has examples of relationships mixing wild and domesticated animals, even wild predator and domesticated prey, all of different species for various reasons.
See if they have this book. http://www.amazon.ca/Death-Grizzly-Maze-Timothy-Treadwell/dp/0762736771
Plus give them a frying pan.