When I first took up a copy of Dr. José R. Castelló‘s 2016 book Bovids of the World; Antelopes, Gazelles, Cattle, Goats, Sheep, and Relatives from Princeton University Press, I was absolutely astonished at not only how many different species of bovid there were in the world but also how much detail about each one Dr. Castelló had skillfully included in the book without making it seem either over-done or overwhelming to the reader.
Two yers latter, Dr. Castelló is once again back in the Newly Noted column with his next addition to the Princeton Field Guides series: Canids of the World; Wolves, Wild Dogs, Foxes, Jackals, Coyotes, and Their Relatives. Following the same highly effective format he employed in Bovids, this new guide covers not only every species of wild canid presently inhabiting the planet but every recognized subspecies of them as well.
How he manages to write such well-crafted and richly detailed books as these while also maintaining a thriving practice as a plastic surgeon is an absolute marvel to me, but however he does it I’m very glad he does, and I’m very eager to get deeply immersed in the profiles of all the fascinating canid species with which we share this planet.
