One of the many joys of field guides, aside, of course, from their utility of identifying species, is perusing them out of pure curiosity to discover what manner of animals, plants, or whatever their respective subject may be are to be found in a given area (or even in existence, for that matter).
Thus it was that I began to turn the pages of Dr. Jonathan Kingdon‘s new Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals (Second Edition), finding the expected charismatic elephants, gorillas and zebras, as well as the much less well known gundis and blesmols. There were also a remarkable number of monkeys and far more species of squirrel than I ever would have expected to be found in Africa.
When my curiosity is finally sated – or at least reaches a level of manageability – I’ll begin examining the text and supporting information Dr. Kingdon has also included in this newly expanded and updated edition of his original 2005 pocket guide. Also, for those who may wish to go deeper into his works about the mammals of Africa, his much respected full-size Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals was itself previously updated to a second edition in 2015.
