Following upon their publication of José R. Castelló’s 2016 Bovids of the World and 2018 Canids of the World, Princeton University Press has now let the cat out of the bag with their publication of his most recent taxonomic family-level field guide Felids and Hyenas of the World: Wildcats, Panthers, Lynx, Pumas, Ocelots, Caracals, and Relatives.
Covering the forty-one species of felids and the four hyenas presently to be found on the planet, this most recent work of Dr. Castelló follows the same image-rich, facing page account-to-illustration format that has proven so successful in his previous two volumes. With clearly presented distribution maps and detailed information on key identification features, this new guide (also as in the previous two) offers detailed yet user-friendly accounts of the “distribution, behavior, reproduction, similar species, habitat, [and] conservation status” of each included species, as well as information about where each may be most easily (a relative term with some) observed in the wild.
As, with the publication of this most recent guidebook, he has now covered the Bovidae, the Canidae, and the Felidae, I can’t help but wonder what family he will undertake in his next volume. Personally, I’m hoping it will be a guide that combines the Tragulidae (chevrotains and mouse deer), Moschidae (musk deer), Cervidae (deer), and Antilocapridae (pronghorn).
