Field Guide to Snakes of the Middle East

Field Guide to Snakes of the Middle East PDF Author: Damien Egan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472987330
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Arabia and the Middle East have an unusually rich herpetofauna, and this is exemplified by the region's snakes. There are almost 190 species, and this new field guide offers a way to identify them. Written by expert Damien Egan and illustrated with his brilliant digital imagery, the book consists of 87 plates, each containing two or three species, with the snakes illustrated along with comparison species and diagnostic features in detail, such as head and keel scales. A concise species text accompanies each plate, highlighting ID, ecology, habitat and prey, along with notes on venom. Introductory text covers the snakes of the region more widely, with a discussion on how and where to find them and how to study them safely. Ambitious in scope, this book will be of great interest to all herpetophiles living in or visiting this broad and diverse region.

Field Guide to Snakes of the Middle East

Field Guide to Snakes of the Middle East PDF Author: Damien Egan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472987330
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book Here

Book Description
Arabia and the Middle East have an unusually rich herpetofauna, and this is exemplified by the region's snakes. There are almost 190 species, and this new field guide offers a way to identify them. Written by expert Damien Egan and illustrated with his brilliant digital imagery, the book consists of 87 plates, each containing two or three species, with the snakes illustrated along with comparison species and diagnostic features in detail, such as head and keel scales. A concise species text accompanies each plate, highlighting ID, ecology, habitat and prey, along with notes on venom. Introductory text covers the snakes of the region more widely, with a discussion on how and where to find them and how to study them safely. Ambitious in scope, this book will be of great interest to all herpetophiles living in or visiting this broad and diverse region.

A Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Egypt

A Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Egypt PDF Author: Sherif Baha el Din
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
ISBN: 1617972673
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
Reptiles and amphibians are among Egypt's most successful wildlife, found in almost every habitat in the country, from homes to fields and the desert itself. For the first time, A Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Egypt provides concise, reliable, and up-to-date information on all of Egypt's principal species, with detailed material on their taxonomy, identification, natural history, and ecology. Based on fifteen years of fieldwork, this guide is a valuable tool for experts and amateurs alike in the identification, study, and conservation of these fascinating animals. With an easy-to-use key, high-quality maps, and over 100 color illustrations, this field guide covers 110 species including tortoises and turtles, lizards, snakes, and crocodiles found in Egypt. Each entry contains concise information about the species, including English, Latin, and Arabic names; world and Egypt distribution; distinguishing features; habitat and ecology; behavior; and conservation status. Included too are line drawings to illustrate key identification features and differences between species. With a comprehensive bibliography for further research, the guide supplies the accuracy and scientific rigor that scientists look for, while providing an accessible approach for generalists and amateurs. For biologists, nature lovers, and anyone interested in Egypt's rich natural heritage, A Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Egypt is an ideal reference tool.

Bats

Bats PDF Author: Heimo Mikkola
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 1803550120
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
Bats are widely distributed and vary enormously in their ecology, sociality, and behavior. They offer diverse cultural and economic contributions to human populations, such as ecotourism, guano, medicinal products, religious significance, and vector control, to name a few. Insectivorous bats consume massive quantities of insects and other arthropods, controlling important agricultural pests and potential disease vectors. Bats feeding on nectar help to maintain diversity in forests through the dispersal of seeds and pollen, essential to many plant species with high economic, biological, and cultural value. At the same time, bats are often associated with zoonotic disease risks, a trend that has been magnified by the global COVID-19 pandemic, although no direct infection from bat to human has been demonstrated. Rapid deforestation is also a major contributing factor to new viral emergences. This book suggests that education is a suitable tool to minimize prejudice against bats and a key step to creating a harmonious coexistence between humans and bats. Chapters address such topics as bats in folklore and culture, bat dispersal patterns, bats in ecosystem management, pesticide exposure risks, roost-tier preference, diversity and conservation, and ecology of white-nose syndrome.

The status and distribution of freshwater biodiversity in the eastern Mediterranean

The status and distribution of freshwater biodiversity in the eastern Mediterranean PDF Author: Kevin G. Smith
Publisher: IUCN
ISBN: 2831716993
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 149

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Book Description
The Eastern Mediterranean region supports just over 4.4% of the global human population yet contains only 1.1% of its renewable water resources, which are under constant threat from the impacts of unsustainable water withdrawal, dam development and climate change. This IUCN report and accompanying dataset represents a major advance in the provision of information to help incorporate biodiversity needs into water development planning processes within an Integrated River Basin Management framework. This volume includes species information compiled for each river and lake sub-basin and incorporates information from the assessment conducted by IUCN's Global Species Programme, in collaboration with its partners, of the status and distribution of all described species of freshwater fishes, molluscs, odonates, and plants from across the Eastern Mediterranean with existing information for species of freshwater dependent amphibians, birds, crustaceans, and mammals. This work represents the most comprehensive assessment yet of freshwater biodiversity at the species level for this part of the world.

Sabkha Ecosystems

Sabkha Ecosystems PDF Author: H.-J. Barth
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9781402005046
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
Contains 31 contributions presenting the results of recent decades' research on the extensive intertidal and inland saline flats of the Arabian Gulf Region, known colloquially as sabkhat. Only relatively recently acknowledged to be valuable ecosystems with research, development, and conservation value, sabkhat are thoroughly explored in this volume by biologists, geologists, archaeologists, ecologists, botanists, zoologists, and other researchers and scientists from many countries. The volume's 31 contributions are organized into three sections: distribution of sabkhat within the Arabian Peninsula and the adjacent countries (13); sabkha ecology (14); and sabkha land use and development (4). The book includes some fairly low-key b & w photographs, charts, and maps. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

Humans and Hyenas

Humans and Hyenas PDF Author: Keith Somerville
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000360563
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 187

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Book Description
Humans and Hyenas examines the origins and development of the relationship between the two to present an accurate and realistic picture of the hyena and its interactions with people. The hyena is one of the most maligned, misrepresented and defamed mammals. It is still, despite decades of research-led knowledge, seen as a skulking, cowardly scavenger rather than a successful hunter with complex family and communal systems. Hyenas are portrayed as sex-shifting deviants, grave robbers and attackers of children in everything from African folk tales through Greek and Roman accounts of animal life, to Disney’s The Lion King depicting hyenas with a lack of respect and disgust, despite the reality of their behaviour and social structures. Combining the personal, in-depth mining of scientific papers about the three main species and historical accounts, Keith Somerville delves into our relationship with hyenas from the earliest records from millennia ago, through the accounts by colonisers, to contemporary coexistence, where hyenas and humans are forced into ever closer proximity due to shrinking habitats and loss of prey. Are hyenas fated to retain their bad image or can their amazing ability to adapt to humans more successfully than lions and other predators lead to a shift in perspective? This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in the environmental sciences, conservation biology, and wildlife and conservation issues.

Genetic Crossroads

Genetic Crossroads PDF Author: Elise K. Burton
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503614573
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
The Middle East plays a major role in the history of genetic science. Early in the twentieth century, technological breakthroughs in human genetics coincided with the birth of modern Middle Eastern nation-states, who proclaimed that the region's ancient history—as a cradle of civilizations and crossroads of humankind—was preserved in the bones and blood of their citizens. Using letters and publications from the 1920s to the present, Elise K. Burton follows the field expeditions and hospital surveys that scrutinized the bodies of tribal nomads and religious minorities. These studies, geneticists claim, not only detect the living descendants of biblical civilizations but also reveal the deeper past of human evolution. Genetic Crossroads is an unprecedented history of human genetics in the Middle East, from its roots in colonial anthropology and medicine to recent genome sequencing projects. It illuminates how scientists from Turkey to Yemen, Egypt to Iran, transformed genetic data into territorial claims and national origin myths. Burton shows why such nationalist appropriations of genetics are not local or temporary aberrations, but rather the enduring foundations of international scientific interest in Middle Eastern populations to this day.

Research and Management Practices for Conservation of the Persian Leopard in Iran

Research and Management Practices for Conservation of the Persian Leopard in Iran PDF Author: Arezoo Sanei
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030280039
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
The population of the Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) has drastically declined; this Asian leopard subspecies has disappeared from some parts of its former range. Containing large areas of potential habitats with leopard presence across almost all of its provinces, Iran is known to be the last stronghold for the Persian leopard in the region. This book comprehensively covers research, management and conservation practices of the Persian leopard, including: · The first phase of the Persian Leopard National Action Plan in Iran together with an innovative leopard insurance program and a contingent valuation practice with respect to the wildlife trafficking law enforcement in Iran · Research on a hypothesis about the risk of a major fragmentation and splitting the leopard distribution range in Iran into a northern and a southern parts · An innovative and empirically fitted species- and region-specific approach for assessing the cumulative effect of land use and land cover changes on the leopard persistence · Distribution modeling of leopard potential habitats on a regional basis, accompanied by ground validation techniques · An evaluation to three threshold rules to define the habitat suitability indices · Persian leopard habitats and relative corridors in the trans-boundary areas of the East Azarbaijan province of the northwest of Iran in the Caucasus Ecoregion. The innovative research and conservation approaches presented in this book will be of great interest to those studying the leopard and other large carnivore species. The innovative models presented in this book about cumulative effect of the land use and land cover changes will be beneficial to land use managers, planners and decision makers in selecting wildlife friendly solutions for development programs. The strategic and action planning model as well as the leopard compensation program as an insurance scheme are developed specifically for the local condition and leopard status in Iran.

Lagomorphs

Lagomorphs PDF Author: Andrew T. Smith
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421423413
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
The definitive guide to all lagomorphs—pikas, rabbits, and hares. Numbering 92 species worldwide, members of the order Lagomorpha are familiar to people throughout the world, and yet their remarkable diversity and ecological importance are often underappreciated. In this book, Andrew T. Smith and his colleagues bring together the world’s lagomorph experts to produce the most comprehensive reference on the order ever published, featuring detailed species accounts, stunning color photos, and up-to-date range maps. Contributors highlight the key ecological roles that lagomorphs play and explain in depth how scientists around the globe are working to save vulnerable populations. Thematic introductory chapters cover a broad spectrum of information about pikas, rabbits, and hares, from evolution and systematics to diseases and conservation. Each animal account begins with the complete scientific and common names for the species, followed by a detailed description of appearance and unique morphological characteristics, including a range of standard measurements of adult specimens. Subsequent sections discuss known paleontological data concerning the species, the current state of its taxonomy, and geographic variation. Each account also includes dedicated sectioins on habitat and diet, reproduction and development, ecology, behavior, and management. The definitive work on lagomorphs, this book is an invaluable reference for naturalists, professional biologists, and students. It will also be beneficial for those conducting biodiversity surveys and conservation throughout the world.

Archaeozoology of the Near East XII

Archaeozoology of the Near East XII PDF Author: C. Çakırlar
Publisher: Barkhuis
ISBN: 9492444747
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
The first international meeting of the Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas (ASWA) working group of the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) took place at the University of Groningen in 1992. Ever since, ASWA meetings have served as an inspiring gathering for those conducting archaeozoological research in Southwest Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus. This book contains sixteen papers presented at the 12th ASWA meeting hosted at its inaugural institution, the University of Groningen, Groningen Institute of Archaeology, as a continuation of the usual series and to celebrate the career of Dr. Hijlke Buitenhuis, associated member and alumnus of the institute, co-organizer of the first ASWA meeting. Like other ASWA proceedings before it, this volume is full of novel theoretical and methodological approaches and new research results, tackling a large variety of topics, from the geometric morphometrics of sheep in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period to Predynastic fishing in the Upper Nile, to the biogeography of hartebeest and hemione, and covering the vast region stretching between Hungary in the west and Azerbaijan in the east. The volume also features an opening article by ASWA founding member M.A. Zeder on the future of archaeozoology in the region. In honor of Dr. Hijlke Buitenhuis, his full bibliography is featured herein.