Mammals of South America, Vol. 2. Rodents

Patton, J. L., U. F. J. Pardinas, and G. D’Elia (eds.). 2015. Mammals of South America, Vol. 2. Rodents. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, xxvi + 1336 pp. ISBN 978-0-226-16957-6, price (hard cover), $95. The second volume of Mammals of South America (MSA2) lives up to the hopes built up over 3 decades of anticipation. The 1st volume (MSA1—Gardner 2007) established a high bar for excellence (Kelt 2009; Voss 2009); Patton et al. and their able army of authors have met that with a groundbreaking synthesis of all things Rodentia on the Green Continent. This book is comprehensive, sweeping in scope and depth, and eminently readable. It provides the first such treatise on rodents of any such area with such detail. Whatever facet of mammal biology you study, if it involves South American rodents this book has information of relevance to your research. When I reviewed MSA1 (Kelt 2009) I noted that “If [this] is any indication of what’s coming, then . . . South American mammals are finally getting the synthesis they deserve.” MSA2 makes it clear that all hopes are more than met! I cannot wait for MSA3. MSA2 is structurally similar to MSA1. Following 26 pages of introductory materials, the taxonomic accounts comprise 1,048 pages with impressively few typographic errors. This is followed by 159 pages of Literature Cited, a 67-page Gazetteer, a 9-page list of taxa (627 species in 143 genera), 4 pages to list the 56 contributors (from 11 countries), and a 46-page Index. Reflecting the remarkable growth in Latin American mammalogy in recent years, 41 authors hail from either Mexico ( n = 2) or from 8 South American countries. Keys (mostly dichotomous) are provided for all genera and most species. For all genera, the authors provide General Comments (often including highly readable distillations of otherwise complex taxonomic histories), a Synonymy, Remarks, and a Key to Species, followed by presentation of all species in alphabetical order (in some cases, such as Proechimys , where species groups are … Department of Department of Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; e-mail: dakelt{at}ucdavis.edu.