Review of Magpies and Mayflies: An Introduction to Plants and Animals of Central Valley and Sierra Foothills (Paperback)

Very highly recommended, Magpies And Mayflies: An Introduction To Plants And Animals Of The Central Valley And Sierra Foothills is knowledgeably co-authored by Derek Madden, Ken Charters and Cathy Snyder. An invaluable resource for ecological explorers of (and casual visitors to) the central valley and Sierra Foothills. Magpies And Mayflies is a perfectly "user friendly", informed and informative guide to flora and fauna of the fields and hills of the beautiful and endless Sierra area.


Product Description
California's Sierra Nevada Foothills, Central Valley, and the Delta share much of the same natural history. It has long been overlooked by most authors who write about California's attractions, and is experienced by many visitors as a place of endless roads and valley towns seen along the way to the glamorous coast or majestic mountains. Although this vast area is no longer an isolated outback region, there still exist places today where wildlife thrive and the presence of the Native Americans can be seen and felt. Right here in our own backyard there are spike rushes and water ferns, crayfish and bobcats. Look around and you will find milk thistle and the black-crowned night heron, turkey tail mushrooms and arboreal salamanders. This book attempts to answer, at least in part, the universal question of what is this place? Filled with jaw-dropping illustrations that seem ready to crawl right off the page, and detailed descriptions of the plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms that inhabit the region, this isn't just an identification guide: it's a book that will fill you with awe and make you all the smarter.

About the Author
Ecologist Ken Charters has documented nature during his explorations ofCalifornia's vast interior for over two decades. Ken wrote naturalhistory articles on plants and animals of the Central Valley whichappear in several issues of CSU Fresno's Journal of Natural Sciences.Ken conducted research on alligator lizards while he attended CSUFresno, and completed his graduate work in ecology at Northern ArizonaUniversity.Cathy Snyder is a science education specialist, with combined graduatework in biology and linguistics conducted at UC Santa Barbara and CSUFresno. Working both as a tenured primary school teacher in California'sCentral Valley, and as an adjunct professor of biology, Ms. Snyder hasintroduced thousands of students to the natural wonders of this region.Dr. Derek Madden led ecological research projects as a student andprofessor at CSU Fresno. Some of his work appears in the Journal ofParasitology, Oecologia, and the Journal of African Ecology. Derek is arecipient of the Charles Spinetta Award for Excellence in Wildlife Art,and he received the Amador Artist Guild Award in 2004 for wildlife art.He is currently a professor of biology and the Dean of Science atModesto Junior College in California's Central Valley.

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Review of Dinosaur Atlas: An Amazing Journey Through a Lost World (Spiral-bound)

I have been hooked on dinosaurs every since my great aunt took me to the Great Hall of Dinosaurs at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University.This was so long ago the apatosaurus was known as a brontosaurus because they had the head of a camposaurus sitting on top of the giant skeleton that dominates the hall, along with Rudolph Zallinger's "The Age of Reptiles" mural.One of the neat things there is a triceratops on which a faux skin has been placed on one side.I mention that because in this "Dinosaur Atlas" authors John Malam and John Woodward, along with consultant Professor Michael Benton, go so far beyond that display that it makes me want to laugh with delight.Finding out about dinosaurs in the 21st century is proving to be a lot of fun.

This "Dinosaur Atlas" has main maps that show major fossil locations and list some of the prehistoric animals found there, followed by pages that provide additional information about both the locations and the animals.The section opener pages consist of six main sections corresponding to the continents (Antarctica is included with Australia).Color-coded silhouettes on the maps locate where prehistoric animals have been found, with the numbers corresponding with the silhouettes in the profile list.Each main section also has an artwork scene that shows not only dinosaurs but other animals of interest, as well as what the environment was like at that time.Today's Landscape information boxes compare the present-day world with that of the dinosaurs, and Fact Boxes throughout the book provide additional information on the topic, while Biography Boxes reveal the people behind the finds.There are also Did You Know? boxes that reveal interesting facts about a dinosaur or a fossil site.You will also find a transparent overlay page in each section, with a prehistoric animal of special interest.The overlay provides further information, enabling readers to see the skeletal structure.

For example, the section on North America identifies the Morrison Formation, a vast area of sandstone formed during the Jurassic Period that left Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus skeletons in the area of what is now Dinosaur National Monument. That is one of six locations highlighted in the section, and hopefully every young would-be palentologist who reads this book will have the opportunity to visit at least one of the places described.The section also focuses on Corythosaurus, the most common hadrosaur (duck-bill) in these areas.The overlay is of a skeleton of an Allosaurus, accompanied by a comparison of its skull, with the muscles and then the skin added to it.The introductory section of the atlas provides an overview on how to use it, a look at life on earth and the rise of the reptiles, and then at the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous worlds.Malam and Woodward also address the question of What is a Dinosaur? and explain the basics of the fossil record.They also have a pair of two-page spreads on both flying dinosaurs and swimming dinosaurs.The death of the dinosaurs and what came after them are covered at the end of the book.After answering over a dozen questions about dinosaurs (e.g., Who discovered the first dinosaur?What color were dinosaurs?), they look at the process of excavation and display.A Glossary of key terms will also be of help to young readers.

The "Dinosaur Atlas" also covers with a CD-Rom in the front cover that includes looks at an Allosaurus, Saltasaurus, Pterodactylus, Spinosaurus, Protoceratops, and Richmond Pliosaur.For each you have four options: (1) 360-degree rotating skeleton, (2) 360-degree rotating figures of the dinosaurs with muscles and skin, (3) loops of the skeletons shown walking, flying and swimming, as appropriate, and (4) views respectively of a biting skull, rising up on hind legs to eat from a tree, diving to catch and eat a fish, eating a small dinosaur that scurries by, braying up on hind legs, and eating while swimming along.You can enlarge the photos to approximately half-screen size.What you have here is pretty basic in terms of animation, but you will get a sense of how they looked and how they moved.All things considered the CD-Rom is not as impressive as the book, but that is because the book is pretty impressive.You know from the fact it is a DK publication that you are going to find multiple illustrations on virtually every page (I especially like the ones where they put dinosaurs into photographs of an environment).But the whole point here is to show how and where dinosaurs lived, and by that standard DK's "Dinosaur Atlas" is a big success.

Product Description
Follow the most remarkable episode in prehistory in this all-in-one compendium of everything dinosaur. This volume marries the very latest in paleontology with an easily accessible atlas format to illuminate the mysteries of dinosaur origins, clues to what they looked like and where they lived, and, most intriguingly, what happened to them. In vivid recreations of the prehistoric world and fascinating see-through overlays featuring 3-D computer graphics of skeletal structures, DK's Dinosaur Atlas brings dinosaurs to life!AUTHOR BIO: Dougal Dixon has written many children's books and encyclopedias. He has participated in a number of worldwide dinosaur excavations, and in 1993 was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Educational Journalism by the Educational Press Association of America.

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