Class: Mammalia Indica

Naturalist Vivek Menon's latest book on India's mammals, exhaustive and thoroughly researched, will appeal as much to the lay reader as to the expert

 

Guides on Indian birds, animals and plants usually have two or three annoying features. Many (if not all) are written by foreign authors who lack mastery over the local idiom. They are written in a language that would not usually appeal to the layperson and, lastly, they are exorbitantly priced.

Noted naturalist Vivek Menon’s latest offering, Indian Mammals: A Field Guide does not suffer these characteristics. Menon, the founder-director of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and South Asia director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), is a dyed-in-the-wool Indian. His writing is simple, direct and lucid. And most importantly, his book is affordable. While its cover price is Rs 850, it is further discounted to Rs 650 on WTI’s website. As he told Business Standard in an interview last week: “I explained to Hachette, my publishers, that I wanted to keep the price as low as possible to make the book accessible to a larger audience.”

Neither is this Menon’s first attempt at chronicling India’s mammals nor is the book his first. He is the author of eight other books on wildlife. One of them was a precursor to this one. As Menon explains in his introductory notes: “In 2003, I brought out A Field Guide to Indian Mammals, which was the first comprehensive guide that attempted to cover all the mammal species in India.”

An adult male desert chinkara in Gajner, Rajasthan

  So how does the present guide differ from its decade-old predecessor? “It follows the latest classification that has since evolved, based on available genetic knowledge,” says Menon. Thus, what was listed as the Common Langur in the older guide is listed as six different species in the new one (Northern Plains, South-Western, South-Eastern, Terai, Himalayan and Kashmir/Chamba). And the Hoolock Gibbon is listed as two species (Western and Eastern).

Besides, species like the Arunachal macaque and the Leaf deer, which were first described in India in or after 2003, are included. Species have been described at the ‘subspecific’ level so that individuals can be easily identified.

There are also around 1,000 colourful, curated photographs, 150 maps showing the distribution of each species , diagrams showing body structures of animals and sketches of pug marks, horns, antlers, pellets and other characteristics of animals.

The book is divided into two main parts. The first 50 pages (4 to 54) tell us about mammals, what they are, their anatomy and evolution. There is also basic information about the science of taxonomy and its basic units such as class, order, family, genus and species.

And then, there is the practical knowledge. The social organisation of animals, their diet and habitat, how one can spot animals by identifying habitat, identifying an animal’s sex, its age, how its pelt/fur/pelage changes due to geography and the seasons. There is information on identifying signs of threat, alarm, fear, aggression in an animal, learning to track animals by their tracks, scat and feeding signs. There are also tips to remember when visiting a wild habitat so as not to disturb animals.

The second part (pages 54 through 492) is about the mammalian species. Menon divides mammals into 14 different categories for his book. He does so on various criteria.

One is the environment they live in. Most mammals are land-dwelling. But orders such as Cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and Sirenians (sea cows) dwell in water. Bats, of the order Chiroptera, fly in the air.

Another criterion is anatomy. For instance, elephants form one of the categories in the book since they have a ‘proboscis’ (appendage or trunk). Another accounts for the number of toe-nails/hooves. So you have odd-toed ungulates (rhinos and wild asses which have three and one toe, respectively) as well as even-toed ones (mouse deer, musk deer, deer, wild cattle, antelope, wild sheep and goats and wild pigs). Classification is also done on the basis of dentition. You have lagomorphs (hares, rabbits and pikas) and rodents (porcupines, marmots, squirrels, voles, gerbils, jirds, rats and mice). Or on the basis of the make up of the skin (pholidots or pangolins, which have scales on their body). There are also primates, excluding humans (gibbons, langurs, macaques and lorises), which have unique anatomical features of their own.

Yet another category is based on diet. Hence you have carnivores or flesh eaters (felids or cats, cainids or dogs, hyenas, linsangs, viverrids or civets, herpestids or mongooses, mustelids or martens/badgers/otters/weasels, ursids or bears, and ailurids or the red panda ). Or those feeding entirely on insects (shrews and moles).

Lastly, there are some which have recently been placed in orders of their own like tree shrews and hedgehogs.

Before listing the various species under each order, Menon lays out out six broad parameters: diet and foraging, locomotion, social organisation, vocalisation and communication, reproductive strategies and threats and conservation.

The description of each species follows a set pattern. For instance, for the tiger, the heading reads as ‘Common Name: Tiger’. Underneath, you have its family, subfamily, Latin name, subspecies, local names, where it is best seen at, what its latest conservation status is, its social unit (solitary or group) and size (for male and female). Below that, you have more information under the headings, ‘description’, ‘behaviour’, ‘distribution’ and ‘habitat’.

The work is thoroughly researched and exhaustive in nature. Full marks to the layout team for coming up with something that is at once encyclopaedic in its sweep and yet connects with the reader.

Menon chronicles all the 400 mammal species that call India their home. Globally, the Class Mammalia has 5,488 species.

Perhaps the greatest strength of the book lies in the fact that it includes not just the large mega fauna with which most of us are familiar, but also smaller and rarely-known creatures. I was surprised to read about the numerous bat species that are found in India as well as rodents, tree shrews, shrews and moles.

Menon’s book is a treasure of sorts for wildlife buffs and zoologists alike. But even more importantly, it shows us that despite having a 1.2 billion-strong human population, India can still harbour a wide variety of wild fauna. And to appreciate this bio-diversity, one must first educate oneself. Through books like Menon’s.

Let us hope that Menon or another kindred soul will compile similar guides about India’s birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects. In short, the entire gamut of Kingdom Animalia. India’s future generations can then learn to treasure their rich ecological legacy.

 

INDIAN MAMMALS: A FIELD GUIDE
Author: Vivek Menon
Publisher: Hatchette India
Pages: 528
Price: Rs  850