Book/documentary/Coursera suggestions for zoology lover

[maize]

DS9 is fascinated by zoology and paleontology. It started with an interest in dinosaurs, but once he had read through all the dinosaur books in the library he expanded into other reptiles, sharks, fish, birds...

 

He likes to go on wikipedia, search for a genus name, then read all the links to individual species. He loved the Dinos 101 Coursera class. He makes books of facts, drawing pictures of different species and writing out (from memory) facts about them like size, weight, habitat, etc. I think his reading level in this topic is at least at a high school, maybe college level. I'd love ideas for books or other resources he might enjoy.

 

dmmetler, if you have any great snake resources to recommend he would probably enjoy those.

[quark]

I loved King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz!

http://smile.amazon.com/King-Solomons-Ring-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415267471

[MomatHWTK]

We enjoyed Animal Behavior on Coursera. 

[Dmmetler]

We haven't done much with Coursera, but a few book/Author suggestions (mostly on the herpetology side):

 

This is the general Zoology textbook DD's mentor recommended as a first text-it's considered an intro level college or advanced high school text

http://www.amazon.com/Zoology-Miller-Stephen/dp/0073228079/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417362562&sr=1-2&keywords=Stephen+miller+zoology+7th+edition

 

 

Here is the comparative anatomy text that her professor suggested

http://www.amazon.com/Zoology-Stephen-Miller/dp/0073028207/ref=pd_sim_b_18?ie=UTF8&refRID=1TYZ8VNJJW0W4WAVTMMP

 

Here is the biology textbook

http://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Essential-Biology-Physiology-3rd/dp/0321649540/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417362596&sr=1-4&keywords=Campbell%27s+essential+biology

 

In all cases, these are an edition or two back (where DD has been able to get the books simply from her mentor's shelf when the university moved to a new edition, but it also means they're fairly cheap on Amazon used). They're all first texts in the field-the biology and zoology are designed for intro texts for non-majors, the comparative anatomy is an upper division text, but is the first course a bio or zoology major would have in the field. None are particularly light, fun reading, but they're useful references.

 

I'd also suggest the Zoology coloring book, Biology Coloring book, and Marine Biology coloring book-they cover much the same information as in the above texts, and are quite accessible.

 

 

If you want references for herpetology textbooks, I can give you those, too.

 

With any biology or zoology book that's even a year old, be aware that taxonomy may be out of date. Molecular genetics and the drop in cost to do genetic sequencing is really doing a number on classifications that have sat, untouched, for decades. In herpetology, it is very, very possible for a book to be out of date before it even is printed. Her mentors don't see it as a big deal as long as she's aware that what one book calls a "lithrobates clamintans" and what another book calls a "rana clamintans" are the same frog.  I would imagine this is the case in other areas of zoology, too.

 

If he doesn't get National Geographic, get a subscription. It's both a nice regular update as to what's going on in the field, and a nice bridge to reading journals.  And the pictures are nice-many of DD's journals are very, very dense text, with the occasional graph or diagram.

 

 

 

On fun books:

 

 

Harry Greene is an evolutionary biologist at UC-Berkeley. He's really focused on how human evolution and human behavior has shaped animal behavior, and vice-versa. He's got several books, and is an amazing speaker as well. They're not easy reads, but probably would be accessible for your DS.

http://www.amazon.com/Tracks-Shadows-Field-Biology-Art/dp/0520232755/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417360671&sr=8-1&keywords=Harry+Greene

http://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Evolution-Harry-W-Greene/dp/0520224876/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1417360689&sr=8-2&keywords=Harry+Greene

 

Whitfield Gibbons is at University of Georgia and the Savannah River Ecological Laboratory, and has written extensively about animal behavior, with a focus on reptiles/amphibians. He's another excellent speaker. Unfortunately, his Memoirs can be hard to come by.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Their-Blood-Runs-Cold-Adventures/dp/0817301356/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1417360718&sr=8-8&keywords=Whitfield+gibbons\

 

 

 

If he wants field guides, Audubon has nice ones, as well as nice apps, which are useful. The Apps usually go on sale around Earth day, in April.

 

In general, I highly recommend "The X of Y state" from whatever the major university press is in the area (usually state universities, and normally they'll be out of the State flagship, even if the university with the top program in whatever the subfield is isn't at the flagship. You'll also see them out of university presses from private schools like Harvard and Johns Hopkins). . Usually these are extremely well researched and well done. We have a lot of "The Reptiles and Amphibians of "StateName", and you can get them for pretty much any animal/plant type you'd want. They're not cheap, but worth it.

 

 

If he's interested in journals, start with a web search for "OPen access Journal : herpetology, ornithology, ichthyology...(substitute whatever "ology" you want). Chances are high there is an English language journal out there that will get him started. In addition, a trick DD's mentor taught her is that when you're searching on a topic and the article you want is behind a pay wall, go to the author's web page at whatever their sponsoring institution is (usually a university, sometimes a zoo or foundation). Sometimes, the journals will be linked there, and if it's not, if you e-mail the author, often they have a copy they can send you. It used to be that when you were published, you got a large number of print copies to give away. Now, it's more common for the authors to get digital distribution rights to their one article. Honestly, we've found more of the specific articles DD needs this way than through her actual journal subscription, because so many articles in herpetology are actually published outside the the herpetological society journals in other fields.  I will say that reading journals is an education in itself.

 

 

Have fun!