All animals are mammals

(This is a review of the 1980 edition, which was NOT a photographic guide! For some reason, Amazon have linked the product pages of the 1980 and 2009 editions. However, they seem to be two very different books!)

"Wild Animals" is a pocket-sized field guide to European mammals. I admit that I'm quite impressed: most species are illustrated, and the illustrations also include footprints and nests.

If the field guide can really be used to identify insectivores or small bats, is another matter entirely. At least it will give the reader a working knowledge of the European mammal fauna, "Europe" as in everything from Greenland to the Black Sea. The guide also includes inplanted and feral species, including the genet, the racoon, the muntjac, water deer, feral cows (!), feral horses and the water buffalo.

The biggest disappointment is that the great whales are shown as they would look like to a causal observer on a ship deck, i.e. you don't see much. The smaller whales are shown in stranded condition! But then, this presumably is how whales really do look like in nature - from a human vantage point.

Since "Wild Animals" was published in 1980, the geographical ranges given for many species are probably in need of an update. The inplanted and feral species might also be different today. Still, this miniature field guide might nevertheless come in handy - if you don't need it yourself, fetch one for the kids!

Just make sure to tell them that all mammals are animals, but not all animals are mammals...