The Wildlife of Costa Rica: A Field Guide

n nThis full-color field guide is an indispensable companion to the most popular neotropical ecotourism destination: Costa Rica. Featuring all the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods that one is likely to see on a trip to the rainforest (as well as those secretive creatures such as the jaguar that are difficult to glimpse), The Wildlife of Costa Rica is the guide to have when encountering trogons, tapirs, and tarantulas.

In addition to providing details for identifying animals along with interesting facts about their natural history, this guide offers tips for seeing them in the wild. Costa Rica, a peaceful nation with many and diverse animal species, is one of the best places in the world for wildlife watching and nature study. It has an excellent system of national parks and reserves, a wide choice of ecolodges, and many professionally trained tourist guides. It is possible to leave the capital city of San Jos and, just a few hours later, visit a high-elevation cloud forest, dense rainforest, savanna-like plain, or coastal habitat, each with a unique collection of animal species.

This new lightweight field guide provides nature enthusiasts visiting Costa Rica with the best introduction to the country's amazing diversity of wildlife. It is the first general field guide to Costa Rica to combine the most sought-after features: -treatment of all major phyla in the country;-coverage of the animals most likely and most desirable to be seen;-more than 600 detailed illustrations integrated with the text (the preferred method of animal identification in the wild);-full species accounts including ID points, range and habitat, size, and behaviors;-a wealth of natural history information, including more than 20 photographic natural history features; and-tips for seeing animals.n --Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Stanford University