Relicts of a beautiful sea
Subtitle: survival, extinction, and conservation in a desert world
By: Christopher J. Norment
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 271
ISBN-13: 9781469618661
Subjects: Climate; Conservation biology; Desert ecology; Toads; Salamanders; Relicts (Biology); Fishes; Desert animals
Description: "[This book] explores the existence of rare, unexpected and sublime desert creatures such as the black toad and four pupfishes unique to the desert West. All are anomalies, amphibians and fish, dependent upon aquatic habitats, yet living in one of the driest places on Earth, where precipitation averages less than four inches a year. In this climate of extremes, beset by conflicts over water rights, each species illustrates the work of natural selection and the importance of conservation. ..."--Book jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Prologue : Oh my desert; title: Collecting the dead; title: A cultivation of slowness : the Inyo Mountains slender salamander (Batrachoseps campi); title: Surviving an onslaught : the Owens pupfish (Cyprinodon radiosus); title: Some fish : the Salt Creek and Cottonball Marsh pupfishes (Cyprinodon salinus salinus and Cyprinodon salinus milleri); title: A fragile existence : the Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis); title: Swimming from the ruins : the Ash Meadows and Warm Springs Amargosa pupfishes (Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes and Cyprinodon nevadensis pectoralis); title: Exile and loneliness : the black toad (Bufo exsul); title: The view from Telescope Peak; title: Epilogue : Hold steady.