The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World:
Third Edition
Edited by Edward C. Dickinson

Cloth | 2003 | This book is out of print | ISBN13: 978-0-691-11701-0
1056 pp. | 7 1/2 x 10 1/2

| Reviews | Table of Contents

This is the most accurate and comprehensive checklist of birds ever published in a single volume. First published over twenty years ago, The Howard and Moore Checklist was the first such compact list to include not only all the known species in the world but subspecies too. This new edition of the highly respected reference volume has been fully revised and updated throughout. Enlarged significantly, it has benefited from the input of five regional consultants--one for each of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Palaearctic--who have assisted with a thorough and rigorous reassessment of all taxonomic data. This review has led to the inclusion of many valuable new footnotes and references; there are some 4,000 footnotes explaining taxonomic choices, and 3,000 references. All authorities for newly described taxa (whether recognized now or not) are given with full references, for the first time in any checklist.

The introductory sections set forth the rationale of the sequence of families adopted as well as key concepts and new developments in the study of avian taxonomy; discussed are the relative attributes of the Biological Species Concept and the Phylogenic Species Concept, which are critical to our understanding of taxonomy and related issues. Also covered are new developments in taxonomy; those areas where consensus is fast developing are highlighted. Finally, all main entries and synonyms are indexed by English and scientific names--the latter to subspecies level for the first time.

• The most accurate and comprehensive taxonomic checklist of birds of the world ever published in a single volume
• Now in its third, thoroughly revised and updated edition
• Existing data rigorously referenced by a team of regional experts
• All species and subspecies described since the mid-1980s fully referenced, for the first time in any checklist
• Around 4,000 footnotes explaining taxonomic choices, and 3,000 references including all authorities for recently described taxa
• Introductory sections discuss the rationale behind the list sequence, as well as key concepts and new developments in the study of avian taxonomy.
• All taxa fully indexed by English and scientific names--the latter to subspecies level for the first time

Review:

"As global communication rises exponentially, scientists and globetrotting birdwatchers have been in dire need of a standard classification to serve as the lingua franca of ornithology. . . . [W]e now have a thorough and useful book that gives a modern classification of all the world's birds, down to the subspecific level, in a single volume."--Andrew W. Kratter, The Auk

Table of Contents:

Foreward by Richard Howard 7
Introduction 9
Avian Higher-level Phylogenetics and the Howard and Moore Checklist of Birds by Joel Cracraft, F. Keith Barker and Alice Cibois 16
The Sequence of Families of Birds 22
Presentation of the List 27
Acknowledgements 29
Checklist of the Birds of the World 31
Appendix I: Matters of Nomenclature 827
Appendix II: Notes on Bibliographic Details 830
List of References 832
Index of Scientific Names 884
Index of English Names 1017

Subject Areas:

• Biological Sciences
• Birds and Natural History
• Reference Works and Anthologies

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