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Mammals of the World - the Walker/Nowak 6th Edition

John M. Regan

Note:  the majority of the historical information presented here comes from Professor Nowak's preface to the 6th edition.

                Sometime in the 1930s the Assistant Director of the National Zoological Park in Washington D.C., a man named Ernest P. Walker, had a fantastic idea - publish a book that described every known species of mammal in the world.  And as if that lofty goal was not lofty enough Walker wanted his work to include photographs of each mammalian species as well.  The work also had to be professionally valuable yet readable for the general public.  For the next thirty plus years Ernest Walker and a team of writers, photographers, and researchers dove into the project.  The result was “Mammals of the World.”  Published in 1964 the work consisted of three volumes.   Volumes I and II were devoted to photographs and descriptions of all known mammals.  Volume III contained a comprehensive bibliography.  While Walker missed his goal of providing a picture of every mammal, he did not miss it by much and his work became the standard by which all others are compared.  Now in its 6^th Edition, Walker’s “Mammals of the World” still stands as the bible for professionals and laymen everywhere, a wonderful testament to Mr. Walker's vision.

                The second edition hit the bookshelves in 1968 and edition number three in 1974.   These versions dropped Volume III (bibliography) due to the impracticality of adding so much material.  Hundreds of new photographs were added, but relatively little new text.  The fourth and fifth editions did, however, exactly that and the size of volumes I and II increased substantially.  The 6^th and latest edition of “Mammals of the World” was published in 1999 under the guidance and leadership of University of Kansas Professor Ronald M. Nowak (who provided the same mentorship role for the 5th edition.)  Once again there has been a substantial increase in the text, but in addition Professor Nowak has added something unique – descriptions of mammal species known to have existed in the last five thousand years.  These are species that have coexisted with man at some point; fascinating yet entirely logical additions.  There is an extensive description of the Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius,) for example, with an extensive text devoted to the biological history of that wondrous proboscidean and its prehistoric cousins.   

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In 1975 I was Curator of Hoofstock at the Central Florida Zoo then directed by Jack Hanna.  Perusing the natural history section of Walden's Bookstore one day I spotted the 3rd edition of Walker's book and bought it.   “Mammals of the World” has been on my bookshelf ever since.   I have read some criticism of the 6th edition due to the lack of color photographs but I believe the author of that comment may not be aware of the greatly increased costs of color photographs.  A new copy costs well over a hundred dollars.  The addition of color pictures would likely put the book out of reach for most.

     The following table details the major changes since the 3^rd edition.  Since I am not in possession of edition 4 and 5 of “Mammals of the World” they are not included here.  But I believe there is an unexpected benefit to this gap.  The impact of molecular biology and increased scrutiny of bone and teeth structure is far more obvious when the third and sixth editions are compared.  No doubt the species of humans called “systemic mammologists” will contribute even further to classification multiplication in the future as more knowledge is acquired.  In the preface to the latest edition Professor Nowak writes "The total number of taxonomic categories accepted in this edition are:  28 orders, 146 families, 1,192 genera, and 4,809 species."

     One interesting note between the first and sixth edition is the total number of mammalian species mentioned.  In the preface to the first edition Mr. Walker mentions “twelve to fifteen thousand species.”  A number I assume is in reference to the number of different mammalian species.  The current edition describes 4,809 species.  A bit of internet research reveals some startling discrepancies in opinion on that matter.  I found the lowest bid to be 355 and the highest at 5,490.  Although I believe the figure of 355 unbelievably low and not worthy of consideration, I mention it here as a caution to students.  I'll stick with Dr. Nowak.  

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Walkers Mammals of the World 3rd Edition	Nowak/Walkers Mammals of the World 6th Edition		11 new mammalian orders added; 1 order deleted
Mammalian Order	Mammalian Order	New Mammalian Orders	Species Type
Monotremata	Monotremata		Echidnas or Spiny Ant Eaters; Platypus
Marsupialia			Deleted from 6th edition; once included all marsupial mammals
		Didelphimorphia	New world Opossums
		Paucitubertculata	“Shrew Opossums”
		Microbiotheria	One single family and one single living species – Monito del monte, a small mouse like marsupial
		Dasyuromorphia	Marsupial “Mice,” “Cats,” and the Tasmanian Devil of Australia; New Guinea area
		Paramelemorphia	Bandicoots
		Notoryctemorphia	A single species, the Marsupial “Mole”
		Diprotodontia	Koalas, Wombats, Possums, Kangaroos, and Wallabies
		Xenartha	Sloths, Anteaters, Armadillos
Insectivora	Insectivora		An order of difficult to classify fossil and living mammals; includes the Moles, Tenrecs, Solenodons, Gymnures, Hedgehogs and others
		Scandentia	Tree Shrews
Dermoptera	Dermoptera		Flying Lemurs
Chiroptera	Chiroptera		Bats; second only to the rodents in number of species
Primates	Primates		Humans, gorillas, chimps, monkeys, lorises, pottos, galagos, lemurs
Pholiodota	Pholiodota		Pangolins or Scaly Anteaters
Lagomorpha	Lagomorpha		Rabbits, Hares, and Pikas
Rodentia	Rodentia		The largest order of mammals on earth – 2052 known species
Cetacea	Cetacea		Whales and Dolphins
Carnivora	Carnivora		Dogs, Bears, Raccoons, Weasels, Civets, Mongooses, Hyenas, and Cats
Pinnipedia	Pinnipedia		Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses
Tubulidentata	Tubulidentata		Aardvark
		Bibymalagasia	A recently extinct relative of the Aardvark
Probocidea	Probocidea		Elephants
Hyracoidea	Hyracoidea		Hyraxes
Sirenia	Sirenia		Manatees, Dugongs; extinct Sea Cow
Perissodactyla	Perissodactyla		Odd toed hoofed animals
Artiodactyla	Artiodactyla		Even toed hoofed animals
		Macroscelidea	Elephant Shrews
19 Orders	28 Orders

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