Comparative Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Guide of Common North American Animals

Has good visuals and some common comparisons. It's back and white so it's hard to determine some features. Overall it's a good quick reference

This book was one of the 2 required books for my faunal analysis course (zooarchaeology). I am not sure why it was "required" since the instructor gave zero assignments pertaining to this book nor ever referred to it throughout the entire course. An assistant stated that it's simply for our reference. In truth, none of my classmates ever used this book, but probably because we had massive amounts of fauna bones at the lab which we periodically examined.Personally, I never used the book and thought it was a complete waste of money. Of course, I had ample bones at the lab to compare carnivore/herbivore species and we had access to a sleuth of animal osteology plates that were of immense value. That said, I sat down with this book, again, after the course and tried to see how this book could be of value.The book has miniscule reading, so do not expect in-depth knowledge of bone structures, etc. The reading is at the first chapter, which educates you with bare-minimum terminology and a very concise section on fauna bones in the archeological/forensic context. After that, the rest of the book is simply a photo atlas, peppered with tidbits of info under some bone figures (there is some minor reading at the end dealing with butchery/bone working). Is the "photo atlas" of value? It depends. The book does have lots of black & white photos of animal bones, and for being primarily a photo book, the photos could have been a lot better. The book has nice glossy pages, but many of the photographs seem poorly dithered and don't take advantage of the full page, as many are simply centered in the middle. The majority of the photos are from cranial and caudal perspectives; it doesn't give you dorsal or ventral views of proximal or distal features <--This is VERY important since the majority of the fauna bones preserved in archaeological sites are of hard bones: proximal heads, distal condyles, etc. In fact, many of the real animal bones used in our weekly quizzes were of whole/partial parts of condyles and heads, that we had to identify, including its anatomical position. The book was useless in this area. Will this book help the "average Joe" to identify bones he discovered in the woods? Maybe. Maybe not.The book is quite large (450+ pages) to be a literal "field guide" that you will tug around in the field. I think that the value one can obtain from this book is that it is a simple desktop reference guide. I think it is a valuable "refresher" reference guide for those who already are familiar with animal osteology. The photos will trigger much of the stuff you learned in lab. The book is not a definitive source nor meant to be a training guide for fauna osteology. It is simply a comparative photo atlas.The book doesn't include different stages of bones (e.g. baby deer bones, toddler deer bones, adult deer bones, senior deer bones), although in some rare cases it will show 'infant' bones for a particular species. There are other factors the book doesn't encapsulate, but it would be senseless to list them all. If you are truly looking for a definitive source to animal bones, it doesn't exist, but you can start assimilating your own from photographs and other academic sources on the web. You can also build a collection that shows you different levels of weathered bones, burned bones, bones chewed/consumed by other animals, etc. Keep your collection digital so that it can be accessed via a tablet or other electronic device on or off the field.Keep in mind this book is for "common" North American mammals. It would be useless for the zooarchaeologist looking to identify South American or African mammals. The book has value as a refresher reference guide for those who had the opportunity to work with bones in the lab or other means. The book is a tool, but an incomplete tool.

Bought a used version of the book as I prefer to see notes and compare them with my own when I see them. I purchased this book and several others to "self-teach" myself a more proper version of Osteology as I am currently working in a lab where we are working on a modern comparative collection for the Archaeology Department, and eventually the whole college.Book is well made and the introduction and the context's are thorough and to the point, written in an easy to understand language style that doesn't bore the reader. The pictures were wonderful as well, and I had some qualms about the pictures being printed in black and white, as depending on the lighting, some defining features of the bone can be seen. I also found some of the images to be a little small, and some readers may find difficulty observing them in comparison with other images. LOVED that they all had the cm marker and what I am presuming is a penny to show scale.

Arrived earlier than shipping date, good used condition. No torn pages, no markings. 5 stars for the seller. 4 stars is for the book content itself. It has good comparative photos but leaves out animal bones common to western north American sites such as coyote. Would like some comparison photos between coyote and domestic dog. Possibly elk and moose too? Book includes opossum and raccoon, but not beaver, muskrat, otter. Or at least some text addressing visable differences.

After reading reviews for previous editions I was skeptical of buying this. The format of the book is a photo atlas arranged by location of bone (skull, humerus, radius etc), and has photos comparing different species of bone that may look similar at first glance. The next section has bones by species. Overall I am pleased with this book but I would offer some suggestions:Problems:1) The captions could be better, more descriptive2) There is no indication that the neonatal, or juvenile bones have lost the epiphyses at some point due to an open physis. An experienced person may recognize this, but its not clear from the cations.(the intro to the book makes clear that the book is intended for an experienced audience, so it is understandable that this may be eliminated for conciseness)Good things:1) The book has a large number of high quality photos (Black and white)2) It included a large number of domestic and wild mammals and some birds and reptiles3) The format is both comparative and species specific systemic osteology, which is helpfulNot so good things:1) For those wanting a detailed anatomic lesson on bone protuberances, tuberi, muscle attachments etc you will nto find that here.2) you will also not find detailed identification of skull bones, just the skull as a whole3) There is no section on how disease can affect bone morphology

This is a useful book for identifying various North American mammals, because there are only a few such books available (another is Miles Gilbert's book on mammalian osteology). A drawback is the limited number of species shown. The pictures of limbs are typically detailed and good quality, although the book is not helpful if one is studying teeth. The book does not efficiently use space because many of the pictures are repeated (for comparison purposes), but this is a minor qualm. This book is currently serving as one of my two main references for the topic.

The best of its kind. Tons of excellent comparative photos. If you do faunal analysis, this will be the book you utilize most often.

I got this because I was looking for information on the difference in bone tissue between classes and between same-class animals and this book doesnt show that. It compares the skeletons of random animals without explaining why it chose to compare those particular animals. No educational content at all.

Incredibly helpful for bone and species identification. A must have for any archaeologist or anthropologist.

Sin duda alguna, un tema de gran importancia es reconocer huesos por si nos topamos con alguno de ellos en un bosque. ¿Cómo saber si son huesos animales o humanos? Esta obra nos da una serie de comparaciones entre los hueso humanos y de varios animales para ver sus similitudes y diferencias permitiéndonos identificarlos con certeza. Un libro imprescindible en la biblioteca de cualquier interesando en el tema.

Poorly organized. Lacks detail. No diagrams of complete skeletons of each of the animals discussed. Does not include any marine mammals which is a shame since we have three coasts. For some reason includes human bone, which although a mammal is completely out of place in this book. A disappointing reference book.

some skulls chosen to illustrate some species are all broken and incomplete....The author should have taken the time to choose complete and in good shape skulls to illustrate his book. I think it shows a lack of respect for the buyer....