A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert: Revised and Updated EditionSteven J. Phillips, Patricia Wentworth Comus The Sonoran Desert is one of the most wildly diverse and fascinating regions in the world. Covering southeastern California, the southern half of Arizona, most of Baja California, and much of the state of Sonora, Mexico, this vast area is home to an amazing variety of plants and animals. Its terrain varies dramatically, from parched desert lowlands to semiarid tropical forests and frigid subalpine meadows. A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert provides the most complete collection of Sonoran Desert natural history information ever compiled and is a perfect introduction to this biologically rich desert of North America. The authors—experts in many fields—begin with a general look at the region's geology, paleoecology, climate, human ecology, and biodiversity. The book then looks in depth at hundreds of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, native fishes, and invertebrates that live in the northern part of the Sonoran Desert. Throughout, the text is supplemented with anecdotes, essays, color and black-and-white photographs, maps, diagrams, and 450 finely-rendered drawings. This comprehensive, accessible natural history is written for nonscientists and will surely become an invaluable companion for nature enthusiasts, birdwatchers, hikers, students, and anyone interested in the desert Southwest. A copublication with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum |
Contents
Welcome to the Sonoran Desert | 1 |
Biomes and Communities of the Sonoran Desert Region | 3 |
Sonoran Desert Natural Events Calendar | 19 |
Nature Watching in the Sonoran Desert Region | 29 |
Desert Storms | 41 |
Desert Air and Light | 51 |
The Deep History of the Sonoran Desert | 61 |
The Geologic Origin of the Sonoran Desert | 71 |
Racoons Ringtails and Coatis | 477 |
Mustelids | 480 |
Cats | 483 |
Hooved Animals | 487 |
Shrews | 492 |
Rabbits and Hares | 493 |
Ground Squirrels | 496 |
Pocket Gophers | 499 |
Desert Soils | 87 |
Human Ecology of the Sonoran Desert | 105 |
The Variety of Life that Sustains Our | 119 |
Plant Ecology of the Sonoran Desert Region | 129 |
Flowering Plants of the Sonoran Desert | 153 |
Desert Grasses | 265 |
Invertebrates | 281 |
Section Contents 283 A Vertebrate Looks at Arthropods | 283 |
Scorpions | 291 |
Spiders | 294 |
Tailless Whipscorpions and Sun Spiders | 304 |
Centipedes and Millipedes | 306 |
Grasshoppers | 309 |
Walkingsticks | 313 |
Termites | 316 |
Hemiptera and Homoptera | 320 |
Beetles | 324 |
Butterflies | 328 |
Moths | 333 |
Bees | 341 |
Wasps | 345 |
Ants | 349 |
Insects and the Saguaro | 353 |
Aquatic Insects of the Sonoran Desert | 357 |
The Desert Adaptations of Birds Mammals | 367 |
Section Contents 367 The Desert Adaptations of Birds and Mammals | 368 |
Bird Accounts | 373 |
Vultures | 377 |
Hawks and Eagles | 379 |
Caracaras and Falcons | 382 |
Quail | 385 |
Marsh Birds | 387 |
Shorebirds | 389 |
Doves | 391 |
Greater Roadrunner | 394 |
Owls | 396 |
Nightjars | 400 |
Whitethroated Swift | 402 |
Hummingbirds | 404 |
Woodpeckers | 411 |
Tyrant Flycatchers | 413 |
Swallows | 417 |
Common Raven | 420 |
Verdin | 422 |
Wrens | 424 |
Blacktailed Gnatcatcher | 428 |
Mockingbirds and Thrashers | 430 |
Phainopepla | 434 |
Bells Vireo | 436 |
Wood Warblers | 438 |
Tanagers | 441 |
Cardinals and Grosbeaks | 443 |
Sparrows | 447 |
Blackbirds and Orioles | 453 |
Finches | 457 |
Mammal Accounts | 459 |
Section Contents 461 Bats | 461 |
Coyotes and Foxes | 473 |
Kangaroo Rats and Pocket Mice | 501 |
Mice and Rats | 505 |
Fishes of the Desert | 509 |
Section Contents 511 Fishes in the Desert | 511 |
Bonytail chub | 514 |
Colorado River squawfish | 515 |
Razorback sucker | 517 |
Loach minnow | 518 |
Longfin dace | 519 |
Yaqui chub | 520 |
Sonora chub | 521 |
Desert sucker | 522 |
Yaqui catfish | 523 |
Gila topminnow | 524 |
Desert pupfish | 525 |
Sinaloan cichlid | 526 |
Adaptations of Desert Amphibians Reptiles | 529 |
Reptile Amphibian Accounts | 533 |
Section Contents 535 Couchs spadefoot | 535 |
Sonoran Desert toad | 536 |
Sonoran green toad | 538 |
Red spotted toad | 539 |
Canyon treefrog | 540 |
Northern casqueheaded frog | 541 |
Leopard frog | 542 |
Western box turtle | 543 |
Sonoran mud turtle | 544 |
Desert tortoise | 545 |
Western banded gecko | 548 |
Whiptails | 549 |
Gila monster | 551 |
Desert iguana | 553 |
Chuckwalla | 554 |
Common collared lizard | 555 |
Spiny lizards | 556 |
Tree lizard | 558 |
Horned lizards | 559 |
Sand lizards | 561 |
Western blind snake | 563 |
Rosy | 564 |
Garter snake | 565 |
Common kingsnake | 566 |
Longnose snake | 567 |
Coachwhip | 568 |
Sonoran whipsnake | 569 |
Western shovelnose snake | 570 |
Western hognose snake | 571 |
Gopher snake | 573 |
Night snake | 574 |
Lyre snake | 575 |
Arizona coral snake | 576 |
Rattlesnakes | 577 |
Afterword | 587 |
Glossary | 589 |
593 | |
Contributors 625 | |
Other editions - View all
A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson, Ariz.) No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
adult agaves animals areas arid arthropods Baja California bats bees beetles behavior birds body breeding brown burrows butterflies cacti cactus canyons cholla color Colorado River common coyote creosote bush Curve-billed Thrasher desertscrub diet DISTINGUISHING FEATURES eggs feed feet female fish flowers forages forest fruit Gila grasses grasshoppers grassland gray ground habitats hatch Hummingbird inches insects Jeff Martin kangaroo rat Kenn Kaufman larvae leaves legs live lizards male mammals mating mesquite Mexico moths mountain nest North northern occur palo verde plants pollination predators prey rain range rattlesnake riparian rock rocky rodents saguaro scorpions season seeds shrubs skunks snake soil Sonoran Desert Sonoran Desert region SONORAN DESERT SPECIES southern Spanish names Sparrow spiders spring squirrels stems summer surface tail temperatures Thrasher Tohono O'odham trees tropical Tucson usually vegetation venom Warbler wasps western wings winter Wren yellow young