The Velvet Claw: A Natural History of the Carnivores

by David W. Macdonald

Defines what is a carnivore and looks at their eating habits and evolution of them from a time before humans were on the earth to their current descendents--dogs and cats

Genres: Science, Natural History, Animals, Evolution, Nature, History, Biology

Hardcover

First published September 21, 1992

About the author

David Whyte Macdonald CBE FRSE is a Scottish zoologist and conservationist. He has done much to popularize biology with the general public. He is known for his documentary films and his popular books, for which he has twice won the Natural World Author of the Year award.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on the classic TV documentary series of the 1990s of the same name, which was superbly done with state-of-the-art computer animation at the time. Nothing like it has since been produced, i.e. a series dedicated to the mammalian order of carnivores both extinct and extant. David Macdonald is one of the world's foremost experts on this group, and has written a very detailed account of the lives of each family of Carnivora - cats, dogs, weasels, bears etc. Though it looks on the surface like it was meant for the layperson or a mass audience, it contains quite in depth technical knowledge on the anatomy and behavior of these fascinating and charismatic creatures. To the extent perhaps of getting the reader bogged down and lost amidst the myriad variations of reproductive and social organization of each species, which would probably only interest the specialist researcher. Being published decades ago before the advances in genetic sequencing and analysis that has since further clarified the taxonomy and evolutionary history of the various families, this aspect of the book is rather outdated.

Nonetheless it is an enjoyable read in the style of wordy old natural history books, and also containing many great photos and illustrations.