Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American

Keith R. KelsonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.3

Word count: 55K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North AmericanAuthor: Kelson, Keith R.,Language: English, Class: QL: Science: Zoology, Release Date: Sep 12, 2010

Editor's review

This is a short zoological taxonomy piece published on a public-domain ebook platform, discussing the taxonomic placement and geographic distribution of several North American animal groups. Its value lies not in popular-science readability but in preserving a taxonomic discussion tied to a specific period and specific questions: readers can see the morphological and distributional evidence behind taxonomic revisions, the nomenclatural treatments applied, and how scholars of the time judged the boundaries of the relevant groups. The text is brief, in English, and dense with terminology; it works well as reference material for taxonomic writing and regional faunal studies. It need not be read straight through; it is better consulted by looking up particular group names or place names. For general readers it is more a research note than an introduction; for those who need to check historical taxonomic opinions or trace the sources of North American distribution records, it has some documentary value.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students in zoology or taxonomy who need to understand how taxonomic revision texts are written
Researchers working on North American faunas or regional distribution records who need to check historical opinions
Enthusiasts of the history of science and natural history interested in the textual form of early taxonomic discussion
Biology readers who need practice reading English taxonomic literature

Not a good fit for

Beginners hoping for a systematic zoology textbook or popular-science introduction
Readers who struggle with English and cannot handle taxonomic terminology and Latin names
Readers expecting illustrations, maps, or a complete species atlas
Readers who want only a general overview of North American animals rather than specific taxonomic questions

Reading tips

Read the opening and concluding paragraphs first to identify the groups and core disagreements the author addresses, then return to the evidence.
Prepare a list of scientific and place names and annotate as you read, to compare distribution records across sections.
When you meet an unfamiliar taxonomic rank, consult a basic classification table before returning to the text to avoid getting stuck.
Use it as a model of taxonomic writing and excerpt its sentence patterns for stating distributions and revision rationales.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no zoological background?

Not really. The text centers on taxonomic placement and geographic distribution and involves Latin names, taxonomic ranks, and nomenclatural treatments; without basic classification knowledge it is heavy going. If you are simply interested in natural history, start with an introductory zoology book and come back to this kind of specialized discussion later.

What tools should I have on hand while reading?

A basic table of taxonomic ranks, a gazetteer of North American place names, and a database or dictionary for looking up scientific names. The text is in English; note unfamiliar terms and look them up in batches rather than stopping at every word, so you do not lose the thread of the argument.

What is the main value of reading this text?

It preserves an original text on the taxonomic revision and distribution of specific groups, useful for checking historical taxonomic opinions, understanding argumentation and nomenclatural treatment, and as a reference for English-language taxonomic writing. It is not a review-style work; its value lies in the discussion of specific questions rather than comprehensive coverage.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Keith R. Kelson Author · American · 1918–2005

Keith R. Kelson (1918–2005) was an American mammalogist born in Wells, Utah, who earned his doctorate at the University of Utah. He taught at the University of Kansas and later served as deputy director of the U.S. National Science Foundation until his retirement. In 1959 he co-authored, with E. Raymond Hall, the two-volume Mammals of North America, a foundational work on the classification and geographic distribution of North American mammals. Six of his works are held here, mostly subspecies revisions and taxonomic and distributional comments on squirrels, sloths, and voles—specialized, closely argued museum-style taxonomy. Public information on his life and work is limited, and the common shelving category of inspirational growth does not match his actual academic subject matter.