UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Do mountain lions live in Pennsylvania? Did all dogs descend from wolves? Answers to these questions and more can be found in "Fascinating Mammals: Conservation and Ecology in the Mid-Eastern States," a new book by a conservation specialist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

The 333-page illustrated book, written by Richard Yahner, professor of wildlife conservation and associate dean of the Penn State Graduate School and published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, describes the biology, ecology, conservation and behavior of mammals found in the mid-Eastern United States, including Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Although written for the layperson and outdoor enthusiast, the book contains enough technical material to serve as a textbook for high school and college classes. It begins with a general discussion on the region's mammals, including their classification and conservation status, followed by a chapter on each family: opossums; shrews; moles; bats; rabbits and hares; squirrels, chipmunks and woodchucks; beavers; mice, rats and voles; porcupines; dogs, foxes, wolves and relatives; bears; raccoons; weasels and relatives; skunks and stink badgers; cats; horses; pigs and hogs; deer; and bovids (goats, sheep and cattle).

The 20 chapters include 50 essays on such topics as black bear ecology, venom in shrews, the return of the eastern coyote, echolocation in bats and other mammals, and how biologists successfully reintroduced otters and fishers.

Yahner has taught mammalogy and wildlife conservation at Penn State since the mid-1980s. Since the mid-1970s, he has researched the ecology, conservation and behavior of many local mammals and published more than 200 research articles. His earlier book, "Eastern Deciduous Forests: Wildlife Ecology and Conservation," which was published by the University of Minnesota Press, was awarded the Conservation Education Award for the book category by The Wildlife Society.

For more information, or to purchase the book, contact your local bookseller, or the University of Pittsburgh Press at (607) 277-2211 or http://www.pitt.edu/%7Epress.

###

EDITORS: Rich Yahner can be reached at 814-865-2516.

Contacts:

Kim Dionis KDionis@psu.edu 814-863-2703 814-865-1068 fax