Dear All,
(1) I am writing a little manual about finding mammals in Japan. I’m planning to complete it in a year or two, but if you go there sooner, you are welcome to ask me for the most recent draft.
(2) When a taxonomic split is proposed based on weak evidence (as 90% of recent splits are), it’s always a good idea to wait for a few years and see if it gets accepted. I was very skeptical about the recent proposal to split Dromicops into three species – and was right. Unfortunately, many splits are accepted without any critical review, or despite contrary evidence (as IUCN did with the recently proposed orangutan split).
(3) I’ll be in Vinh, Vietnam for a couple days in about two weeks. Anybody been there? Any tips?
Sounds great Vladimir. I’d love to get a copy when it’s done. I only got 3 or 4 mammals for Japan after going there twice.
Sounds like you need a thermal imager 🙂
Yes:-) I also need to go out at night more. Next time.
What I mean is, I am trying out my newly acquired one in Kyushu forests right now, and routinely see 3-5 species per hour.
Hi Vladimir,
My friends and I are soon to be going to Japan for this classic birding itinerary: http://www.birdquest-tours.com/Japan-birding-tour-report-winter/2017
We are doing it independently. Any advice on what mammals we could see would be very welcome! Most trip reports don’t have many mammal records. Is it worth spotlighting? Is that even allowed?
Thanks!
Jo
Email me to dinets at gmail, and I’ll send you the current draft of my Finding Mammals in Japan book.