Animals of the Americas [antikvár]

INTRODUCTIONThe time is long past when pioneer wagons rumbled across the North American prairies. Today, there is a network of highways. In Alaska, dog sleds are no longer a means of transportation in a land where tracked vehicles abound. Today, various means of transport are available to take us to the most inaccessible area of our planet, the South American rainforests. Few people nowadays think of this continent as the New World. And yet, it remains a land of many mysteries, not only because it still hides places that humans have never entered, but also because even in ancient settlements, nature has kept many of its secrets, and has many a surprise in store for us. By way of the pages of this book, you are invited to take a trip into the animal world, which may well be a new world for you.You will visit a continent of extremes. It is the home of the tallest trees and the smallest birds, of the largest carnivorous mammals and the tiniest predatory fishes. It is the continent with the most extensive protected natural reserves and parks, and it is also the continent where man has invaded the natural environment more cruelly and mercilessly than anywhere else in the world.You will meet many members of the huge family of animals which inhabit the American continent. Let us recall the fate of horses in America. They were first introduced by conquerors from Europe. Some escaped from captivity and multiplied in the wild, so that herds of mustangs became widespread on the American plains. Later they were killed, until there were only a few left. Only then, at great expense and with much effort, did the nation try to save this species for future generations. In this book, there are many similar examples of man's contradictory behaviour towards wildlife, and they are part of the study of American fauna.The whole continent, covering some forty-two million square kilometres and ranging almost from Pole to Pole, bears the name America. Its fauna, however, consists of several different, markedly separate worlds. The most obvious difference exists between the northern and southern parts of the continent, and this is not only because of the different climatic zones. The two parts of the now united continent first emerged from the ocean, far apart from each other. Present-day North America was joined to Europe, which accounts for the many characteristics common to the fauna of these continents. The fauna of South America is very markedly different. South America gradually approached the ancient continent and formed one with its northern part. This happened relatively recently in geological time about 250 000 years ago. Even though we find it difficult to imagine such a length of time, it is but a brief part of the evolution of natural life, and differences established before the continents joined are still very much in evidence.Let us set out to investigate the fauna of North, Central and South America. It will be a journey of discovery and of mystery and perhaps even of adventure. But we shall not follow the path of the hunters, adventurers, gold-diggers and men with guns. We shall follow the scientists and explorers. We shall see the result of their work in hundreds of pictures and read about them, taking part in a great adventure, called the adventure of knowledge.We believe it will interest you, teach you something new, and give you pleasure.