In this handsome volume, Donald W. Linzey offers a comprehensive review of the state of knowledge concerning the mammals of Virginia and the literature about them that has emerged over the past four hundred years.

The book opens with a historical account of mammal investigations in Virginia and a summary of the natural regions of the Commonwealth. Most of the book consists of systematic summaries of the zoology and ecology of each species of mammal that occurs, or recently occurred, in Virginia. Each account describes the species with notes on its distribution, habitat affiliation, behavior, diet, reproduction and development, longevity, parasitology, and selected other topics that vary among the species, as well as a list of locations of museum specimens. A color photograph and line drawing of the skull and mandible from standard perspectives is provided for each species. Among the appendixes is a review of he mammalian fauna of Virginia during the past Ice Age. A substantial reference section identifies more than 2,700 published sources of information about Virginia's mammals.

The Mammals of Virginia is a work of massive scope that makes a major contribution to the study of natural history in the Commonwealth.