From:    Martin Fisher 
Subject: Book Announcement

Dear Friends & Colleagues

The following book, due out in the first half of January 2000, may
potentially be of interest to some of you:


The Natural History of Oman: A Festschrift for Michael Gallagher
M. Fisher, S.A. Ghazanfar & J.A. Spalton (1999), eds. 206 pp., Backhuys
Publishers BV, Leiden
(due to roll of the press early in January 2000).

On the departure of Michael Gallagher from Oman, after 21 years with the
Government (32 in
Arabia), and in particular with the Natural History Museum of Oman, a
Festschrift was held
to honour his contributions to the study of Natural History.

EXTRACTS FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"The variety of the land forms of Oman and their associated wildlife has
been
a leitmotiv of the life, work and writings of Michael Gallagher. Testament
to
this can be seen in ... his writings on birds, reptiles, mammals,
molluscs, ticks and lichens, amongst others .. in his extraordinary
collecting career during which he
has helped to keep a generation of taxonomists busy, and in the 30 organisms
that have so far been given the specific or subspecific epithet gallagheri
.."

"Our purpose in this book is to celebrate this work, and in particular
Michael's contributions, and in so doing to celebrate the fauna and flora of
an
extraordinary and varied country."

"In Chapter 2 Michael Gallagher reflects on his time in Oman from his
initial
visits in 1970, 1973, 1975 and 1976 to his residence in Oman during 1977 -
1998,
and in Chapters 3 - 10 the natural history and conservation status of the
flora,
herpetofauna, birds and mammals of Oman are reviewed or examined, in all
cases
bringing together information or summarising current projects for the first
time."

CONTENTS:

List of Contributors
Preface
Michael Desmond Gallagher: A Brief Biography
Bibliography of Michael Desmond Gallagher
Animals and Plants named after Michael D. Gallagher
Chapter 1 Introduction
     Martin Fisher, Shahina A. Ghazanfar & Andrew Spalton
Chapter 2 Reflections
     Michael Gallagher
Chapter 3 A Review of the Flora of Oman
     Shahina A. Ghazanfar
Chapter 4 The Reptiles and Amphibians of Oman: Herpetological History and
Current Status
     Andrew S. Gardner
Chapter 5 The Ecology and Conservation Status of the Sea Turtles of Oman
     Robert Baldwin & Ali bin Amer al Kiyumi
Chapter 6 The Conservation Status of the Terrestrial Mammals of Oman: A
Preliminary Red List
     Martin Fisher
Chapter 7 A Review of the Ecology and Conservation Status of the Arabian
Tahr Hemitragus jayakari
     David Insall
Chapter 8 The Status of the Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr in Oman:
First Results of the Arabian Leopard Survey
     Andrew Spalton & David Willis
Chapter 9 A Review of Cetaceans Occurring in Waters off the Arabian
Peninsula
     Robert M. Baldwin, Michael Gallagher & Koen van Waerebeek
Index

PRICE:

NLG 96 (Pound Sterling c. 27.50)
A pre-publication discount of 20% is available

CONTACT DETAILS FOR ORDERING:

Mike Ruijsenars/Backhuys Publishers BV
PO Box 321
2300 AH Leiden
The Netherlands

EMail backhuys@backhuys.com
Tel +31 71 5170208
Fax +31 71 5171856