The Living Elephants is the authoritative resource for information on both Asian and African elephants. From the ancient origins of the proboscideans to the present-day crisis of the living elephants, this volume synthesizes the behavior, ecology and conservation of elephants, while covering also the history of human interactions with elephants, all within the theoretical framework of evolutionary biology. The book begins with a survey of the 60-million year evolutionary history of the proboscideans emphasizing the role of climate and vegetation change in giving rise to a bewildering...

The tropics surround the Equator limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. The tropics include all the regions on Earth where the Sun reaches a point directly overhead at least once during the solar year. The subtropics are geographic and climate zones located between the tropic circle of latitude and the 38th parallel in each hemisphere. The tropics and subtropics are home to about 75% of the global human population. Cultural, economic, and political circumstances vary enormously across this vast geography...