Analyses: Atlas International de l’Ouest Africain

Summary

This is an academic review of the first installment of the West African International Atlas, published under the auspices of the OAU. The review praises the climatological plates (Nos. 10-13) for their effective representation of seasonal rainfall and monthly climatic data, but criticizes the zoogeographical plates (Nos. 18-19) for containing factual errors in species distribution limits and for a questionable theoretical opposition between mammalian and avian distribution types. The review also recommends polishing the English text. Additionally, the article briefly reviews two other works: the third volume of the Handbook of Birds of Central Europe, which is hailed as a new standard reference for European ornithology, and the first volume of the Kalambo Falls Prehistoric Site, whose palaeoecological reconstructions, particularly regarding climatic fluctuations, are deemed highly valuable for ecologists.