UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION No. 86 
Washington, D. C. tye October, 1930 
OUTLINES FOR STUDIES OF MAMMALIAN 
LiF De RisiORIES, 
By WALTER P. TAyLor, Senior Biologist, Division of Biological Investigations 
Bureau of Biological Survey 
CONTENTS 
Page Page 
HoTOKOMUCTION eae — ee eee eee Sac ce eee ee SUA eSECCUSUITCIE S Beers ree er 6 
Relation of field and laboratory methods-____ 2 Environment) 2st ett irk ery fa 6 
ARSY CHULT POTN © Tn Gp CN nee a Hu 2 Influence on environment-______________- Ui 
Poi portant atari p20 Os enh? 2 ae 3 Wife si SCOT yes ee ie 2 Cua Ae ae 7 
EPepararlonwonwOhker =i ease ss. see 3 Structureyand behavior 23 ee eee 8 
Environment and heredity_____._______- 3 Lower mammals and man_______________ 10 
Influences on environment_____________- AC ONCLUSIONS S22 1.02 2.08 te iary Ort obs Oe ves EE 11 
Relations of mammals and plants_-_____- Ro | ilvaite AvI) OUilo Se ee SES 11 
Life history of mammals_______________- 5 
Relations of lower mammals and man___ 5 
INTRODUCTION 
Few lines of inquiry possess greater interest or importance than 
those that deal with the activities of the wild animal in its natural 
environment. Such studies also have a very practical value. The 
resulting data are often essential to the solution of problems in the 
prevention and control of animal-borne diseases, in the conservation 
of natural resources, and in the elimination of waste and the stimu- 
lation of production in the several branches of agriculture, including 
general farming, horticulture, grazing, and forestry. ‘“ Not a single 
farm product but is affected directly or indirectly by some animal 
activaty, says Osborn (17, p. 112).? 
Life-history data are essential also to a proper understanding of 
the structure and classification of the mammal; they provide the 
student of ancient life with materials for painting a truer and more 
complete picture of the past; they are prerequisite to a determina- 
tion of the factors controlling distribution; and they are of very 
practical importance in problems of acclimatization and domestica- 
tion. The improvement of agriculture depends to a large extent 
on a better and more scientific understanding of the relation of 
plants and animals and their surroundings. Hasty judgment as to 
the harmful or beneficial attributes of a mammal is often erroneous, 
‘This publication is a revision of Department Circular 59. Suggestions for Field 
Studies of Mammalian Life-Histories (20).2. In the preparation of new material to supply 
the demand for information of this character, in view of the increased interest in and 
consequent development of the subject, it has seemed desirable to modify and expand the 
method of treatment. 
2JTtalic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p.. 11. 
121055°—30 
