This four-volume set contains 385, 1,000-3,000-word entries aimed at a high school, undergraduate, and general readership. Areas of concentration include anatomy, behavior, classification, ecology, evolution, fields of animal study, geography and habitat, physiology, reproduction and development, and areas of scientific research. There is a focus on wild animals but entries on domestic animals, domestication, and zoos are present. Human animals make an appearance in discussions of evolution and of human behavior vis-a-vis nonhuman animals. Every entry features a glossary and an annotated bibliography. Biographies of 500 words appear within entries; for example, Darwin and Wallace appear in Natural Selection. A complete list of contents is included at the back of each volume, as is a category list with thematic headings. Volume 4 contains such appendices as a master glossary, a table on animal terminology (for males, females, young, and groups), and a classification table providing phyla, classes, subclasses, orders, suborders, and families. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)