Relicts of a Beautiful Sea: Survival, Extinction, and Conservation in a Desert World

In a moving meditation on nature "woven out of science, poetry, aesthetics, and personal experience," Norment, a professor of environmental science and biology at SUNY College at Brockport, calls attention to six desert animals "restricted to aquatic habitats: a salamander, four types of pupfishes, and a toad." Though they don't have the cachet of poster-friendly endangered species like the California condor or the giant panda, Norment argues they are "stunning and compelling" in their own ways, demonstrating resilience and adaptability. He locates the creatures in and around California's Death Valley National Park and Nevada's Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, appreciating the stark landscapes and coming "to love the creatures that have endured in the face of so much adversity." For example, Norment is amazed that the Inyo Mountains slender salamander (Batrachoseps campi) even exists, considering it's a "lungless salamander that breathes only through its moist skin" that survives in "one of the most unreasonable and inhospitable places in the world." In examining small details in nature, Norment manages to effectively address larger existential issues. (Oct.)