New Salamander Species Discovered

Carlos Camp, coeditor of AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF GEORGIA, is part of a team of researchers that has discovered a new species of salamander in northeast Georgia. Measuring in at a mere two inches, it is the second-smallest salamander species in the U.S. and one of the smallest in the world. Their discovery was recently detailed in the Journal of Zoology.

The team’s suggested common name is patch-nosed salamander, based on the lighter coloring on the salamander’s nose. The formal Latin name is Urspelerpes brucei in honor of Richard Bruce, a well-respected salamander researcher and colleague of many members of the research team.

“This animal is so distinct that it belongs in its own genus, a taxonomic level used for grouping closely related species,” Camp said. “The real significance of this find is that it represents the first new genus of four-footed creature discovered in the United States in 50 years.”

For more information on the discovery you can read the following press release from the University of Georgia.

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UGAP at the DBF

Plan to spend some of your Labor Day weekend (September 4-6, 2009) with the University of Georgia Press at the Decatur Book Festival. In only three short years, DBF Executive Director Darren Wang, Festival Manager Mary Flad, and company have built the three-day book party into one of the most attended independent book festivals in the country. As in past years, we'll be in booths 501 and 502 on the Courthouse Square, across from Better World Books and diagonally across from Starbucks; stop by our booth for giveaways and special deals.

Events include several panels spotlighting UGAP books and authors; times and locations are subject to change:

Saturday, Sept. 5 - 11:15 am - City Hall
LATINO IMMIGRANTS AND THE U.S. SOUTH
Panel featuring Mary Odem, Elaine Lacy, and James Johnson

Saturday, Sept. 5 - 11:15 am - Decatur Library
SCREENING A LYNCHING
Author Matthew H. Bernstein interviewed by film journalist David Lee Simmons

Saturday, Sept. 5 - 3:00 pm - City Hall
ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY AND THE AMERICAN SOUTH
Panel featuring Christopher J. Manganiello, Claire Strom and Albert G. Way

Sunday, Sept. 6 - 12:00 noon - Decatur Presbyterian Church
Obama: The Prequel
Panel featuring Joe Crespino, Devin Fergus (LIBERALISM, BLACK POWER AND THE MAKING OF AMERICAN POLITICS), Kent Germany (NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE PROMISES) and Brett Gadsden

Several other UGAP authors will be involved in this year's festival, including Calvin Johnson, W. Scott Poole, John T. Edge, Phillip Lee Williams, Jack Bass, and Nathalie Dupree; check this list for a full roster of participants.

Short Takes

The Wall Street Journal reviews THE WORK OF JOE WEBB; a review also appeared in the UK architecture and design magazine Blueprint.

High Country News reviews ROSALIE EDGE, HAWK OF MERCY; author Dyana Furmansky also appeared on Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard's "Field Notes" radio show on WVXU Cincinnati. Also on the radio: Shep Krech (SPIRITS OF THE AIR) on WICN Inquiry.

FEARLESS CONFESSIONS is reviewed in ForeWord Magazine; visit Sue William Silverman on her summer blog tour at Powells.com.

A video podcast is now available on YouTube that introduces GUIDE TO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS OF GEORGIA, scheduled for publication in 2011.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reviews LOUISIANA WOMEN.

Susan Cerulean (TRACKING DESIRE) in the Foster Folly News on swallow-tailed kites.

ON TARZAN appears in a group review on the Canadian news site Rabble with reference to the “essential badness of Burroughs” and the impact of what Hilaire Belloc called “good bad books”: “Burroughs’s 23 Tarzan books, and the tangle of other works inspired by them, are looked at, seriously though not in the least forbiddingly or even drily, in Alex Vernon’s study.”

Short Takes

Charles Horner’s RISING CHINA AND ITS POSTMODERN FATE was reviewed in the Asia Chronicle and selected by the editors as one of their Best Books on Asia: “Provides an accessible overview of Chinese history, political science, and historiography while providing a new approach to considering and interpreting Chinese history…well worth the read for anyone looking to begin a more advanced study of China.”

The journal American Studies reviewed Robert H. Woodrum’s “EVERYBODY WAS BLACK DOWN THERE”: “an intriguing account of the disappearing black coal miner during the post-World War II era, and welcome addition to the growing body of historical studies on race and organized labor.”

Poetry news: The July/Aug issue of Boston Review calls FIELD FOLLY SNOW “a rigorous, gorgeous investigation of self, desire, and simple human need.” The Rumpus reviews IF BIRDS GATHER YOUR HAIR FOR NESTING: “In digging up graves and rooting through the past, Anna Journey’s rich lines assert the writing of poetry as the vehicle that can change one’s luck, one’s history and future.”

A PORTRAIT OF HISTORIC ATHENS AND CLARKE COUNTY was reviewed last week in Flagpole Magazine: “Her book is like a conversation with somebody who loves Athens and is full of interesting facts about our town. It’s one of those books that you can open anywhere and find yourself enthralled with some period of Athens history.” Fran Thomas also appeared on WGAU Newsmakers with Tim Bryant; a podcast of the show is available online.

The Athens Banner-Herald covers the University of Georgia Press; ON TARZAN mentioned in the Financial Times.