Almost 20 years ago, Earthwatch volunteers joined Dr. Ted Fleming in La Selva, Costa Rica, to document the diversity and ecology of rainforest bats there. Now with 30 years of field research behind him, Fleming has written a personal account of his life as one of the world’s leading bat biologists. A Bat Man in the Tropics: Chasing El Duende is the story of Fleming’s fascinating career, recounting many of his adventures in the field in Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico and Australia.
In A Bat Man in the Tropics, Fleming weaves autobiographical reflections together with information on the natural history of bats, describing many other animals and plants he encounters along the way. His account is at the same time authoritative and accessible, giving readers an inside look at what it is like to be a gifted biologist and investigate basic facts of behavioral ecology in the field. His book is a must for tropical biologists, but will also be valuable to armchair adventurers and anyone interested in conserving tropical biodiversity.
A Bat Man in the Tropics: Chasing El Duende. Theodore H. Fleming. University of California Press, 2003.