Ted Fleming with his wife Marcia, daughter Cara, and granddaughter Cadence are looking at a lesser long-nosed bat caught in their backyard.
Join the Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries (FSL) for the first library lecture of the 2024-25 season in SaddleBrooke on Oct. 17 at 4 p.m. at the DesertView Theatre.
Professor Emeritus and biologist Ted Fleming, author of Sonoran Desert Journeys, will introduce us to the lives of several interesting vertebrates who co-exist in the unique environment of the Sonoran Desert: desert tortoise, western diamondback rattlesnake, tiger whiptail lizard, Harris’s Hawk, white-winged doves, phainopeplas, Merriam’s kangaroo rats, and lesser long-nosed bats!
Intriguing biological aspects including sex determination in tortoises, pathogenesis in whiptails, sociality in Harris’s Hawks, doves as pollinators of saguaros, the life cycle of a migratory nectar-feeding bat, and much more will be discussed. Join us to learn about the interdependence of animal life, plant life, and the health of the desert.
Dr. Theodore H. Fleming is emeritus professor of biology at the University of Miami. He has spent over five decades studying mammals and their food plants in Panama, Costa Rica, Australia, Mexico, and Arizona. His book, Sonoran Desert Journeys (University of Arizona Press), was a Top 10 award winner for Southwestern books in 2024. He resides in Tucson.