Rafetus: The Curve of Extinction – The Story of the Giant Softshell Turtle of the Yangtze and Red Rivers

Pp. (8), ii, 174; 120+ color photos, 3 black-and-white photos, some maps.  Publisher’s original red cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine, color pictorial dust jacket, 4to.  This work documents the last remaining members of the species, Rafetus swinhoei.  This species is found along the Red River and its tributaries in northern Vietnam and in the Yangtze River in China.  A related species is found in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, and Khuzestan Province of Iran.  The Vietnamese and Chinese species are on the brink of extinction.  No ownership marks and no signs of use.