For most Americans, the name John James Audubon conjures up images of birds and issues of conservation. Audubon's best-known publication, The Birds of North America, occupies a treasured place in the pantheon of natural-history literature. Unfortunately, this rich volume has largely overshadowed his last book, The Viviparaus Quadrupeds of North America, published from 1845 to 1848. Although less well known to modern readers, the latter work, the first devoted exclusively to North American mammals, proved a worthy capstone to the artist's stellar career.