Did you know that... shark embryos can attack?
caterpillars can tap dance?
koalas have fingerprints almost identical to those of humans?
And, who would have guessed that...
chimpanzees talk about food?
male animals from hot climates make bad fathers?
owls employ snakes as babysitters?
rats can learn the differences between languages?
some parasites castrate their victims?
dogs can see moving objects up to 985 yards away?
ants won't cross a chalk line?
a sloth moves so slowly that fungus grows on its feet?
Astonishing new facts about animals are discovered every day. Here, gathered together in one book, are hundreds of the most fascinating, often funny, and, occasionally, just plain bizarre snippets known about animals freshly gleaned from the most up-to-date scientific observations and experiments. With chapters on every aspect of animal life -- from how they communicate with one another to their highly unusual parenting practices to their lively and varied sex lives -- Augustus Brown has compiled a charming, educational, and supremely entertaining book that will satisfy even the most obsessive animal lover.
So, dig in to this irresistibly entertaining and utterly engrossing inside look at the animal kingdom at its most peculiar!
A lively and whimsical compendium of animal trivia in the tradition of Schott's Original Miscellany includes such behavioral factoids as the sunbathing practices of tuna, the electricity-generating abilities of certain cattle, and the tap dancing talents of caterpillars. 40,000 first printing.
Contents
Foreword
Part One Talk to the Animals: The Curious Art of Animal Communication
Body Talk: How Animals Use Their Anatomies to Communicate
Vocal Heroes: Birds, Whales, and Other Singing Stars
The Anthills Are Alive: How Animals Buzz, Bang, Bounce, and Rap
Hot Gossip: What Animals Talk About
The Power of Speech: Animals with Spectacular Voices
The Joy of Rex: How Dogs and Other Animals Show They're Happy
Dress Code: What Animals Wear, and What It Tells Other Animals About Them
Part Two: Creature Comforts: Food and Drink in the Animal Kingdom
You Are Who You Eat: Who's Eating Who in the Animal World
Acquired Tastes: Some Animal Likes and Dislikes
Eating Disorders: How Some Animals Starve and Others Binge
Calls of Nature: Some Unpleasant Truths About Animal Bodily Functions
Under the Influence: Animals That Get Drunk and (Sometimes) Disorderly
Part Three: The Birds and the Bees: Animals and Their Love Lives
Looking for Mr. Right: What Animals Want in Their Ideal Partner
The Art of Seduction: How Animals Impress the Opposite Sex
The Mating Game: Sex in the Animal Kingdom
Animal Parts: Some Curious Things About Sexual Organs
Dangerous Liaisons: How Sex (or the Lack of It) Can Kill
Good Breeding: How Creatures Practice Birth Control
As Queer as Folk: Homosexuality in Animals
Till Death Do Us Part: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals
Part Four Family Affairs: The Trials and Tribulations of Animal Parenthood
When the Stork Comes: A Few Odd Facts About Animal Reproduction
Maternal Instincts: Nature's Best (and Worst) Mothers
Paternal Instincts: Nature's Best (and Worst) Fathers
Little Monsters: Troublesome Children and How Animals Cope with Them
A Death in the Family: How Animals Cope with Loss
Part Five: A Matter of Life and Death: How the Fittest, Strongest, Smartest, and Downright Nastiest Survive
No Holds Barred: How Animals Fight
Natural Born Killers: Nature's Ultimate Hitmen
"I've Got You, I'm Under Your Skin": How Parasites Kill Their Prey
Liquids of Mass Destruction: Deadly Weapons from the Animal Armory
David 1, Goliath 0: A Few of Nature's Mismatches
The Escape Artists: Nature's Great Survivors
And the Oscar Goes to...: How Animals Act Their Way Out of Trouble
Part Six: Work, Rest, and Play: Animal Lifestyles
Six (or Eight) Feet Under: Some Animal Occupations
Workers of the World: Nature's Jack-of-All-Trades
Skilled Labor: Animals That Use Tools
No Place Like Home: How Animals Find Their Domestic Bliss
Beauty and the Beasts: Health, Hygiene, and Beauty in the Animal World
Rip Van Winkles: How Animals Get Their Heads Down
Moose Surf, Dragons Play Frisbee: How Animals Get Stressed, and How They Unwind
Part Seven: Social Animal: How Creatures Live Together
All for One, and One for All: How Animals Look Out for Each Other
Government, for the Animals, by the Animals: Politics, Power, and Police States
Codfathers: How Animals Behave Like the Mafia
It's a Woman's World: How the "Weaker" Sex Runs the Ultimate Matriarchal Societies
Part Eight: Not-So-Dumb Animals: Why Creatures Are More Intelligent Than You Think
Two Bees or Not Two Bees? Animals That Can Put Two and Two Together
I Remember Ewe: Why Elephants Aren't the Only Animals Who Don't Forget
Knock, Knock, Who's Bear? The Cunning (and Criminal) Workings of the Animal Mind
Part Nine: Basic Instincts: Extraordinary Animal Powers
Hear All Evil: How Animals See, Smell, Hear, and Echolocate
Southpaws: How Some Animals Lead with Their Left
Animal Doctors: How Creatures Can Heal Themselves (and Others)
Unearthly Powers: How Animals Use Their Sixth Sense
Part Ten: Do the Locomotion: How Animals Get from A to B
Poetry in Motion: Nature's Greatest Movers
Globe-Trotters: Long-Distance Animals
Are We There Yet? Some Poor Animal Travelers
Part Eleven:
Children of the Evolution: Nature's Successes and Failures
Design Classics: Mother Nature's Greatest Hits
Creatures Great and Small: Some of Nature's Davids and Goliaths
Design Disasters: Mother Nature's Greatest Misses
Afterword
Sources and References
Author's Note and Acknowledgments