Zoology and animal sciences Books

You can tell a lot about a tree from the company it keeps. James Nardi guides you through the innermost unseen world that trees share with a wondrous array of creatures. With their elaborate immune responses, trees recruit a host of allies as predators...

A richly illustrated introduction to the incredible world of beetles.With some 400,000 species, beetles are among the largest and most successful groups of organisms on earth, making up one-fifth of all plant and animal species. No other animals exhibit...

A marvellously illustrated A-to-Z compendium of bird names from around the globe.The Bird Name Book is an alphabetical reference book on the origins and meanings of common group bird names, from 'accentor' to...

A compact, richly illustrated photographic field guide to all of the birds of Galpagos, from renowned photographer and writer Tui De RoyA lifelong resident of Galpagos, Tui De Roy has been observing, studying, and photographing the islands' astonishing...

The ocean teems with life that thrives under difficult situations in unusual environments. The Extreme Life of the Sea takes readers to the absolute limits of the ocean world - the fastest and deepest, the hottest and oldest creatures of the oceans. It...

A richly illustrated natural history of ants, covering their diversity, ecology, anatomy, behaviour, and morePlentiful and familiar, ants make up an estimated one-third of the world's insect biomass and can be found in virtually every part of the globe,...

An epic excursion into one of the last great frontiers on Earth.The deep ocean comprises more than 90 percent of our planet's biosphere and is home to some of the world's most dazzling creatures, which thrive amid extreme pressures, scarce food supplies,...

When many people think of bees, they are likely to picture the western domesticated honey bee, insects that live in large, socially complex societies inside a hive with a single queen and thousands of workers. But this familiar bee is just one of more...

A spellbinding look at the philosophical and moral implications of animal dreaming.Are humans the only dreamers on Earth? What goes on in the minds of animals when they sleep? When Animals Dream brings together behavioural and neuroscientific research on...

An updated and comprehensive guide identifying all of the world's sharksSharks are some of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. We still have a lot to learn about these fascinating creatures, which are more seriously threatened with extinction...

An authoritative, accessible, and gorgeously illustrated exploration into the lives of these remarkable animalsLions are the only social cat. They hunt together, raise cubs together, and defend territories together against neighbours and strangers. Lions...

Wasps are far more diverse than the familiar yellowjackets and hornets that harass picnickers and build nests under the eaves of our homes. These amazing, mostly solitary creatures thrive in nearly every habitat on Earth, and their influence on our lives...

A fun and fact-filled AZ treasury for the insect lover in all of us.Insectpedia introduces you to the wonders of the insect world while inviting you to make discoveries of your own. Featuring dozens of entries on topics ranging from murder hornets and...

Seabirds evoke the spirit of the earth's wildest places. They spend large portions of their lives at sea, often far from land, and nest on remote islands that humans rarely visit. Thanks to increasingly sophisticated and miniaturised devices that can...

A captivating A-Z treasury about birds and birdingBirdpedia is an engaging illustrated compendium of bird facts and birding lore. Featuring nearly 200 entries-on topics ranging from plumage and migration to birds in art, literature, and folklore-this...

Could extinct species, like mammoths and passenger pigeons, be brought back to life?In How to Clone a Mammoth, Beth Shapiro, an evolutionary biologist and pioneer in ancient DNA research, addresses this intriguing question by walking readers through the...

An exciting look at the essential roles that parasites play in Earth's ecosystems.This book looks at the weird and wonderful world of parasites, the most abundant form of life on Earth. Parasites come in all forms and sizes and inhabit every free-living...

The most comprehensive reference guide to the world's sharks - now fully revised and updated Sharks of the World is the essential illustrated guide for anyone interested in these magnificent creatures. Now fully revised and updated, it covers...

The definitive field guide to all the sharks, rays and chimaeras of the European Atlantic and MediterraneanThe waters of the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea are home to an amazing variety of sharks, rays and chimaeras. This comprehensive and...

Honey bees are marvellously charismatic organisms with a long history of interaction with humans. They are vital to agriculture and serve as a model system for many basic questions in biology. This authoritative book provides an essential overview of...

One of Inverse's Best Science Books of 2018Co-Winner of the AIP Science Communication Book Award, American Institute of Physics Finalist for the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prizes for Excellence in Science Books, Young Adult Science Books Discovering the...

An enticing illustrated look at pollination, one of the most astonishing marvels of the natural worldPollination is essential to the survival of most plants on Earth. Some plants rely on the wind to transport pollen from one flower to another. Others...

There are some 10,000 bird species in existence today, occupying every continent and virtually every habitat on Earth. The variety of bird species is truly astounding, from the tiny bee hummingbird to the large flightless ostrich, making birds one of the...

A natural history of cheating from selfish genes to lying politiciansNature is rife with cheating. Possums play possum, feigning death to cheat predators. Crows cry wolf to scare off rivals. Amphibians and reptiles are inveterate impostors. Even genes...

From two of the world's leading authorities on dogs, an imaginative journey into a future of dogs without peopleWhat would happen to dogs if humans simply disappeared? Would dogs be able to survive on their own without us? A Dog's World imagines a...

""Following the Wild Bees" is both a unique meditation on the pleasures of the natural world and a guide to the ingenious methods that compose the craft of the bee hunter... Drawing on decades of experience as a bee hunter and bee biologist, Seeley...

A groundbreaking guide to flower flies in North America This is the first comprehensive field guide to the flower flies (also known as hover flies) of northeastern North America. Flower flies are, along with bees, our most important pollinators. Found in...

The astonishing new story of human originsWas Darwin wrong when he traced our origins to Africa? The Real Planet of the Apes makes the explosive claim that it was in Europe, not Africa, where apes evolved the most important hallmarks of our human lineage...

How Birds Evolve explores how evolution has shaped the distinctive characteristics and behaviours we observe in birds today. Douglas Futuyma describes how evolutionary science illuminates the wonders of birds, ranging over topics such as the meaning and...

A rich and surprising exploration of the intelligence of bees.Most of us are aware of the hive mind - the power of bees as an amazing collective. But do we know how uniquely intelligent bees are as individuals? In The Mind of a Bee, Lars Chittka draws...

Walter Tschinkel has spent much of his career investigating the hidden subterranean realm of ant nests. This wonderfully illustrated book takes you inside an unseen world where thousands of ants build intricate homes in the soil beneath our feet...

The go-to photographic guide to all the insect orders of Britain and IrelandBritain's Insects is an innovative, up-to-date, carefully designed and beautifully illustrated field guide to Britain and Ireland's twenty-five insect orders, concentrating on...

How birds have evolved and adapted to survive winterBirds in Winter is the first book devoted to the ecology and behavior of birds during this most challenging season. Birds remaining in regions with cold weather must cope with much shorter days to find...

A richly illustrated, state-of-the-art field guide for identifying European passerines in flight-the first of its kindOpening up new frontiers in birdwatching, this is the first field guide for identifying European passerines in flight, featuring more...

An accessible field guide to more than 500 of the most commonly found spider species in North AmericaOf the more than 49,000 species of spider worldwide, some 4,000 are in North America. Spiders of North America explores more than 500 of the most common...

The most up-to-date and authoritative resource on the biology and evolution of solitary beesWhile social bees such as honey bees and bumble bees are familiar to most people, they comprise less than 10 percent of all bee species in the world. The vast...

How the lives of wild honey bees offer vital lessons for saving the world's managed bee coloniesHumans have kept honey bees in hives for millennia, yet only in recent decades have biologists begun to investigate how these industrious insects live in the...

Honeybees make decisions collectively - and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honeybees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and...

We know that animals cross miles of water, land, and sky with pinpoint precision on a daily basis. But it is only in recent years that scientists have learned how these astounding feats of navigation are actually accomplished. With colorful and thorough...

Pollination and Floral Ecology is the most comprehensive single-volume reference to all aspects of pollination biology--and the first fully up-to-date resource of its kind to appear in decades. This beautifully illustrated book describes how flowers use...

"Informative, well-written. It covers the subject of rod building in a concise manner. It should be in every rod builder's library."-Fly Fisherman Dale P. Clemens's Advanced Custom Rod Building is the book that sent American fishermen back to their...

Two highly respected outdoor journalists, Kirk Deeter of Field & Stream and Charlie Meyers of the Denver Post, have cracked open their notebooks and shared straight-shot advice on the sport of fly fishing, based on a range of new and old...

In almost every culture, hyenas are regarded as nasty, scheming charlatans, skulking in the back alleyways of the animal kingdom. Scorned as little more than scavenging carrion-eaters, vandals and thieves, since the earliest times hyenas have been both...

Expert saltwater fly fisherman, Conway Bowman, offers advice and useful techniques for the beginner fisherman in The Orvis Guide to Beginning Saltwater Fly Fishing-ideal for the novice that wants to learn and perfect their skills. Written in conjunction...

A natural history, as well as a fascinating and innovative account of parrots in culture. Highly illustrated, with images drawn from a wide range of cultures, historical periods and media, it is a humorous roller-coaster ride through parrots in...

Western Australia is home to more than one third of the known frog species in Australia and new ones are still being discovered. This guide presents up to date information on all species, including their distribution and habitat - including the cane...

Honey Bee Pests and Diseases provides up-to-date information on the management of honey bee diseases found globally, not just in the U.S., Europe, or Australia. Of particular interest are the explanations of how pathogens affect honey bees. This facet of...

The Compact Australian Bird Guide is an easy-to-use and beautifully illustrated quick identification guide to all bird species regularly occurring in Australia. The content has been carefully designed to provide the reader with key information to enable...