What Species of Creatures

What Species of Creatures

Author: Sharon Kirsch

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13:

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Literary Nonfiction. North American History. Science. Three centuries ago, white Europeans began to colonize the North American continent. In doing so, they encountered flying squirrels, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and the easily tamed beaver: creatures their kind had never met before. The accounts of early explorers and settlers in describing these animals and others provide fascinating insight into the taxonomies they carried to the so-called New World. Their literature of discovery was by turns comic, cruel and adulatory. This book brings together period quotes and 21st-century science in an idiosyncratic narrative. Extended anecdote conveys the adventures of historical personalities, and the book borrows, too, from fables, children's stories and natural histories. Yet WHAT SPECIES OF CREATURES addresses present concerns our habitual understanding of wild animals and our own place in the natural order. In the process of quoting from and commenting upon European ancestors' speciesist arrogance, Kirsch interrogates our seemingly insatiable appetite to trap, catch, skin, domesticate, eat, eradicate or otherwise bend to our use the animals in our midst."


Unusual Creatures

Unusual Creatures

Author: Michael Hearst

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Published: 2012-09-26

Total Pages: 111

ISBN-13: 1452104670

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"Introduces the reader to a wealth of extraordinary life forms"-- P. [4] of cover.


Lost Animals

Lost Animals

Author: John Whitfield

Publisher: Smithsonian Institution

Published: 2020-10-06

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1588346986

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Meet the incredible animals that have disappeared due to competition, mass extinctions, hunting, and human activity. Lost Animals brings back to life some of the most charismatic creatures to inhabit the planet. It captures the imagination with more than 200 incredible photographs, artworks of fossils, and scientific drawings of charming creatures like dodos, paraceratherium (the largest land mammal), spinosaurus (the biggest carnivorous dinosaur), placeoderm fishes (the sharks of their day), and more! Lost Animals is a captivating documentation of evolution and extinction. Each chapter focuses on a specific time in Earth's history, from the Cambrian explosion (the most intense surge of evolution the world has ever experienced) to present times, with profiles of the key species that lived then. From long extinct animals to Lazarus species--animals that were thought to be extinct before being rediscovered--this book takes readers on a journey through Earth's natural history, highlighting the world's biggest animal losses and its moments of conservational hope.


The Complete Book of Animals

The Complete Book of Animals

Author: Tom Jackson

Publisher: Armadillo Music

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781843227342

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"This is a world encyclopedia of amphibians, reptiles and mammals with over 500 detailed illustrations. This is a fully illustrated encyclopedia of over 350 amphibians, reptiles and mammals from the world. It includes the venomous western diamondback rattlesnake of the southern United States; the tree-dwelling flying lizard of South-east Asia, the extraordinary egg-laying platypus of Australia. This is a natural history guide that focuses on how animals have adapted in terms of anatomy, senses and survival skills, and describes the varied habitats in which animals live. This is a fabulous, accessible natural history reference for both families and schools. The first section of this incredible illustrated reference book focuses on the diversity of life in the animal kingdom, looking at the habitats in which animals live and how they survive. It also includes a guide to a mphibian, reptilian and mammalian anatomy and senses. The rest of the book is divided into three chapters, each focusing on a different area of the world: the Americas; Europe and Africa; and Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Each animal is accompanied by a colour illustration and a specification panel giving information about distribution, habitat, food, size, maturity, breeding, life span and more. With over 900 magnificent colour illustrations and photographs, and packed with fascinating facts, this book is a must-have family reference for anyone interested in wild animals, where they live and how they survive."--Publisher's description.


Species Diversity of Animals in Japan

Species Diversity of Animals in Japan

Author: Masaharu Motokawa

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-11-26

Total Pages: 718

ISBN-13: 4431564322

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This book summarizes the status quo of the knowledge about the biodiversity in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine animals that live in Japan. Consisting of some 6,800 islands that are arrayed for approximately 3,500 km from north to south, the Japanese archipelago has a complex history in a paleogeographic formation process over time and harbors rich flora and fauna. This work will contribute to establishing a general biogeographic theory in archipelagoes around continental shelves. Facing the ongoing extinction crisis, one of the most important tasks for our generation is to bequeath this precious natural heritage to future generations. As the first step toward this goal, a species list has been compiled through solid, steady alpha-taxonomic work in each taxon. Furthermore, the phylogeography and population genetic structure for each species is elucidated for deeper understanding of the local fauna, the scientific results of which should be the basis for establishing conservation policies and strategies. Also the problem of alien or introduced species is investigated as another threat to the native fauna.Each of the 27 chapters is written by the most active specialist leading the field, thus readers can acquire up-to-date knowledge of the animal species diversity and their formation process of Japanese animals in the most comprehensive form available. This book is recommended for researchers and students who are interested in species diversity, biogeography, and phylogeography.


Fellow Creatures

Fellow Creatures

Author: Christine Marion Korsgaard

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 0198753853

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Presents a compelling new view of our moral relationships to the other animals


The Most Important Animal of All

The Most Important Animal of All

Author: Penny Worms

Publisher: North Star Editions, Inc.

Published: 2023-06-06

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 1631637029

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When seven children are asked about which is the most important animal of all, they learn about the key roles different animals play on Earth.


Stuff They Don't Want You to Know

Stuff They Don't Want You to Know

Author: Ben Bowlin

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Published: 2022-10-11

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 1250268575

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“Interesting...Bowlin's calmly rational approach to the subject of conspiracy theories shows the importance of logic and evidence.”—Booklist "A page-turning book to give to someone who believes in pizza pedophilia or that the Illuminati rule the world."—Kirkus Reviews The co-hosts of the hit podcast Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know, Ben Bowlin, Matthew Frederick, & Noel Brown, discern conspiracy fact from fiction in this sharp, humorous, compulsively readable, and gorgeously illustrated book. In times of chaos and uncertainty, when trust is low and economic disparity is high, when political institutions are crumbling and cultural animosities are building, conspiracy theories find fertile ground. Many are wild, most are untrue, a few are hard to ignore, but all of them share one vital trait: there’s a seed of truth at their center. That seed carries the sordid, conspiracy-riddled history of our institutions and corporations woven into its DNA. Ben Bowlin, Matt Frederick, and Noel Brown host the popular iHeart Media podcast, Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know. They are experts at exploring, explaining, and interrogating today’s emergent conspiracies—from chem trails and biological testing to the secrets of lobbying and the indisputable evidence of UFOs. Written in a smart, witty, and conversational style, elevated with amazing illustrations, Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know is a vital book in understanding the nature of conspiracy and using truth as a powerful weapon against ignorance, misinformation, and lies.


Remarkable Creatures

Remarkable Creatures

Author: Sean B. Carroll

Publisher: HMH

Published: 2014-10-16

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0547526148

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National Book Award Finalist: A biologist’s “thoroughly enjoyable” account of the expeditions that unearthed the history of life on our planet (Publishers Weekly). Not so long ago, most of our world was an unexplored wilderness. Our sense of its age was vague and vastly off the mark, and much of the knowledge of our own species’ history was a set of fantastic myths and fairy tales. But scientists were about to embark on an amazing new era of understanding. From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Big Picture, this book leads us on a rousing voyage that recounts the most important discoveries in two centuries of natural history: from Darwin’s trip around the world to Charles Walcott’s discovery of pre-Cambrian life in the Grand Canyon; from Louis and Mary Leakey’s investigation of our deepest past in East Africa to the trailblazers in modern laboratories who have located a time clock in our DNA. Filled with the same sense of adventure that spurred on these extraordinary men and women, Remarkable Creatures is a “stirring introduction to the wonder of evolutionary biology” (Kirkus Reviews). “Charming and enlightening.” —San Francisco Chronicle “As fast-paced as a detective story.” —Nature


Trash Animals

Trash Animals

Author: Kelsi Nagy

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 2013-04-01

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 0816686742

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Why are some species admired or beloved while others are despised? An eagle or hawk circling overhead inspires awe while urban pigeons shuffling underfoot are kicked away in revulsion. Fly fishermen consider carp an unwelcome trash fish, even though the trout they hope to catch are often equally non-native. Wolves and coyotes are feared and hunted in numbers wildly disproportionate to the dangers they pose to humans and livestock. In Trash Animals, a diverse group of environmental writers explores the natural history of wildlife species deemed filthy, unwanted, invasive, or worthless, highlighting the vexed relationship humans have with such creatures. Each essay focuses on a so-called trash species—gulls, coyotes, carp, cockroaches, magpies, prairie dogs, and lubber grasshoppers, among others—examining the biology and behavior of each in contrast to the assumptions widely held about them. Identifying such animals as trash tells us nothing about problematic wildlife but rather reveals more about human expectations of, and frustrations with, the natural world. By establishing the unique place that maligned species occupy in the contemporary landscape and in our imagination, the contributors challenge us to look closely at these animals, to reimagine our ethics of engagement with such wildlife, and to question the violence with which we treat them. Perhaps our attitudes reveal more about humans than they do about the animals. Contributors: Bruce Barcott; Charles Bergman, Pacific Lutheran U; James E. Bishop, Young Harris College; Andrew D. Blechman; Michael P. Branch, U of Nevada, Reno; Lisa Couturier; Carolyn Kraus, U of Michigan–Dearborn; Jeffrey A. Lockwood, U of Wyoming; Kyhl Lyndgaard, Marlboro College; Charles Mitchell, Elmira College; Kathleen D. Moore, Oregon State U; Catherine Puckett; Bernard Quetchenbach, Montana State U, Billings; Christina Robertson, U of Nevada, Reno; Gavan P. L. Watson, U of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.