Written by an international team of specialists, spectacularly adorned with a gallery of more than 2,000 color illustrations, and supplemented with distribution maps, detailed and beautifully rendered diagrams, and some of the world's finest wildlife photographs, this volume will become the standard by which all others are measured. Each page is expertly laid out to enhance either browsing or in-depth study. Readers will find detailed coverage of all sorts of animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and invertebrates. The Encyclopedia includes an introductory overview of animal evolution, biology, behavior, classification, habitats, and current conservation issues. An extensive encyclopedic survey of the animals follows, with special attention given to endangered and vulnerable species. All information is completely up-to-date, with the most recent scientific and conservation data. Elegant graphics put a broad selection of information at readers' fingertips, including classification information, scientific and common names, distribution maps for all animal groups, conservation panels that focus on threatened species, accurate and detailed anatomical drawings, and illustrations of multiple species. Each section is color coded for easy identification of animal groups. Feature pages explore topics of particular interest and provide insights into animal behavior. With its expansive scope, richly detailed information, and inviting design, this will be the ideal reference for a broad range of uses.* Completely up-to-date, with the most recent scientific information and conservation data * A gallery of more than 2,000 illustrations * Authoritative text contributed by a team of international specialists * Lavish color photographs from leading wildlife photographers * Distribution maps for all animal groups * Detailed explanatory scientific diagrams * Feature pages exploring topics of particular interest and providing insights into animal behavior

    While researching a recent "New York Times Magazine" cover story about chimpanzees, Charles Siebert visited a retirement home for former ape movie stars and circus entertainers in Wauchula, Florida known as the Center for Great Apes. There Siebert encountered Roger, a twenty-eight-year-old former Ringling Brothers star who seemed convinced he knew the author from some other time and place. Haunted by Roger's response, Siebert takes up residence at the Center for Great Apes and, in the course of one late-night visit to a sleepless Roger's quarters, gets to the bottom of this mysterious connection between himself and his simian counterpart.The result is "The Wauchula Woods Accord," a strikingly written, wide-ranging physical and metaphysical foray into the increasingly fraught frontier between humans and other animals; a journey that encompasses many of the author's encounters with chimpanzees and other animals, as well as the latest scientific discoveries that underscore our intimate biological bonds not only with our nearest kin, but with far more remote-seeming life-forms. By journey's end, the reader arrives at a deeper understanding both of Roger and of our numerous other animal selves, a recognition--an accord-- that carries a new sense of responsibility for how we view and treat all animals, including ourselves.

    Why do crows have this ability? What does the crow know and what does it tell us about brain size, the evolution of intelligence, and just who is the smartest creature on the planet? In the latest addition to the Scientists in the Field series, the creators of The Frog Scientist take us to a beautiful Pacific island, where a lively cast of both crows and scientists is waiting to amuse and enlighten us.

    The story of decomposition is vividly told so that science comes to life (and death). Part story, part science, and a whole lot of fun. Features a teacher guide in the back of the book, and additional material (including instructions on how to put on a Rotten Pumpkin play in your school) are on the Creston and Author websites.

    Since reptiles are cold-blooded creatures, most humans don't instinctively understand their requirements the way they understand the needs of a cat or dog. Herp expert Philippe de Vosjoli and his team of veterinarians and authors seek to make keepers confident in their ability to properly care for their bearded dragons through this most informative book. A key component of caring for bearded dragons, according to the authors, is recognizing that their needs change as they develop. De Vosjoli states in the introduction to the book, "Looking at the life stages of bearded dragons also made [the authors] aware that, like humans, they undergo changes in growth and behavior, which may require the dedicated owner to make adjustments in husbandry (and general care) to meet the needs of each life style." The Bearded Dragon Manual is the first book to present this information that is so critical to the proper maintenance of these very popular reptiles.Colorfully illustrated, The Bearded Dragon Manual provides chapter-length coverage on the following topics: selecting a dragon, making a home for a dragon, heating and lighting, diet and feeding management, and behavior. The feeding chapter, which includes as age-by-age guide to nutrition, was co-written with veterinarian Dr. Susan Donoghue. A chapter on breeding discusses strategies for breeding dragons, requirements, conditioning, incubation, and potential problems encountered. Lizard vet extraordinaire Dr. Roger Klingenberg has written a chapter on recognizing and treating bearded dragon diseases, in which he discusses how to recognize a sick dragon, various internal and external parasites, nutritional disorders as well as kidney disease, prolapses, egg-binding, respiratory infections, and eye problems. The chapter concludes with a four-page chart for troubleshooting health problems. Herb expert Jerry Cole has provided a special chapter on frilled dragons, an agamid similar to the bearded dragon that has attracted many bearded dragon fans. Appendices and index included.

    

    Learn about the animals that inhabit this semiarid environment where baby critters and their mothers wallow, run, call, bark, hop, scurry, nod, slither, howl, and jump all day long and all through the night.Count animals from one to ten in the rhyming text modeled after the traditional song "Over in the Meadow" by Olive A. Wadsworth. A guide to prairie flora and fauna is included.

    In the New York Times (extended list) bestseller Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body, Francesca Gould uncovered everything you'd want to know-and a few things you'd rather you didn't-about the human body. In Why Fish Fart and Other Useless or Gross Information About the World, she scoured planet Earth for a rich assortment of odd and/or unsavory facts. In Why Dogs Eat Poop and Other Useless or Gross Information About the Animal Kingdom, Francesca Gould and David Haviland explore a subject positively rife with gross miscellany: the animal kingdom.Indeed, animals do the darnedest things and, in this vastly entertaining book, Gould and Haviland uncover a universe of strange, hilarious, and quite often disgusting animal habits, ailments, and practices, including:-Monkey-Faced Lamb disease; -farting snakes; -dino-chickens; -and a creature you've never heard of that eats with its eyes.Why Dogs Eat Poop is sure to delight any fan of the obscure and/ or grotesque.

    These fascinating, enigmatic creatures are a key lynchpin in the working of our planet. Without them the landscape, as well as every aisle in our supermarkets would look radically different. And we're not just talking about honey bees. There are more than 20,000 species of bee worldwide and only a handful make honey. Some live in colonies and others are solitary. We can all help protect them - and they desperately need protecting - but you can't save what you don't love. And you can't love what you don't know. The Good Bee is a celebration of this most vital and mysterious of nature's wizards. Here you'll discover the complexities of bee behaviour - as well as the bits that still baffle us - the part they play in the natural world, their relationship with us throughout history, how they are coming under threat and what we can all do about it.Beautifully produced, with hand-made illustrations throughout, it is a story for our times and a book to treasure.

    Award-winning photographer Nic Bishop's larger-than-life, gorgeous images document the hunt, which ends happily with the frog settling down in the leaves to spend his daylight hours sleeping! Joy Cowley's simple, readable text makes the frog's story fun, interesting, and accessible to young readers. This is a nature tale like you've never seen before!

    Here, readers are given the actual size of an eye right on the page, and we are informed how understand this whale's body size in relation to trucks, cars, milk bottles, and hippos! With an accurate and engaging text, fully vetted by a blue whale expert, and lyrically lovely illustrations, The Blue Whale is a book that invites children in and holds their attention. Its tempo is like a pleasing melody, which means that the information never becomes too weighty or exhausting―a key thing when it comes to young readers and their enjoyment of a book!

    

    He sees the angler's environment all around him--in New York's Grand Central Station, in the cement-lined pond of a city park, in a shimmering bonefish flat in the Florida Keys, in the trout streams of the Rocky Mountains. He marvels at the fishing in the turbid Ohio River by downtown Cincinnati, where a good bait for catfish is half a White Castle french fry. The incidentals of the angling experience, the who and the where of it, interest him as much as what he catches and how. The essays contain sharply focused observations of the American outdoors, a place filled with human alterations and detritus that somehow remain defiantly unruined. Frazier's simple love of the sport lifts him to a straight-ahead angling description that's among the best contemporary writing on the subject. The Fish's Eye brings together twenty years of heartfelt, funny, and vivid essays on a timeless pursuit where so many mysteries, both human and natural, coincide.

    Water can be a Thirst quencher Kid drencher Cloud fluffer Fire snuffer Find out about the many roles water plays in this poetic exploration of water throughout the year.

    Give Bees a Chance is for anyone who doesn't quite appreciate how extra special and important bees are to the world, and even to humankind! Besides making yummy honey, they help plants grow fruits and vegetables. And most bees wouldn't hurt a fly (unless it was in self-defense!).Bethany Barton's interactive cartoon-style illustrations and hilarious narrator mean this book is full of facts and fun. With bees officially on the endangered animals list, it's more important now than ever to get on board with our flying, honey-making friends!