Animal Biology

Scientists are confident that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Yet rather than taking a realistic approach to what aliens might be like, we imagine that life on other planets is the stuff of science fiction. The time has come to abandon our fantasies of space invaders and movie monsters and place our expectations on solid scientific footing. But short of alien's landing in New York City, how do we know what they are like?

This audiobook describes the development of a tiger from infancy to adulthood, as she grows up in India.

Cheep! Cheep! What is that sound? It’s a baby bird in a nest! Beginning listeners will discover why nests make good homes for growing baby birds, squirrels, and other animals.

For those who enjoyed Amazing Gracie or Merle’s Door, here is a completely new tale of a rescued dog who becomes the unlikely purveyor of a powerful gift. What if most people have it wrong, and miracles are not the exception but the norm? Flash’s Song is the true account of how one person discovered the secret of miracles. It is a story of the power of laughter, the power of family, and, ultimately, the power of love to get us through life.

Thinking about raising chickens? You've come to the right place! This new edition of Raising Chickens for Dummies provides the most up-to-date, thorough information on the many aspects of keeping chickens in your backyard. You'll hear hands-on, easy-to-follow instructions on choosing and purchasing chickens, constructing housing for your birds, feeding your chickens for optimal health, combating laying issues, controlling pests and predators, optimizing egg production, and much more.

As the snow melts and the spring approaches, the animal kingdom awakens. In Summer World, Bernd Heinrich, the best-selling author of Winter World, brings us an up-close and personal view of that awakening and rebirth.

Have you ever wondered just how a glow stick works? Or what about those glow-in-the-dark stars you stick on your ceiling keep on shining? In her first book, author and teacher Anita Sitarski answers these questions and more giving listeners the inside scoop on everything that glows. Fireflies, bacteria, squid, jelly fish—what do all of these things have in common? They glow! It seems like one of mother nature’s mysteries, but many curious scientists have begun to shine light on this beautiful phenomenon.

Learn all about nocturnal animals.

Mason Bee Revolution explains how docile, hard-working, solitary mason bees (and their compatriots, the leafcutter bees) are even more productive pollinators than honeybees, and keeping them can be a fun, easy, backyard hobby for gardeners, conservationists, foodies, and families everywhere. While scientists search for answers to save the honeybee, Dave Hunter and his company, Crown Bees, are leading the effort to increase the population of other highly efficient pollinators.

In 1908, near Folsom, New Mexico, a cowboy discovered the remains of a herd of extinct giant bison. By examining flint points embedded in the bones, archeologists later determined that a band of humans had killed and butchered the animals 12,450 years ago. This discovery vastly expanded America's known human history but also revealed the long-standing danger Homo sapiens presented to the continent's evolutionary richness. Distinguished scholar Dan Flores's ambitious history chronicles the epoch in which humans and animals have coexisted in the "wild new world" of North America.

We human beings share 98 percent of our genes with chimpanzees. Yet humans are the dominant species on the planet - having founded civilizations and religions, developed intricate and diverse forms of communication, learned science, built cities, and created breathtaking works of art - while chimps remain animals concerned primarily with the basic necessities of survival. What is it about that two percent difference in DNA that has created such a divergence between evolutionary cousins?

When Charles Darwin finished The Origin of Species, he thought that he had explained every clue but one. Though his theory could explain many facts, Darwin knew that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. During this event, the "Cambrian explosion", many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock. In Darwin's Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life.

Whales whistle, fireflies glow, and skunks spray—that’s how they communicate! Find out how mammals, reptiles, birds, and other animals send messages and signals to stay safe, make friends, and care for their young. Accessible and fun K–3 level information reveals the animal world to young listeners and researchers in this Pebble Explore title from the Animal Societies series.

Like you, most animals have eyes. But how and what they see can be very different.

In this landmark book of popular science, Daniel E. Lieberman - chair of the department of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and a leader in the field - gives us a lucid and engaging account of how the human body evolved over millions of years, even as it shows how the increasing disparity between the jumble of adaptations in our Stone Age bodies and advancements in the modern world is occasioning this paradox: greater longevity but increased chronic disease.

Scrub all you want, but you'll never get your body entirely clean. From rash causing itch mites to bacteria swimming in your stomach, meet the tiny creatures hitching a ride on your body.

Follow us on a journey around all the body parts of mammals, from eyes to ears, to legs to tails. Find out all about how each body part works, what it looks like and what it does and how each body part differs between species.

Follow us on a journey around all the body parts of reptiles, from eyes to teeth, to shells to tails. Find out all about how each body part works, what it looks like and what it does and how each body part differs between species.

Zombies have no control over their own minds. Some insects and other creepy crawlies have the power to turn other animals into zombies, controlling their behavior. Listeners will learn all about these creatures and the real-life zombies they are making.

Beautiful butterflies flutter about, catching our eyes with their bright colors. Their senses, eating habits, and life cycle are just as wondrous as their bright colors.