Animal Biology

It’s a HUGE surprise when Farmer Palmer chooses Lewie the llama to guard his new lambs. It’s the most important job on the farm and everyone thought he’d pick the biggest strongest, loudest llama. Lewie is the best at singing and dancing but is he a match for a cunning coyote?

It’s time for Ping the panda cub to meet his public in this hilarious Awesome Animals adventure by award-winning author, Jamie Rix. Ping the panda lives with his mum and twin sister An on the Wolong Nature reserve in China. Although his name means peaceful in Chinese, he’s anything but! Ping craves adventure and excitement but unfortunately he is a panda… and pandas do pretty much nothing except eat bamboo for around 14 hours a day and poo up to 40 times a day.

The Hole-in-the-Tree gang are not happy when they find another group of raccoons raiding their favourite food stores. The town isn’t big enough for the both of them, but can Quick-paw Cassidy and friends come up with a plan to drive the raiders out?

At long last, irrepressible panda cub Ping is leaving the safety of his nature reserve to embark on a journey of a lifetime! Will Ping and his new friend Little Bear enjoy their freedom, or will the shadows, and the bandits, and the lurking snow leopards have them running for home-sweet-home?

You might think that koalas are boring, just because all they do is eat eucalyptus leaves and sleep. For 19 hours a day. But you’d be wrong. They’re not boring. They’re just lazy. They’re chilling, basically, kicking back and catching some rays in the treetops, and staying out of trouble. At least, that’s what our cool koala buddies Dude and Bro, and little brother Squirt were doing, till one day they wake up to find they’ve missed their transfer from the koala sanctuary to the zoo across town....

The next book in the Awesome Animals series – starring the world’s funniest animals! From the author of the hilarious World of Norm series, another crazy Koala Calamity.

Dude, Bro, and Squirt are pros at doing…nothing. They can do nothing all day long - nothing but munch on their favourite treat, lie in the sunshine, and think about moving. Their little sister, baby Lil, is not quite so good at doing nothing. In fact she’s got more energy than her brothers know what to do with! She’s so lively that when the boys lose track of her they soon discover she’s no longer in the tree tops.… She’s heading for the beach!

Be truly inspired by these powerful true stories of animal heroes: meet heroic bears, drone-catching eagles, loyal dogs, sassy cats, and much, much more! This audiobook brings you the heart-wrenching stories of the real animals who traversed treacherous paths, made daring rescues and went above and beyond to save human lives. When faced with human conflict, these animals have all shown bravery, friendship, or brought comfort. Journey throughout history from Hannibal's elephants to a guide dog in the Twin Towers.

Encontrarse cara a cara con la vida salvaje es emocionante, pero esto, no es fácil. Cuando Camilo viene a visitar a su amiga Malena, él no puede esperar a ver toda la vida salvaje que el bosque tiene que ofrecerle - y está decepcionado cuando todo lo que ve, son unas cuantas aves. Juntos, los chicos salen de viaje en una caminata y encuentran abundantes señales de animales a lo largo del camino.

Dreaming in Turtle is a compelling story of a stalwart animal prized from prehistory through to today - an animal threatened by human greed, pragmatism, and rationalization. It stars turtles and shady and heroic human characters both, in settings ranging from luxury redoubts to degraded habitats, during a time when the confluence of easy global trade, limited supply, and inexhaustible demand has accelerated the stress on species. This is a tale not just of endangered turtles but also one of overall human failings, frailties, and vulnerabilities.

Did you know that the CIA once made use of a “spy cat”, or that, although delicious, eating the flesh of an armadillo can give you leprosy? And what about Terry, the small black Cairn Terrier from Kansas who was paid today’s equivalent of $2,000 a week for her work in The Wizard of Oz? Even if you think you have a handle on all things trivia, you're guaranteed a big surprise with Now I Know: Animals.

In Once and Future Giants, science writer Sharon Levy digs through the evidence surrounding Pleistocene large animal ("megafauna") extinction events worldwide, showing that understanding this history - and our part in it - is crucial for protecting the elephants, polar bears, and other great creatures at risk today. These surviving relatives of the Ice Age beasts now face an intensified replay of that great die-off, as our species usurps the planet's last wild places while driving a warming trend more extreme than any in mammalian history.

Spotting wildlife is a thrill, but it's not easy. When Cole comes to visit his friend, Helena, he can't wait to see all the wildlife the forest has to offer - and is disappointed when all he sees are a few birds. Together, the kids set out on a hike and encounter plenty of animal signs along the way. Through observation and her knowledge of animal behavior, Helena helps Cole learn what each of the signs means: Something had been there; something had done that.

Even as a very young child, Simon King was passionate about the natural world. Being savaged by a rabid cheetah, charged at by rhinos and elephants and defecated upon by a long list of birds and other animals may sound like hell to some. But these, along with countless other experiences alongside all things furry, scaly, slimy and feathery have provided him with an enormously rich bank of tales to relive and retell.

Natalie Angier knows all that scientists know—and sometimes more—about the power of symmetry in sexual relations, about the brutal courting habits of dolphins, about the grand deceit of orchids, about the impact of female and male preferences on evolution. She knows how scientists go about their work, and she describes their ways, their visions, and their arguments. Perhaps most poignantly, she understands the complexities and the sad necessity of death.

Do plants really move? Absolutely! You might be surprised by all ways plants can move. Plants might not pick up their roots and walk away, but they definitely don't sit still! Discover the many ways plants (and their seeds) move. Whether it's a sunflower, a Venus flytrap, or an exotic plant like an exploding cucumber, this fascinating book shows just how excitingly active plants really are.

A leaf can be a...shade spiller, mouth filler, tree topper, rain stopper. Find out about the many roles leaves play in this poetic exploration of leaves throughout the year.

A tiny honeybee emerges through the wax cap of her cell. Driven to protect and take care of her hive, she cleans the nursery and feeds the larvae and the queen. But is she strong enough to fly? Not yet! Apis builds wax comb to store honey and transfers pollen from other bees into the storage. She defends the hive from invaders. And finally, she begins her new life as an adventurer. The confining walls of the hive fall away as Apis takes to the air, finally free, into a clear blue sky full of promise.

Verglichen mit anderen Erdbewohnern dauert ein Menschenleben nur einen Wimpernschlag: Kalifornische Redwoods können fünftausend Jahre alt werden, einige Quallenarten kehren ihren Alterungsprozess um und manche Bakterien sind sogar unsterblich. Molekularbiologe Nicklas Brendborg nimmt die Leser:innen mit in die entlegensten Winkel der Welt und die modernsten Forschungslabors; unterwegs zu den ältesten Menschen, zu Zombiezellen und zu Experimenten, die unsere grundlegenden Vorstellungen vom Leben auf den Kopf stellen.

Dive thirteen thousand feet below the ocean’s surface, where no ray of sunlight can penetrate. Resources are scarce, and fellow inhabitants scarcer. This is life in the midnight zone—life for the anglerfish, known as the Seadevil of the Deep. Still largely a mystery to scientists, the deep-sea anglerfish is a true source of fascination and awe.

Do bulls get angry when they see the color red? Do plants grow by snacking on soil? Are bats blind? At one time science supported wild notions like these! But later studies proved these ideas were nonsense. Discover science's biggest mistakes and oddest assumptions about plants and animals, and see how scientific thought changed over time.