The Unexpected Truth About Animals

Product Description

History is full of strange animal stories, invented by the brightest and most influential, from Aristotle to Disney, and they reveal as much about us and the things we believe as they do about the animals they misrepresent. We once thought that eels were born from sand, that swallows migrated to the moon, and that bears gave birth to formless lumps that were licked into shape by their mothers. In The Unlikely Truth About Animals, zoologist Lucy Cooke unravels many such myths, revealing the fascinating - and often hilarious - facts she's uncovered while chasing hyenas, spying on penguins and stalking drunk moose. You'll discover why sloths risk their lives to poo, why storks were persecuted for their supposed political preferences, and the mystery of the beaver's balls. Open your mind to some extraordinary theories posited along the creative path of scientific progress - just don't expect all of them to be true!History is full of strange animal stories, invented by the brightest and most influential, from Aristotle to Disney, and they reveal as much about us and the things we believe as they do about the animals they misrepresent. We once thought that eels were born from sand, that swallows migrated to the moon, and that bears gave birth to formless lumps that were licked into shape by their mothers. In The Unlikely Truth About Animals, zoologist Lucy Cooke unravels many such myths, revealing the fascinating - and often hilarious - facts she's uncovered while chasing hyenas, spying on penguins and stalking drunk moose. You'll discover why sloths risk their lives to poo, why storks were persecuted for their supposed political preferences, and the mystery of the beaver's balls. Open your mind to some extraordinary theories posited along the creative path of scientific progress - just don't expect all of them to be true!
Lucy Cooke studied zoology at Oxford University, where her tutor was Professor Richard Dawkins. She is the UK's rising star of natural history broadcasting - described by The Times as 'the new David Attenborough' and presented three primetime series on national TV in 2016 with more due in 2017. She writes for the Telegraph and the Huffington Post, Her only previous book (a picture book about sloths - The Little Book of Sloth) was a New York Times bestseller.