I saw this big heavy book on display at the library and brought it home. Thought it would be about animal behavior but it’s not- mainly a book of photographs- very large size, most close-ups. Of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and some invertebrates. It was a visual treat but with some small disappointments. The pictures are for the most part stunningly beautiful, but also uneven in quality and some had been enlarged too much, making them unclear. There’s a disproportionately large number of frogs in the amphibian section. So many frogs. Small snippets of information on animal adaptations and physical features in the captions- just enough to make me want to know more. No mention of who the photographers are unless you look for the credits in the back- which is mostly a long list from stock photo sites. It was very nice to look through, and I enjoyed seeing animals I’d never heard of before (hadada ibis, the nymphalid or brush-footed butterflies) and learning some physiological features I didn’t know either. Such as: black pigmented feathers are stronger to resist wear and tear (although an online search also tells me the way black absorbs heat also helps the birds fly faster), eagles have two large rear-facing barbs on their tongues, and leafy sea dragons have no teeth.
Borrowed from the public library.
