Why Don't Fish Drown?: And other vital questions about the animal kingdom

Incredible facts about animals in a brief introduction to zoology, evolution, and selective breeding for the youngest readers.

Animals have inhabited the Earth long before humans, and in a great variety. Many species and families have died out, yet others keep emerging. Together with man and inanimate nature, animals make what we call an ecosystem. But where did the first animals come from and what were they like? What is evolution and who are our closest ‘relatives’ in the animal kingdom? And finally, how do all these species—from bacteria and aphids to whales and homo sapiens—live and develop side by side?

Apart from fundamental questions like these, Scottish author Anna Claybourne touches on a number of less obvious subjects. Why does a giraffe have such a long neck? Where is a human’s tail? Which animal has a third eye, and finally, where did the dinosaurs go? Children will learn about the most poisonous frog and deep-water goose-beaked whale that can hold its breath for two hours; the elephant’s perfect memory and the humpback whale’s opera voice.