Why Elephants Have Big Ears: Understanding Patterns of Life on Earth

by Chris Lavers (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $3.50

  Why are all the big land animals on Earth mammals? Why are reptiles so small today when they were so huge in the Age of Dinosaurs? Why are rivers, lakes and swamps dominated by large cold-blooded reptiles and not by mammals? Why are there so many birds on Earth and why are they all so small? In this beautifully written and utterly compelling book Lavers scours the fields of biology, physiology, ecology and palaeontology to find answers to these global-scale questions. In the process he reveals a fundamentally new view of life on Earth, one that offers no room for notions of superiority and inferiority in nature. 'If you want to understand evolution, read this' David Bellamy

• Used

  Hardcover
  2000

  $3.35

  Why do elephants have big ears? Why do shrews have large hearts? Why don't gnats get wet when it rains? And why are there no snake-shaped mammals? This highly readable popular science book engages the reader with a variety of such puzzles and conundrums to explain how creatures have interacted with their environment to evolve into the extraordinary forms they possess today. Lavers makes use of biology, physiology, zoology, ecology, and palaeontology in order to arrive at his explanations. In the process, he explains such things as how warm-bloodedness evolved and why mammals dominate continents and amphibians cool, damp places; and he concludes by presenting a new view of life on earth, rejecting all notions of superiority and inferiority in nature.