Life In The Wild

364 Pages·2009·201.86 MB·English

by  DK Publishing

An Incredible Photographic
Portrait of the Animal World
From the exquisite fragility of a butterfl y to the might and majesty
of a humpback whale, explore the extraordinary diversity of life in
this lavishly illustrated celebration of the animal kingdom. Packed
with awe-inspiring images taken by some of the world’s top wildlife
photographers, here are hundreds of fascinating species in their
natural environments.
Discover more at
www.dk.com

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l i f e i n t h e w i l d
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LONDON, NEW YOrK, MELBOUrNE,
MUNICH, AND DELHI
PROJECT EDITOR Nicky Munro
SENIORARTEDITOR Sharon Spencer
EDITOR Bob Bridle
MANAGINGEDITOR Stephanie Farrow
MANAGINGARTEDITOR Lee Griffiths
PRODUCTION EDITOR Joanna Byrne
PRINT PRODUCTION CONTROLLER Imogen Boase
US EDITOR Chuck Wills
Produced with assistance from
XAB DESIGN
39c Highbury New Park
London N5 2EN
First American Edition, 2009
Published in the United States by
DK Publishing
375 Hudson Street
New York, New York 10014
09 10 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
176202—October 2009
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley Limited
All rights reserved
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the
copyright owner and the above publisher of this book
Published in Great Britain by
Dorling Kindersley Limited.
A catalog record for this book is available from the
Library of Congress
ISBN: 978-0-7566-5696-6
DK books are available at special discounts when
purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums,
fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact:
DK Publishing Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014 or [email protected].
Printed and bound in Singapore by Star Standard
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006 introduction
008 mammals
078 birds
148 reptiles and amphibians
218 fish
288 invertebrates
358 index
360 acknowledgements
c o n t e n t s
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Introduc tion
Animal life is astonishing, intriguing, and
compellingly beautiful. Its sheer variety is staggering, from the sleek muscularity of a wild horse
to the mechanical articulation of a scuttling crab to the mesmerizing fluidity of a jellyfish. It can
inspire awe and sometimes even fear, but it is always fascinating. To watch a tiny insect hovering
at a flower as it sips nectar is to see a miniature miracle of natural engineering, and to witness
the deadly strike of a bird of prey is to marvel at the savage elegance of the hunter. Life in the
wild might be hard, but the ruthless logic of survival against the odds has driven the evolution
of animals that are all, in their diverse ways, honed to perfection.
Zoologists categorize animals into 37 groups called phyla. Of these, 36 are invertebrates, or
animals without backbones, such as insects, spiders, snails, and worms. Just one phylum
contains the vertebrates—the fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Yet these are the
animals with which we are most familiar, partly because they are the biggest, but also because
they are our closest relatives. Birds alone inspire enthusiasm that can verge on the obsessive,
thanks to their exquisite plumage and fascinating behavior.
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Such enthusiasm for wildlife can lead on to the kind of scientific study that has given us a deep
and hugely valuable understanding of the natural world. For some, however, this type of analysis
can get in the way of their instinctive appreciation of the sheer exuberance and beauty of nature.
Instead of hard facts, they want the frisson of excitement that is triggered by a close encounter
with a wild animal. For this, nothing can compare with physically being there—the almost tactile
experience of close, personal proximity—but we can get very close to it by seeing animals
through the eyes and lenses of some of the world’s finest wildlife photographers. We can feel
their passion, sense their excitement, and share their elation.
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This book is a celebration of both animal diversity and the wildlife photographer’s art. The images o
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glow with color and depict every detail of texture, from the scales of a butterfly’s wing to the T
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cracks in the hide of a rhinoceros. They draw you into the animal’s world in a way that no
description, explanation, or diagram can. You can almost smell the hot breath of the African
buffalo, and hear the croak of the calling tree frog. This is nature in the raw, uncluttered by
interpretation or zoological detail. It is a wildlife experience in itself.
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