The Life of Mammals

From the under-snow tunnels of Arctic lemmings to the egg nests of the bizarre Australian echidna, from the Pacific waters inhabited by sea otters and whales to the subways of major cities, this extraordinary and attractive book brings us into the homes and lives of some of earth's most fascinating animals.

Published in conjunction with a ten-part television series that will air on the Discovery Channel, The Life of Mammals brings us nose-to-nose with mammals in all of their beauty and immense variety. Renowned naturalist, writer, and filmmaker David Attenborough treks across every continent and kind of terrain to introduce us to such unusual and evolutionarily successful creatures as the Patagonian opossum, the Canadian pygmy shrew, the Alpine marmot, and the Malaysian sun bear. We meet slow-moving algae-covered sloths. We enter a pack of African wild dogs, seeing how their division of labor enables them to provide protection and food to pups, mothers, and old dogs. We learn about the navigation systems of bats and find out why Borneo's colugo is a superior glider to a flying squirrel. Along the way, Attenborough considers how evolution has shaped mammalian habits, leading herbivorous sea cows to take to the water and humans to commence agriculture.

Containing more than 200 spectacular color photographs, this is a book that will gratify anyone intrigued by the natural world and the animals that inhabit it. Informative, utterly absorbing, and classic Attenborough, it represents natural history at its finest.

Author: David Attenborough
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 11/11/2002
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.47lbs
Size: 9.62h x 7.68w x 1.14d
ISBN: 9780691113241


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 04/15/2003 pg. 1435
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2003 pg. 52 - Outstanding

About the Author
David Attenborough was born in 1926 and educated at Cambridge. He started making television documentaries in the 1950s, produced the series Zoo Quest, and made some of television's first black-and-white nature films before being promoted to senior management at the BBC. In the 1970s, Attenborough returned to filmmaking and has subsequently produced some of the most famous wildlife documentaries ever made, most notably his Life series. He was knighted in 1985 and now lives near London. He is the author of The Life of Birds, The Private Life of Plants, and Life on Air (all Princeton).