Animal

DK Nature

by David Burnie (Editor), Don E. Wilson (Editor)

Animal is a new expanded edition of DK's best-selling encyclopedia, published 10 years ago. It brings together the expertise of natural history specialists and outstanding wildlife photographers to illustrate, describe, and explain the incredible range of creatures in the animal kingdom.

The natural world is a dynamic place and our understanding of it is forever growing and changing. Since Animal was first published in 2001, the African elephant has been reclassified into two species, a cat-sized rat has been discovered in Papua New Guinea, the only plant-eating spider has been found in Central America, a bird-eating fanged frog has been located in Vietnam, and more than 1,250 new species of amphibians have been identified. The distribution and conservation status of many animals has changed and scientists have developed new ways to classify animal groups. The study of genes has revealed new species. For example, the Bornean clouded leopard, thought to be a subspecies of a leopard found throughout SE Asia, is quite distinct, and a species in its own right-the first new carnivore to be discovered in the 21st century (so far). This new edition of Animal also takes advantage of the major technical advances in natural history photography with the addition of some truly stunning new images.

There is a general introduction to the animal kingdom and its evolution, then each of the world's habitats is examined in detail. The largest part of the book looks at the animals: the five vertebrate groups are reviewed, followed by the major invertebrate divisions. A comprehensive glossary and index conclude the book.

Table of Contents
PRELIMS (11PP)
INTRODUCTION (24PP)
What are animals?
Evolution Classification and animal groups
Gene-related research
Anatomy
Behavior
Life cycles
Animals in danger
Conservation

HABITATS (52PP)
World habitats
Grasslands
Deserts
Tropical forests
Temperate forests
Coniferous forests
Mountains
Polar regions
Freshwater Oceans
Coasts and coral reefs
Urban areas

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM (2PP)
Detailed and comprehensive coverage of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates, presented in taxonomic order:

MAMMALS (186PP)
Egg-laying mammals
Marsupials
Insectivores
Bats
Flying lemurs
Elephant-shrews
Tree shrews Primates (prosimians, monkeys, and apes)
Anteaters and relatives
Pangolins
Rabbits, hares, and pikas
Rodents (squirrel-like rodents, mouselike rodents, and cavylike rodents)
Cetaceans (baleen whales, toothed whales)
Carnivores (dogs and relatives, bears, raccoons and relatives, mustelids, civets and relatives, hyenas and aardwolf, cats)
Carnivores
Seals and sealions
Elephants
Aardvark
Hyraxes
Dugong and manatees
Hoofed animals: (horses and relatives, rhinoceroses, tapirs, pigs, hippopotamuses, camels and relatives, deer, giraffe and okapi, cattle and relatives)
Mammals in danger

BIRDS (112PP)
Ostriches
Rheas
Cassowaries and emus
Kiwis
Tinamous
Penguins
Loons
Grebes
Albatrosses and petrels
Pelicans and relatives
Herons and relatives
Flamingos
Waterfowl
Birds of prey
Game birds
Cranes and relatives
Waders, gulls, and auks
Pigeons
Sandgrouse
Parrots
Cuckoos and turacos
Owls
Nightjars and frogmouths
Hummingbirds and swifts
Mousebirds
Trogons
Kingfishers and relatives
Woodpeckers and toucans
Passerines
Birds in danger

REPTILES (72PP)
Tortoises and turtles
Tuataras
Snakes (boas, pythons, and relatives, colubrids, elapids, vipers, blind and thread snakes)
Lizards (iguanas and relatives, geckos and snake- lizards, skinks and relatives, and anguimorph lizards) Amphisbaenians
Crocodiles and alligators
Reptiles in danger

AMPHIBIANS (32PP )
Newts and salamanders
Caecilians
Frogs and toads
Amphibians in danger

FISH (68PP)
Jawless fish
Cartilaginous fish (sharks, skates, and rays)
Bony fish (fleshy-finned fish, primitive ray-finned fish, bony-tongued fish, tarpons and eels, herrings and relatives, catfish and relatives, salmon and relatives, dragonfish and relatives, lanternfish and relatives, cod and anglerfish, and spiny-rayed fish)
Fish in danger

INVERTEBRATES (82PP)
Sponges
Cnidarians
Flatworms
Segmented worms
Round worms
Minor phyla
Molluscs
Arthropods (insects, centipedes and millipedes, crustaceans, sea-spiders, horseshoe crabs, arachnids)
Echinoderms
Invertebrate chordates
Invertebrates in danger

GLOSSARY (4PP)
INDEX (22PP)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (1P)

TOTAL EXTENT: 632PP

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Reference, Nature, Biology, Photography

624 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

David Andrew Burnie is an accomplished zoologist who was a nature reserve ranger before becoming a natural history author and editor. A prolific writer of many books, including several on dinosaurs, he has seen many of his titles win educational awards and science prizes. His titles for Kingfisher include Kingfisher Knowledge: Endangered Planet and The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia, which was nominated for the Aventis Prize for Science Books in 2002.

Reviews

[Marty Essen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a nature writer, I own a large collection of natural history encyclopedias. When I wrote "Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents" and wanted the natural history of a particular animal I encountered in the wild, I would comb through multiple wildlife guides. Two things stood out:

1) More often than not, I could find what I was looking for in "Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide" (the previous version of this book).

2) I was amazed how often various natural history guides disagreed on the size and weight of species. Since I had the advantage of actually observing the animals in the wild, I could judge which guide was most accurate. In most cases, I sided with "Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide."

So while I will continue to have multiple natural history encyclopedias at my side for future writing projects, if I had to choose just one, "Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide" would be the book.

Marty Essen, author of Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents

[Sophie Narey (Bookreview- aholic) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are someone who absolutely loves animals than this is definitely the book for you! It is brilliantly written with as many facts as you could ever need on every animal. I have learnt so much while reading this, I have also discovered so many animals that I had never even heard of. It is the perfect dip in an dip out book. The perfect book for any age!

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many big DK books this is spectacular and in fact is better quality than most others. It also (being a DK book) is very easy find remaindered and very good value if you do.

It's not exhaustive: whenever I go to look something up it always seems to be missing the particular species I want, and the description of each animal is very brief. However given the size and scope of the book, omissions and brevity are understandable and forgivable.

My four year old loves it.

[Lauren Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. It makes me love the world even more.

[Amelia B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I credit this book with truly growing my love of animals. My friend’s dad owned it, and every time I went to her house I would pour over this book, memorizing animals facts. It’s a beautiful, truly educational book showcasing the joy of animal creation.

[Clemmie Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly educational book, for adults & children. Great facts and introduction to e.g. habitats & climates (fresh water, polar regions, desert). An amazing tool for understanding the natural world, opening our eyes to things we don't see! Shows the fine balance of ecosystems/the natural world and the importance of our stewardship of it. Visually and informationally stimulating book for all ages!

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this to AJ last year for Valentine's Day, and we've shared many happy hours paging through the enormous volume marveling at the beautiful pictures and the astonishing descriptions of the creatures contained therein.

Kind of enormous book, but so worth reading. Get it in hardcover, that's the best. If and when I own a coffee table this book will be on it.

We like playing 'guess which animal' in which one of us reads the description of the animal until the other can guess it. AJ currently holds the record of three seconds by guessing "Venomous monotreme-" was a platypus. Did you know echidnas are monotremes, too?

Off subject, but did you know my brother-in-law Dan has seen capybaras? Like, on a road in front of him? they may look cute and adorable in the Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife, but talk about Rodents of Unusual Size! I wouldn't want to meet one of those yellow-toothed super-sized guinea pigs in a dark alley, let alone central america!

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great coffee table book. It'll probably always be on my "currently reading" shelf because it's so fun to pull out and flip to a random page. Plus it's huge so it'll take awhile to get through every bit of information that's packed in.

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books. An education.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the pictures and the stats are also great. I like using a measuring tape to see how long each animal is.

[Alexa Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was 9 years old my grandparents got me this absolutely massive book for Christmas. This and a big stuffed frog that was a giant plush version of a green tree frog. I remember I named that frog Papa John (we had pizza that night) and sitting in a circle with my cousins looking at all the bright pictures. Not your typical gift requests for Christmas but I wasn’t your typical girl and I knew what I loved. I credit this book to teaching me so so much about animals and starting a lifelong love of studying their facts and information. I can honestly say I read every page, I remember all the giant pictures and my personal copy is worn, dropped, dog-eared and loved and I still have it. We used to have pajama day and bring your favorite book to school day and my classmates would all bring Junie B. Jones or Captain Underpants and here was little old me in frog pajamas and this giant book I could barely carry. It makes me think of my grandparents who I miss every day and makes me think about how happy I was to find something I liked so much and I love the memories that are associated with this book. People still ask me how I know so much about random animals they have never heard of, and here is a very good start to that journey.

[Safiye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this about a million times and it always seems to have some new and fun animal that I would LOVE to learn about. Every animal lover should have this on there shelf! (Mine has a penguin on the cover though.) The pictures are breath taking and you really get a lot of information on any animal.

[Zorak · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book quite possibly ever. used to spend ages looking at all the different animals... this book was never available at the public library cause of me. i was obsessed and if i ever finally get a copy of this for myself like i wanted to as a child i’ll probably spend hours looking at it just like i used to

[Oznasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't claim to have read this book from cover to cover. I use it as a reference book. If there is an animal I would like to identify or to just know a little more about, this is where I start. This book is spectacular. It might not have every animal in the world but it sure has a lot, it's very well designed and is illustrated with many spectacular pictures.

[Sathish Ravi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that I grew up with. This book gave me a complete understanding of animals, their classifications. Different genuses, ecology and many other things. It introduced me to animals and that I will never forget. My general knowledge would have never been the same without this book.

[Amy Ballard · Rating 5 out of 5]

We use this book ALL THE TIME when my kids have projects or just want to learn more about animals in the world!! Great reference!

[Taylor Brusky · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a teenager during the age of dial up internet, I absolutely loved this encyclopedia. It was a perfect blend of information and images.

[Leianni · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the best book i ever read before and i what to say that you wrote the best book if i was you

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son's favorite book from the time he was three until a teenager. Ours is taped together.

[Paheal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing.

[Heddeile]

Ei ollut tämä kirja

[Jislainkomera]

this is the best

[Alisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fookin perfect

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book that my children have completely worn out because they have loved it so much. I bought a newer edition as well, but I think this one might have been better.

[Maria Monteros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures of animals across the world. Insightful and visually appealing.

[bald]

thick ass book i tried to memorize every single animal there was

[Samantha van Buuren · Rating 5 out of 5]

My self and my 5 year old really enjoyed reading this book. The information is easy to read and accompanied by gorgeous photos. We both learnt a lot and enjoyed the journey.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some very weird looking little guys live on our planet.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good resource.

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

guys there’s like so many animals in the world