The Beginner's Guide to Animal Autopsy

by Steve Parker, Rob Shone (Illustrator)

Investigates the internal workings of animals, with drawings of dissections and cartoons illustrating how the animals' bodies work, including chapters on invertebrates, insects, fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Steve Parker is a British science writer known for producing hundreds of children's and adult nonfiction books covering zoology, medicine, evolution, and natural history. Educated at the University of Wales, Bangor, where he earned first class honours in zoology, he later worked at the Natural History Museum and held editorial positions at Dorling Kindersley before becoming a freelance author during the late 1980s. Parker contributed early titles to the acclaimed Eyewitness series and later wrote award-winning books including Science Crazy, Fizzing Physics, The Human Body Book, and Kill or Cure. He has also edited major collaborative works on evolution and medicine, regularly visits schools and libraries, and serves as a Senior Scientific Fellow of the Zoological Society of London.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This absolutely fascinating book would have rocked my world had it been around when I was a kid. Thanks to writer Steve Parker and illustrator Rob Shone, we get to rummage around the innards of almost thirty different critters without any death, mess, or lab partners upchucking. As stated on the back cover: NO ANIMAL OR CUDDLY TOY WAS HURT IN THE MAKING OF THIS BOOK.


Yes, Teddy's brain is a jello mold! In order that the illustrations are not so gory or disturbing, subjects are depicted as toys, or those plastic kit/models (think Visible Man) you might have had as a child.

We start off with a comparison between a hippo and a mosquito. Despite the pretty obvious differences, internally the two have more in common than you might think. Both possess a brain, breathing tubes, a pumping heart with flowing blood, muscles, skeletons, sense organs, kidneys, and guts. We then move from worms to mollusks to bugs.



Fins, scales, and feathered friends are next.



With mammals rounding out the chapters.

I learned quite a bit from this one. For instance, I've been pronouncing the word "ratites" as "rat-tights." It's really pronounced ray-teez. (Granted . . . I'm not sure I've ever used this word in conversation, but still . . .) Also - I've been mistaking a bird's crop for its gizzard; two completely different things: the gizzard grinds up food, the crop is essentially a "food storage bag" - If the bird is feeding in a risky or exposed place, it can eat lots very quickly, then get to safety and digest it later. Neat, huh?

And, finally - bats. Oh, so much info contained on just one page. Didja know that nearly ONE QUARTER OF ALL MAMMALS are bats? I sure didn't! AND, how bats sleep upside-down without falling . . . The hanging body weight makes the long, stringlike tendons in the feet pull the claws into a hooked position.

This is a really awesome book that packs a ton of information into only 46 pages. Highly recommended for animal-fans, and curious readers of all ages.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, rather novel take on explaining animal anatomy to kids.