A Curious Collection Of Peculiar Creatures An Illustrated Encyclopedia Curious Collection Of Creatures

Make way for the world’s weirdest, most wonderful creatures—from the author of the forthcoming A Curious Collection of Dangerous Creatures Publisher’s Note: A Curious Collection of Peculiar Creatures was previously published in Australia as The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals. What’s your favorite animal—a majestic lion, a graceful horse? Those are great choices, but have you considered the fangtooth moray eel? It has two rows of icicle-shaped teeth! And the monkey slug caterpillar is ready to cuddle . . . just look out for the stingers all over its body (and its six limbs that technically aren’t legs)! It’s true, these animals are a little different—but their unusual features often give them incredible superpowers. Take the nearly blind star-nosed mole: Its pink, flower-shaped nose can detect the microscopic texture of everything it touches, and it does this at warp speed—up to 12 objects per second! What’s more, many of these weird, wonderful creatures need our help: They’re endangered, and we can’t afford to ignore their well-being any longer. It’s time to find a peculiar creature to love! Why not the blobfish?

From the frightening murder hornet to the fierce wolverine—a visual trove of the most dangerous animals on the planet, from the author of the beloved A Curious Collection of Peculiar Creatures Sharks, snakes, and spiders get all the attention, but many of the most terrifying animals on the planet are probably ones you didn’t know were so dangerous—like the otherworldly blue dragon, a tiny sea slug that can unleash a powerful sting, or the lethal mosaic crab, armed with a toxin 1,000 times deadlier than cyanide. And some creatures get rather creative when it comes to warding off predators—which is what makes them so amazing to read about. Take the adorable greater slow loris: This primate prepares to strike by first licking its venom-filled armpits! Before you run and hide, award-winning author and illustrator Sami Bayly shows how, once you understand why these animals have adapted to be so dangerous, you’ll learn to appreciate their scarier sides. They’re only trying to survive! And with so many of these species threatened or endangered, they’re counting on us to learn to love and protect them . . . from a safe distance! Publisher’s note: A Curious Collection of Dangerous Creatures was previously published in Australia under the title The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals.

SHORTLISTED CBCA BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2022 - EVE POWNALL AWARD Come along for another fresh take on the animal kingdom from bestselling author and illustrator, Sami Bayly. Discover 60 of the most peculiar pairs in nature and learn how plant and animal species rely on each other for their survival. Whether it be a rare tick living in the fur of a pygmy possum, a stick insect feasting and hiding out amongst the Melaleuca or a handfish laying its eggs on a sea squirt, incredible natural relationships deserve to be explored and celebrated. Investigating all types of relationships, from symbiotic to parasitic, this is an eye-opening guide to the natural world. Many species steer clear of those who are different, but the animals and plants in this book have evolved to form relationships with some of the most unlikely partners, and they couldn't live without them. This gorgeous hardcover book is illustrated in exquisite detail by award-winning author and illustrator, Sami Bayly. The perfect companion to The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals and The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals.

"Introduces the reader to a wealth of extraordinary life forms"-- P. [4] of cover.

Marvel as you enter the fascinating hidden world of ugly animals in this encyclopaedia of the animal kingdom's most unusual and and so-called 'ugly' species. It's time to see ugliness in a whole new light! With more than sixty animals to explore, this compendium of the unusual celebrates the beauty in 'ugliness'. Children and adults alike will pore over the breathtaking scientific illustrations of unusual animals, discovering why these animals developed such extraordinary features and learning about science and nature along the way. Featuring illustrations and facts about the thorniest species the animal kingdom has to offer, from the naked mole rat to the goblin shark, aye-aye, blobfish and many more. This gorgeous book is illustrated in exquisite detail by debut artist, Sami Bayly.

Heartwarming, surprising, and downright bizarre creature connections Relationships can be complicated, and it’s no different in the wild. Meet 60 dynamic duos across the plant and animal kingdom—from “aww” to “eek”! The Eltham copper butterfly and the Notoncus ant are BFFs for life. The ants lovingly raise the butterflies’ caterpillar babies, while feasting on the sweet substance the caterpillars produce. Everybody wins in this prime example of mutualism. The pseudoscorpian is a total freeloader. When it wants to get around, it boards the back of the giant harlequin beetle, in a one-sided setup called commensalism. Parasitism is where things get spooky. Learn how the green-banded broodsac (a type of flatworm) first invades the eyestalk of the amber snail, then tricks it into getting eaten by a bird—inside which the broodsac will grow up. Yikes! Award-winning author and illustrator Sami Bayly shows us a whole world of wild companions like these—many endangered—and reminds us that we’re all inseparable.

An illustrated look at the weird and wonderful creatures that live in the very deepest parts of the sea. Humans have always wondered, with a mixture of fear and fascination, what lurks beneath the surface in the depths of the ocean. In this book, Erich Hoyt introduces 50 of the oddest creatures you will ever meet in the sea. From the carnivorous comb jelly to the lantern-carrying deep-sea dragonfish, from a vampire squid with giant eyes to dancing jellyfish, Hoyt explores these peculiar conditions and their equally peculiar environment. These creatures have adapted to lack of light and, using sound pulses (echolocation) or light-producing organs and pigment cells (emitting light via bioluminescence), they are able to communicate without giving their location away to predators. These stunning, captivating photographs weren't taken from the portholes of submarines. Photographers David Shale, Solvin Zanki and Jeff Rotman worked with oceanography institutes, museums and the BBC Natural History Unit, taking long cruises across the ocean to record and try to understand these little-studied residents of the deep sea. To capture the creatures for observation, a net was lowered far beneath the surface. As soon as the trawl was hauled aboard, the photographers would race to transfer the most unusual animals to fresh seawater aquariums in a chilled laboratory on board. These pages let readers gaze into strange, wild eyes and study faces with toothless or crooked smiles that witness the fruits of deep-sea evolution. Informative captions explain what the patterns of lights on their bodies are "saying" to others in their absolutely dark world. The wonder and extraordinary weirdness of what lives in the deep seas, so far away from us and yet so close, will become more familiar with this book.

Discover more than 60 of the world's most dangerous animals and the facts behind their bad reputations, including the highly venomous Brazilian wandering spider and the truly terrifying Tasmanian Devil. The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals is a fascinating compendium of the strange and the dangerous of the animal kingdom. Did you know that African buffaloes have good memories and have been known to attack people who have hurt them in the past? And that piranha fish can smell a single drop of blood in 200 litres of water? Have you heard of the carnivorous caterpillars of Hawaii? But don't panic - these animals are not actually out to get us! They have simply evolved some amazing features to protect themselves from predators, including us humans. With detailed illustrations to pore over, curious children (and the adults in their lives) will love discovering the facts behind the bad reputations of these truly fascinating creatures. From the talented author and illustrator of The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of 'Ugly' Animals, Sami Bayly.