Lions, tigers, and bears—oh my! But also snails, and buffalo, and squids, and giraffes, and more
As our planet continues to warm, more and more species find themselves at risk of extinction. But in spite of the dire circumstances, we still find reasons to hope, as Christopher Preston explains in his book Tenacious Beasts. Wildlife recovery efforts around the world are making an impact and aiding species in defying the odds of extinction.
This year for World Wildlife Day, we highlight wildlife both big and small—from the great American bison to the humble snail. Explore books on these and other creatures below, and sign up for our newsletter to hear more about publications from the MIT Press.
Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals by Christopher J. Preston
The news about wildlife is dire—more than 900 species have been wiped off the planet since industrialization. Against this bleak backdrop, however, there are also glimmers of hope and crucial lessons to be learned from animals that have defied global trends toward extinction: bears in Italy, bison in North America, whales in the Atlantic. These populations are back from the brink, some of them in numbers unimaginable in a century. How has this happened? What shifts in thinking did it demand? In crisp, transporting prose, Christopher Preston reveals the mysteries and challenges at the heart of these resurgences.
“In the midst of ecological crisis, Preston brings genuinely good news: a few of our fellow species are not only thriving, but demanding that we do better by the rest of life on Earth.” —Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts
Rewilding: The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery: The Illustrated Edition by Paul Jepson and Cain Blythe
Progressive scientists and conservation professionals are pursuing a radical new approach to restoring ecosystems: rewilding. By recovering the ripple effect generated by the interactions among plant and animal species and natural disturbances, rewilding seeks to repair ecosystems by removing them from human engineering and reassembling guilds of megafauna from a mix of surviving wild and feral species and de-domesticated breeds, including elk, bison, and feral horses. Written by two leaders in the field, this book offers an abundantly illustrated guide to the science of rewilding. It shows in fascinating detail the ways in which ecologists are reassembling ecosystems that allow natural interactions rather than human interventions to steer their environmental trajectories.
A World in a Shell: Snail Stories for a Time of Extinctions by Thom van Dooren
In this time of extinctions, the humble snail rarely gets a mention. And yet snails are disappearing faster than any other species. In A World in a Shell, Thom van Dooren offers a collection of snail stories from Hawai’i—once home to more than 750 species of land snails, almost two-thirds of which are now gone. Following snail trails through forests, laboratories, museums, and even a military training facility, and meeting with scientists and Native Hawaiians, van Dooren explores ongoing processes of ecological and cultural loss as they are woven through with possibilities for hope, care, mourning, and resilience.
“Attentive, elegiac… Eschewing more obvious fauna, A World in a Shell makes a strong case for overcoming ‘geographical and taxonomic biases,’ noting that every species lost is a tragedy.” —Foreword Reviews
Sexus Animalis: There Is Nothing Unnatural in Nature by Emmanuelle Pouydebat
There may be nothing unnatural in nature, but nature still encompasses much that seems fantastically strange—the amazingly multifarious sex lives of animals, for example. Sexus Animalis tells us everything we never dreamed we wanted to know about the reproductive systems, genital organs, and sexual practices of animals, from elephants (who masturbate with their trunks) to fruit flies (who produce spermatozoa twenty times their size). In the animal kingdom we find heterosexual, lesbian, gay, and bisexual behavior, as well as monogamy, polygamy, and polyandry, not to mention fellatio and many varieties of erections and orgasms.
The Story of Life in 10 ½ Species by Marianne Taylor
If an alien visitor were to collect ten souvenir life forms to represent life on earth, which would they be? This is the thought-provoking premise of Marianne Taylor’s The Story of Life in 10 and a Half Species. Each life forms explains a key aspect about life on Earth. From the sponge that seems to be a plant but is really an animal to the almost extinct soft-shelled turtle deemed extremely unique and therefore extremely precious, these examples reveal how life itself is arranged across time and space, and how humanity increasingly dominates that vision.
“This rich survey of the long evolution of life on Earth will keep readers focused and fascinated.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
Animal Languages by Eva Meijer
Is language what sets humans apart from other animals, as many have argued? Or do animals speak in their own languages, to each other and to us? In Animal Languages, Eva Meijer explores the latter possibility. Talking with animals forces us to challenge the hierarchy of humans and other animals, and suggests a new way of thinking about language. Animal Languages shows us that language is broader and richer than we imagined, and that meaningful expression does not require human words.
Animal Beauty: On the Evolution of Biological Aesthetics by Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
Are animals able to appreciate what humans refer to as “beauty”? The term scarcely ever appears nowadays in a scientific description of living things, but we humans may nonetheless find the colors, patterns, and songs of animals to be beautiful in apparently the same way that we see beauty in works of art. In Animal Beauty, Nobel Prize–winning biologist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard describes how the colors and patterns displayed by animals arise, what they communicate, and how they function in the social life of animals. Watercolor drawings illustrate these amazing instances of animal beauty.
“Animal Beauty is a delightful adventure into the diversity and complexity of animal aesthetics.” —Richard O. Prum, Yale University; author of The Evolution of Beauty
Atlas of Poetic Zoology by Emmanuelle Pouydebat
This Atlas of Poetic Zoology leads readers into a world of wonders where turtles fly under the sea, lizards walk on water, insects impersonate flowers, birds don’t fly, frogs come back from the dead, and virgin sharks give birth. Animals, writes Emmanuelle Pouydebat, are lyric poets; they discover and shape the world when they sing, dance, explore, and reproduce. The animal kingdom has been evolving for millions of years, weathering many crises of extinction; this book allows us to draw inspiration from animals’ enduring vitality.
“This will awaken readers’ imagination and foster a sense of wonder.” —Library Journal