Dimensions
183 x 255 x 27mm
This is the story of 4,000 species - species that have outlived the dinosaurs and conquered the farthest places on Earth. And species that vary from the smallest, the two-inch pygmy shrew, to the largest, the blue whale; from the slowest, the sloth, to the swiftest, the cheetah; from the least attractive, the naked mole rat, to the most irresistible, a human baby.
Some of the animals in this diverse group include:
- The Insect Eaters: mammals, like armadillos, bats and anteaters, make meals of the most abundant creature on Earth.
- The Omnivores: many mammals are able to adapt their diets according to season, or have learned to hibernate through the winter when food is sparse.
- The Return to the Water: ocean mammals can take advantage of huge food stocks; how do seals, dolphins and whales breathe air yet swim to great depths?
- The Tree-Dwellers: creatures such as flying squirrels and colugos travel by gliding high among the tree-tops, but sloths hardly move at all.
- The Grasping Hands: only one group of mammals, the primates, have hands to grasp branches and pluck their food.
