Animal Biology

Riley Black brings us back in time to prehistoric seas, swamps, forests, and savannas where critical moments in plant evolution unfolded. Each chapter stars plants and animals alike, underscoring how the interactions between species have helped shape the world we call home. As the chapters move upwards in time, Black guides listeners along the burgeoning trunk of the Tree of Life, stopping to appreciate branches of an evolutionary story that links the world we know with one we can only just perceive now through the silent stone, from ancient roots to the present.

Alex, marine biologist and werewolf, has seen better days. Unexpectedly alive, secretly gay, and haunted by a meddlesome, matchmaking ghost, he must now team up with very flirty mermen to save the city from sushi smugglers.

In Of Orcas and Men, a marvelously compelling mix of cultural history, environmental reporting, and scientific research, David Neiwert explores an extraordinary species and its occasionally fraught relationship with human beings. Beginning with their role in myth and contemporary culture, Neiwert shows how killer whales came to capture our imaginations and brings to life the often-catastrophic environmental consequences of that appeal.

Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer reveal how scientists studying animal behavior have long projected human norms and values onto animals while seeking to understand them. When scientific studies conclude that these norms and values are natural in animals, it makes it easier to think of them as natural in humans too. And because scientists, historically and to this day, largely belong to elite, powerful segments of society, the norms and values embedded into animal behavior science match those of the already powerful.

Learn all about animal group behavior.

In Higher Animals, New Yorker science writer Michael Specter explores how MRNA vaccines have transformed the scientific landscape and helped spark a biotechnology revolution. Biology is information, and increasingly, that means digital information. We need to think of biology the way we think about computer code, only instead of bits and bytes, we use the genetic letters: ACGT. The widely-used mRNA COVID vaccines offer the most immediate example of this groundbreaking moment in medical and scientific history.

Sometimes being gross is an animal’s best bet for survival. Poop, slime, and vomit aren’t just nasty. They can save an animal’s life. Get the inside scoop on some of the most disgusting animal weapons and defenses.

Animals get their energy from the food they eat. Animals depend on other living things for food. Some animals, called herbivores, eat plants; while others are carnivores that eat other animals. Scavengers, like vultures and hyenas, eat dead animals. Learn how different animals eat and how this determines how they look and where they live. Can you name other animals that are scavengers?

What animal has the biggest eyes? Why do elephants have enormous ears? This series explores different animal parts and demonstrates how and why these parts vary throughout the animal kingdom. Each title introduces listeners to four animals whose distinct body parts are unique and important.

Imagine raising an orphaned bear cub, carefully reintroducing her to the wild, then being welcomed back, almost daily, to observe her wild world for more than 17 years. Imagine visiting her in her feeding spots, watching her with her mates and her young, peering into her den, and, over time, observing the lives of all the other wild bears in her territory and surrounding ones. That is what happened to Ben Kilham.

Learn all about nocturnal animals.

Learn about endangered and threatened animals.

A tree and your pet look nothing alike, but they have one thing in common—they are both made up of cells. Cells are really small. You can see them only with a microscope.

Bite, chew, grind! Sharp beaked triceratops is hungry. With giant horns and a shield-like neck frill, this gentle giant can put up a fight. Learn more about this massive dinosaur in Triceratops: Three Horned Giant.

As recently as 11,000 years ago - "near time" to geologists - mammoths, mastodons, gomphotheres, ground sloths, giant armadillos, native camels and horses, the dire wolf, and many other large mammals roamed North America. In what has become one of science's greatest riddles, these large animals vanished in North and South America around the time humans arrived at the end of the last great ice age.

This audiobook describes the development of a tiger from infancy to adulthood, as she grows up in India.

Who's that hiding in the tree? It's a panda! Listen to learn more about giant pandas.

Riding Home:The Power of Horses to Heal, is the first and only audiobook to scientifically and experientially explain why horses have the extraordinary ability to emotionally transform the lives of thousands of men, women and children, whether they are horse lovers, or suffering from deep...

In the fight for survival, poison and venom are deadly weapons. They can help animals defend themselves against predators or conquer unsuspecting prey. Find out which animals carry the deadliest toxins, and how poison and venom differ between species. You might want to stay clear of these animals!

When it comes to survival, appearances are everything! A harmless animal can frighten predators away by appearing dangerous. A dangerous animal can lure prey by appearing harmless. Discover the disguises of some of your favorite animals.