Animal Science

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.

Does your dog get sad when you leave for the day? Does your cat purr because she loves you? Do bears attack when they’re angry? You can’t very well ask them. In fact, scientists haven’t been able to reach a consensus on whether animals even have emotions like humans do, let alone how to study them. Yet studies of animal emotion are critical for understanding human emotion and mental illness. In The Nature of the Beast, pioneering neuroscientist David J. Anderson describes a new approach to solving this problem.

Stressing the importance of sustainable and environmentally friendly farming practices, farmer Kelly Klober provides expert advice on making any size hog operation more efficient and profitable in Storey’s Guide to Raising Pigs. The most comprehensive book available on the topic, this fourth edition features the most up-to-date practices, illustrated with color photography. Both beginners and experienced farmers will find all the information they need to select, house, care for, breed, and butcher pigs, along with marketing advice.

Rita Mae Brown's first memory is the sound of a deep, rumbling purr. From the cat that slept in her cradle to the horses, hounds, cats, and chickens who live on her Virginia farm today, Brown has always been surrounded by animals.

Describes how animals use pattern adaptations to help survive in their environments. Animals shown include a zebra, a Siberian tiger, a ladybug, a leopard, a diamondback rattlesnake, a pineapple fish, a peacock, a blue-ringed octopus, and a painted turtle.

This audiobook describes how animals act or behave the way they do. Animals shown include a monarch butterfly, a Cape ground squirrel, a honeybee, a baboon, a leaf insect, a great horned owl, a sockeye salmon, the Western fence lizard, and a brown bear.

Describes some animals that survive extremely cold temperatures and the different ways that these animals stay warm. Some of the animals shown include the tundra bumblebee, the Alaskan blackfish, the polar bear, and the emperor penguin.

Some animals survive in the wild by adapting their colors to the environment that they live in.

Three bears go fishing in a little house on the ice and catch only one fish, but they still have a good time by eating what they have brought in their backpacks.

Dive thirteen thousand feet below the ocean’s surface, where no ray of sunlight can penetrate. Resources are scarce, and fellow inhabitants scarcer. This is life in the midnight zone—life for the anglerfish, known as the Seadevil of the Deep. Still largely a mystery to scientists, the deep-sea anglerfish is a true source of fascination and awe.

What plants and animals grow strong surrounded by water? Find out what lives in wetland habitats.

Who's that digging in the desert sand? It's an armadillo! Listen to find out why armadillos dig.

What plants and animals call grassy flatlands home? Find out what lives in grassland habitats.

Snowy owls make their homes in the icy white lands of the north. In these snowy places, they are perfectly camouflaged. Learn more about this giant owl!

Big, stately great horned owls with their hooting call and big orange eyes are the owls of scary stories. Learn more about these tufted hunters.

Dark, quiet places like barns are these owls' favorite hideouts. Just don't disturb barn owls, or they'll hiss and shriek! Learn more about these pale nighttime hunters.

An elephant seal glides through the sea. Gulp! It catches a small fish. Listen to learn all about these blubbery mammals.

Who burrows in the mud, and who hangs from a ceiling? Who snoozes in hollow trees, and who sleeps in dark caves? Curl up and find out where different animals hibernate.

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.

"Epic and engrossing." —The New York Times Book Review From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and pioneering journalist, an expansive look at how history has been shaped by humanity’s appetite for food, farmland, and the money behind it all—and how a better future is within reach...