Best Biology of Fishes & Sharks

The 4th edition is packed with amazing marine life photographs of 683 species and enough information to keep fish watchers busy for years. In the early 1970s, Paul Humann, then captain owner of the Caribbean's first live-aboard dive boat, Cayman Diver, experienced daily frustration when unable to answer his clients many questions about the host of fish they encountered on every dive.

John Gierach, “the voice of the common angler” ( The Wall Street Journal ) and member of the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame, brings his sharp sense of humor and keen eye for observation to the fishing life and, for that matter, life in general. He describes the all-but-impassable roads that fishermen always seem to encounter at the best fishing spots and why fishermen discuss four-wheel drive vehicles almost as passionately and frequently as they discuss fly rods and flies. A Fly Rod Of Your Own makes you feel you are having a beer with your best friend who is not only funny, companionable, but just great to hang out with. (Craig Nova, author of All the Dead Yale Men and The Constant Heart). His alert and slightly off-kilter observations place him in the general neighborhood of Mark Twain and James Thurber." ‘We go into wild places to catch wild fish for personal reasons that may be complicated or as simple as the urge to escape the present—which admittedly looks none too promising—into, if not the actual past, at least into a kind of timelessness where life still makes sense.’ Amen, and thanks for a lifetime of pleasure and sense.” (David James Duncan, author of The River Why and The Brothers K). But dive into A Fly Rod of Your Own and you’ll find not just a host of enjoyably fresh takes on this magnificent obsession, but a fresh understanding of why Gierach is the bestselling fish-writer since Izaak Walton.” (James R. Babb, author of Fish Won’t Let Me Sleep). Gierach brings a skeptical, wry voice to the peril and promise of twenty-first-century fishing."

Offering an extensive survey of the ocean’s many fascinating inhabitants, Blackwell presents incredible images of everything from whales to manta rays to seals to endless schools of fish to the creatures that reside in the deepest recesses of the ocean floor. Lewis Blackwell is the author of the bestselling The Life & Love of Trees , The Life & Love of Cats , The Life & Love of Dogs , and Rainforest .

The amazing story of a girl who overcomes unique hardship and deprivation―growing up with a troop of capuchin monkeys―to find ultimate redemption.- As seen on The Today Show. So begins the story of her five years among the monkeys, during which time she gradually became feral; she lost the ability to speak, lost all inhibition, lost any real sense of being human, replacing the structure of human society with the social mores of her new simian family. Torn from her family at the tender age of four and abandoned in the Colombian jungle, Chapman must fight to survive. This remarkable memoir, coauthored by Barrett-Lee, is based on years of Chapman’s conversations about her brutal childhood with her daughter.

Part history book, part handbook, and part cookbook, this illustrated tome covers every facet of the ancient hobby of beekeeping, from how to manage hives safely to harvesting one's own honey, and ideas for how to use honey and beeswax. Fully illustrated with how-to photography and unique etchings, any backyard enthusiast or gardener can confidently dive into beekeeping with this book in hand (or daydream about harvesting their own honey while relaxing in the comfort of an armchair). Richard A. Jones is a writer, ecologist, and high-profile UK expert on insects, and is a contributor and scientific advisor to BBC Wildlife Magazine and New Scientist .

Of course, the ever-popular and endlessly intriguing dinosaurs feature large, but Prehistoric Life gives you the whole picture, and the plants, invertebrates, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and mammals that are the ancestors of today's species also populate its pages, making this book unprecedented in its coverage of prehistory. DK's aim is to inform, enrich, and entertain readers of all ages, and everything DK publishes, whether print or digital, embodies the unique DK design approach. DK acts as the parent company for Alpha Books, publisher of the Idiot's Guides series and Prima Games, video gaming publishers, as well as the award-winning travel publisher, Rough Guides.

For conservationists and lovers of animals, nature, and especially dogs, this National Geographic book shares the surprising understanding of wild wolves gained over six years the authors spent living intimately with them. — Apogee Photo Magazine "A richly layered work that speaks to the intricate and controversial relationship between wolves and humans." “A richly layered work that speaks to the intricate and controversial relationship between wolves and humans.” --Oregon Live.

Winner of the Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize America's Great Plains once possessed one of the grandest wildlife spectacles of the world, equaled only by such places as the Serengeti, the Masai Mara, or the veld of South Africa. Historian Dan Flores draws deeply from his professional expertise and life as a denizen of this eco-region to create a poetic book that functions as both conservation manifesto and memoir. Writing for a general audience, the author masterfully renders an evocative portrait to elucidate all that has been lost--vast herds of free-ranging antelope and bison, with attendant predators such as wolves, coyotes, and grizzly bears." Historian Dan Flores draws deeply from his professional expertise and life as a denizen of this eco-region to create a poetic book that functions as both conservation manifesto and memoir. Writing for a general audience, the author masterfully renders an evocative portrait to elucidate all that has been lost--vast herds of free-ranging antelope and bison, with attendant predators such as wolves, coyotes, and grizzly bears." — Karl Jacoby , author of Crimes against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation. " American Serengeti is Dan Flores’s love song to the Great Plains, with each verse a fond embrace of one of its own—grizzlies and bison, pronghorns and coyotes. "Dan Flores has written an engaging and provocative account of ecological change in the Great Plains by tracing the interaction of the large animals and humans in this grassland during the past 13,000 years. Personal, passionate, and scholarly, his essays on pronghorns, coyotes, horses, grizzly bears, bison, and wolves give these ancient, durable animals their historical due.

Of course, the ever-popular and endlessly intriguing dinosaurs feature large, but Prehistoric Life gives you the whole picture, and the plants, invertebrates, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and mammals that are the ancestors of today's species also populate its pages, making this book unprecedented in its coverage of prehistory. DK's aim is to inform, enrich, and entertain readers of all ages, and everything DK publishes, whether print or digital, embodies the unique DK design approach. DK acts as the parent company for Alpha Books, publisher of the Idiot's Guides series and Prima Games, video gaming publishers, as well as the award-winning travel publisher, Rough Guides.

Browse through the catalog of gorgeous photographs and learn about the characteristics and origins of each breed, from Friesians to Thoroughbreds, and some of the most famous horses that left a mark on equine history. Elwyn Hartley Edwards was one of the most respected equestrian authors of the twentieth century.

Descriptive text includes measurements, diagnostic details, and information on habitat, range, feeding habits, sounds or songs, flight period, web construction, life cycle, behaviors, folklore, and environmental impact.

Readers, as if on African safari, encounter eight wild animals that come alive using never-before-seen Photicular technology. Accompanying the images is Safari , the guide: It begins with an evocative journal of a safari along the Mara River in Kenya and interweaves the history of safaris. "Shots of cheetahs, rhinos, and gazelles spring to life as the pages turn." "Lenticular technology takes a big leap forward with this virtual safari." ( Entertainment Weekly ). “Shots of cheetahs, rhinos, and gazelles spring to life as the pages turn.”.

As John Vaillant re-creates these extraordinary events, he gives us an unforgettable and masterful work of narrative nonfiction that combines a riveting portrait of a stark and mysterious region of the world and its people, with the natural history of nature’s most deadly predator. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the taiga, John Vaillant provides an unforgettable true account of a lethal collision between man and beast in a remote Russian village during the late 1990's. It's a gutsy approach that could easily lead to chaotic storytelling, but Vaillant is careful to keep the bone-chilling storyline taut by capturing the intensity of an animal worthy of our greatest respect and deepest fears. A few years ago, I interviewed a Delaware state trooper named Butch LeFebvre who’d been assigned to investigate rumors that a mountain lion was roaming the outskirts of Wilmington. It doesn’t just attack villagers; it hunts them, picking its targets like a hitman with a contract, at one point even dragging a mattress out of a shack so it can lie comfortably in wait until the woodsman returns home. Big as three NFL linebackers bundled into one, armed with claws longer than fingers and jaws rated on a strength-scale used for dinosaurs, tigers are built like missiles and can out-swim, out-climb, out-fox and out-run just about anything that breathes. You crouch to the height of the animal you’re seeking, learning to see the world through its eyes, inhale scents through its nostrils, feel cool earth and crushed leaves beneath its padded paws. They feel such kinship with the big cats that they’ll even share their meals by leaving hunks of meat in the woods, convinced the tigers will re-pay them in kind with a deer haunch when times are lean.

With more than 1 million copies sold, this updated and revised celebration of the animal kingdom features photos and descriptions of over 2,000 species and habitats. Editors-in-Chief: Don E. Wilson is the senior scientist at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

The most comprehensive field guide available to North American mushrooms--a must-have for any enthusiast's day pack or home library--from the go-to reference source for over 18 million nature lovers. With more than 700 mushrooms detailed with color photographs and descriptive text, this is the most comprehensive photographic field guide to the mushrooms of North America.

Essential for the millions of Americans who watch and feed birds in their backyards—whether experienced birders or new birding enthusiasts—from the experts at National Geographic and co-author of the popular and perennial best seller Field Guide to the Birds of North America. "Valuable, as both a reference and as a 'browsing' book."

Now, the second edition of this supremely comprehensive guide has even more to satisfy the curious beachcomber, including expanded content and additional accounts with more than 1800 full-color photographs, maps, and illustrations. Blair and Dawn have merged their art, writing, photography, and design in a number of projects, including Florida's Living Beaches: A Beachcomber's Guide , Florida's Seashells , Living Beaches of Georgia and the Carolinas: A Beachcomber's Guide , and Seashells of Georgia and the Carolinas: A Beachcomber's Guide .

Open the book, and the reader is swept into the magic of an underwater world, face-to-face with a floating Yellow-Banded Sweetlips; with a glow-in-the-dark Deep-Sea Anglerfish; with a Sea Horse swaying in balletic motion; with a Sand Tiger Shark gliding along the ocean floor, its gaze haunting, its hook-toothed mouth gulping open and closed. “Showcasing stunning photographic images that ripple with movement, Dan Kainen fully immerses readers in a captivating underwater realm. (The Bookseller). “Showcasing stunning photographic images that ripple with movement, Dan Kainen fully immerses readers in a captivating underwater realm.