Penguins
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Lloyd Spencer Davis and Martin Renner; Illustrated with line drawings by Sarah Wroot
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Format: ClothPrice: $45.00
Penguins are the world’s most easily recognized—and perhaps most appealing—group of birds. Flightless, penguins spend the vast majority of their lives swimming in the sea, yet they cannot shake off their evolutionary past: they are warm-blooded air breathers, and they must return to land to lay their eggs. Thus penguins face the challenges of balancing two worlds—the land for breeding, the sea for feeding. This engaging book offers a complete and up-to-date overview of all the world’s penguin species as well as new insights into their dual lives.
The book shows that the diversity of penguin species, and in fact all aspects of their biology, can be explained largely according to the distance they travel for food. Exploring penguin colonies, social behavior, evolution, ecology, conservation issues, and more, the book provides a fascinatingly detailed portrait of these unique and popular birds.
A copublication with Christopher
Helm/A&C Black
Lloyd Spencer Davis is a research biologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand and has studied penguins for over a quarter-century. He is the author of three previous books and numerous scientific articles on penguins. Martin Renner has studied penguins and other sea birds on remote islands from Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic to the Aleutian chain. He currently lives in Homer, Alaska.
“I feel that this book presents a different and interesting perspective.”—Keith Reid, British Antarctic Survey
“[An] excellent new book. . . . This is a valuable contribution to the expanding literature on the biology of penguins. It presents a new and important perspective and is engagingly written, thoroughly researched, and attractive to look at. . . . Both scientifically rigorous and exceptionally readable, this book will appeal to all those who study penguins, and many who simply love them.”—David Stokes, The Auk
“This beautifully produced book has copious black and white illustrations and stunning colour plates. It presents all aspects of penguin biology in an easy, readable style. . . . It is also written with wit.”—Pauline Reilly, Wingspan
"An engaging analysis. . . . In well-organized chapters on penguin evolution, taxonomy, feeding ecology, breeding, molt, migration, and conservation, the authors weave an intriguing tale that will appeal equally to specialists and a more general scientific audience. . . . This volume is a lively read, at times even funny, driven by the obvious love and fascination the authors hold for their subject. It is illustrated with skillful drawings and color photographs."—Elizabeth Skewes and P Dee Boersma, The Quarterly Review of Biology
Publication Date: February 9, 2004
Publishing Partner: A copublication with Christopher Helm/A&C Black
86 b/w illus.
