Atlas Obscura: Wild Life

From the curious minds of Atlas Obscura, authors of #1 New York Times bestselling Atlas Obscura and Gastro Obscura, comes an unputdownable celebration of the world's living wonders. Learn how dung beetles navigate by the stars, and trees communicate through their roots. Meet one of the strongest animals in the world: the puny peacock mantis shrimp. Pay your respects to a 44,000-year-old shrub, float along flying rivers, and explore a garbage dump overseen by endangered storks.

There are first-person interviews: hear from a honey hunter and his avian partners, a scientist working to find the world's only ocean-dwelling insects, and an offshore radio DJ who is at the heart of the local fishing community. Examine old examples of bird song notation written on sheet music.

Featuring over 500 extraordinary plants, animals, and natural phenomena, with illustrations and photos on every page, the book takes readers around the globe—from Antarctic deserts to lush jungles, and into the deepest fathoms of the ocean and the hearts of our densest cities. Teeming with detail and wildly entertaining, Wild Life reinvigorates our sense of wonder, awe, and amazement about the incredible creatures we share our planet with.