How Nature Keeps Time: Understanding Life Events in the Natural World

Description

An accessible and thought-provoking introduction to timespans in the natural world, featuring more than 80 beautifully designed diagrams and charts. Which organisms live the longest? How does the natural world recover from wildfires? How long do eggs take to hatch? What are the world's fastest- and slowest- growing plants? Which species invest the most in parental care? The graphic number line is a potent pattern that explains much of our world, from the life cycle of immortal jellyfish to the perfect amount of time for a 'good sleep'. Beautifully illustrated with reader-friendly infographics and stunning colour photography, How Nature Keeps Time visually maps the amounts of time bounded by growth, distance, age, reproduction, sleep, death and other key behaviours. Join science and comedy writer Helen Pilcher as she examines a broad range of species from across the world and throughout time. As our natural world draws our attention to its plight, this fascinating book offers a calm, clear-thinking series of visual explanations based on the ultimate objective measure - time. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents Introduction It’s All About Time Have a Good Time Nature’s Clocks Life in Slow Motion 1. Evolutionary Spans Introduction Life in a Day Geological Time Spans Evolution in Action Mass Extinctions The Rise and Rise of Plants Terrible Lizards Time For Take-off Rock Stars Monotremes, Marsupials and Mammals Domesticated Bliss The Silver Fox 2. Ecological Spans Introduction Whale Decomposition The Benefits of Burial At Sea Out of the Ashes Beavers: Ecosystem Engineers The Lungs of the World Floundering Frogs Life Between the Tides Going, Going, Gone Conservation Success Stories 3. Lifespans Introduction How Old? Clonal Colonies Life in the Fast Lane The Elixir of Life A Lifespan Less Ordinary In their Prime Hibernation Back From the Dead? 4. Growth Spans Introduction The Great Egg Race Pregnancy in Mammals Growing Up On Your Feet Reef Building Shooting Up Regeneration in Animals 5. Behavioural Spans Introduction Sleeping Habits Animal Migrations No Time to Die Think Fast Parenting Strategies Home Sweet Home Courtship Mating Marathons Seasonal Shifts 6. Biological Spans Introduction Oestrous Cycles Reproductive Spans Rhythms of Life What Goes In . . . Breathe Deep Every Breath You Take The Speed of Sound Further Reading Index Picture Credits