Why elephants have big ears

Why do elephants have big ears? Why are there no snake-shaped mammals? Why are there so many species of bird on earth, and why are they all so small? Why did warm-bloodedness evolve? And were dinosaurs warm-blooded like you and me, or cold-blooded like lizards and frogs? This fascinating and highly readable work of popular natural history engages the reader with a variety of such conundrums to explain how animals evolved into the breathtaking range of forms that grace our planet. Along the way we encounter some rather strange creatures: the African elephant with its extraordinary nose and ears; the naked mole-rat, a cold-blooded mammal which lives beneath the arid grasslands of Africa; the tiny Etruscan shrew, so small it can fit in an earthworm'’s burrow; the giant carnivorous bird Diatryma with a head as big as a horse's; and Megalania, an extinct one-tonne lizard with teeth like steak knives, which terrorised our mammalian relatives in the not too distant past… Why Elephants Have Big Ears draws on a wide range of disciplines, from zoology and ecology to evolutionary biology and palaeontology. Vivid and entertaining, with lucid explanations of the science of the natural world, it should be read by all those who have a sense of wonder at the endless variety of life on earth.