Species evolve over time to become perfectly adapted to their environments, right?Well, sometimes.
Consider that an elephant will not grow a seventh set of teeth, even though wearing down the sixth will condemn it to starvation; that hosts of the European cuckoo seem unable to tell that the overgrown monster in their nest is not their own chick; and that whales are fully aquatic mammals who, millions of years after first abandoning the land, still cannot breathe underwater.

This book is about evolution, but not its greatest hits. Instead, it explores everything in the animal kingdom that is self-defeating, ill-made, uneconomical, or downright weird - and explains how natural selection has favoured it. In the grand struggle for survival, some surprising patterns emerge: animals are always slightly out-of-date; inefficiency tends to increase over time; predators usually lose, and parasites usually win. With equal parts humour and scientific insight, Andy Dobson is here to explain the how and why of evolution's limits and liabilities.

About the Author
Dr Andy Dobson is a biologist whose work has encompassed field ecology, vector-borne disease, and conservation. Having studied at Durham University and the University of Nottingham, he took up his first research post in the University of Oxford's Zoology Department in 2008. Most recently, he worked in the Conservation Science Group at the University of Edinburgh, applying mathematical models to anti-poaching efforts in protected areas. He left academia in 2019 to become a freelance science writer but remains a Visiting Academic at Edinburgh.

Reviews

'A delightful exploration of the diversity of life and the shortcomings of evolution.' Dave Goulson, author of A Sting in the Tale and Silent Earth

'A lively, entertaining and highly readable account of natural selection in all its quirky glory.' Nessa Carey, author of The Epigenetics Revolution and Junk DNA

'A wonderful read - witty and profound, this book upends the usual way of thinking about evolution, instead highlighting the flaws, dead ends and downright nastiness that natural selection produces as it goes on its aimless and morally neutral way.' E.J. Milner-Gulland, Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity, University of Oxford

Book Information
ISBN 9781803990170
Author Andy Dobson
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint The History Press Ltd
Publisher The History Press Ltd