Encyclopedia of Animals

by David Alderton

A diverse selection of more than 400 of the world's animals drawn from all species and all climates, from apes to snakes, mammals to molluscs and toads to tropical fish - guaranteed to appeal to any budding zoologist or animal enthusiast. Packed with information on the anatomy, habitat, lifecycle and diet of each animal, and with special fact boxes and maps.

Genres: Reference, Nature, Nonfiction, Animals, Coffee Table Books

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

David Alderton is a UK-based writer specialising in pets and natural history topics. Growing up in a home surrounded by pets, he originally trained to become a veterinary surgeon. An allergic dermatitis acquired in his final year of study forced a change of career however, and so led him into the field of writing about pets and their care. He has since become a regular contributor of articles on this subject to a wide range of newspapers and magazines in the UK and abroad, and also participates frequently in radio and television programmes.

His books have currently sold over six million copies, and have been translated into 30 different languages. David’s titles have won awards in the USA from the Cat Writers' Association of America and the Maxwell Medallion from the Dog Writers’ Association of America, as well as being nominated for the Sir Peter Kent Conservation Book Prize. He has also chaired the National Council for Aviculture, the umbrella organisation for bird-keeping clubs and associations in the UK, and is a member of the Kennel Club, as well as editor of the monthly magazine Practical Reptile Keeping.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t really own any other encyclopaedias or reference books, so it’s kind of hard to compare it to others that I’ve read.

That being said, I thought this was a really good book overall (even if the size comparisons weren’t particularly accurate).

There were a few things that were absent in the book which I thought would have improved it slightly, such as:

• The conservation status of each animal (e.g. whether they’re critically endangered or not)

• Illustrations showing the differences in appearance between males, females and young (or even what they look like during different seasons)

That being said, this information was provided for some animals, however it would have been nice to have had this info provided for every animal.

Overall though, this was an interesting book and I particularly enjoyed learning about animals that I didn’t even know existed!

[The Happy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative book. Abortfrågan à LOT of animal’s around the World.

[♍️Lady Book Fairy ♍️♍️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the animals and I learned

[Dan Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the book I read. I read:
Animal Encyclopedia: A to Z Guide to Animals of the World, by David Alderton. A Moseley Road Inc. Book, 2022, First edition, first print. ISBN 9-781626692176. Goodreads will not salute any of this information.
Anyway. The book is gorgeous, although it only covers 240 animals. No domestic or farm creatures. I have come to believe that Mr. Atherton might have permitted Moseley to edit and condense one of his other books, perhaps the one noted above. While the photographs are exquisite and plentiful, the text sounds as if it were translated from a foreign language. Perhaps there was a transfer of data from other printed pages? And the weights of the animals, given in side charts, are bizarre at times. In the text, sentences end with a period in the middle, then restart; words are added or subtracted randomly; periods and commas have been sprinkled about with abandon. But the text is nevertheless chock full of interesting information, the pictures worth studying. Altogether
Recommended.

[Octavio Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it my everyday book zoologist needs this books

[Eden Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book! It tells you about the Narwhal,the Aye Aye, and other awesome animals!