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WTF, Evolution?!: A Theory of Unintelligible Design
We all have our off days. Why should Evolution be any different? Maybe Evolution got carried away with an idea that was just a little too crazy—like having the Regal Horned Lizard defend itself by shooting three-foot streams of blood from its eyes. Or maybe Evolution ran out of steam (Memo to Evolution: The Irrawaddy Dolphin looks like a prototype that should have been left on the drawing board). Or maybe Evolution was feeling cheeky—a fish with hands? Joke’s on you, Red Handfish! Or maybe Evolution simply goofed up: How else to explain the overgrown teeth of the babirusas that curl backward over their face? Oops.
254 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 8, 2014
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July 7, 2018
this is the time of year i float reviews of fun books that would make nice presents. not for me, i already have them. i’m just being a kindly readers’ advisory holiday angel.
this book is hilarity.
by now you should know how i feel about the weird shit nature has put out there for us to enjoy. in case you don't know - i love it. i loooove it. so this book is a glorious gift to my sensibilities. and it's apparently also a tumblr: http://wtfevolution.tumblr.com/, which has tons of creatures not in the book itself, so this discovery is a fantastic hidden-track bonus for me!
i plan on using a lot of examples from the book in this review, because there were just far too many that made me laugh out loud. however - this book is like 250 pages long, so no matter how many i showcase here, there will be so many more for you to encounter in the book, which i am going to have to buy myself when it comes out in october, since this ARC has some missing images i really want to see.
to begin, evolution has produced some crazy-assed creatures:
the red handfish:
the whitemargin stargazer (which sounds like a horrible prog-rock band):
the pacific hatchetfish:
the spotted unicornfish:
the proboscis monkey:
the vervet monkey:
the surinam toad:
don't mind me - just being born over here!!
and this book lets evolution answer for itself about some of its more bizarre decisions:
Okay, look. Here's what I've realized. I make organisms, right? And I make other organisms for those organisms to eat. Then I make bigger organisms that eat the first organisms, and so on and so forth. It's all just life eating other life, back and forth, round and round, for millions of years on end. And for what? I mean, when you get down to it, what I've created it basically an unnecessarily complicated system for moving carbon molecules around.
So yeah, I could make some plain stuff, have it eat some other plain stuff, and then call it an eon and go home. But you know what? It's been billions of years. I get bored just like anyone else. And because everything is just going to keep changing, and it's all a little pointless to begin with - well, why shouldn't I just do whatever I want?
why not, indeed? and we are all glad of it.
the book is structured as a series of pictures of ill-advised creatures with commentary that either takes the form of a conversation between evolution and a puzzled interlocutor, or simply a sentence or two from the same interlocutor questioning some of evolution's decisions. there is a lot to learn here, and a lot to laugh about. so let's begin to laugh and learn.
the sharp-ribbed newt:
the stinking corpse lily:
Three feet wide. Fifteen pounds. Smells like a rotting cow carcass. Gross, Evolution.
the dumbo octopus:
the asian giant softshell turtle:
Look, Evolution, everyone has trouble staying motivated sometimes. Take a walk or have a snack when that happens... Don't force yourself to make turtles when your heart obviously isn't in it.
the irrawaddy dolphin:
These are supposed to be dolphins? Evolution, have you ever actually seen a dolphin?
that one deserves one more picture:
the sea potato:
the regal horned lizard:
The horned lizard fends off predatory coyotes by shooting three-foot streams of its own blood from its eye. Evolution, please seek psychiatric help.
the shoebill:
"Hey! Hey! I think I finally made something cute."
"Oh, yeah? Let’s see."
"It’s a ‘shoebill.’ It’s big and blue and adorable. Nice, right?"
"It’s… hm. I don’t know. I like the blue, but something about those eyes is kind of creeping me out right now."
"What? Come on. Those are friendly eyes. It wants to be your friend."
"Okay. Okay, yeah. You’re right, evolution, I’m sorry. Should I feed it, maybe? What does it eat?"
"Baby crocodiles."
"Oh Jesus Christ."
the smalltooth sawfish:
the king vulture:
the gum leaf skeletoniser:
Molting is a beautiful thing. When your insides start feeling a little too big for their case, you can just crack open your exoskeleton, head capsule and all, and emerge a whole new invertebrate. You get to leave your shed body behind and walk away, freed from all the trappings of your former, smaller life.
… unless, that is, you’re a gum-leaf skeletoniser caterpillar. In that case evolution actually stacks all your old heads on top of your new one and makes you wear them around forever like a macabre stovepipe hat. I don’t know, just go with it, okay?
the leopard sea cucumber:
with some additional info:
In addition to being useful for defense - and, of course, pooping - the sea cucumber's anus connects to a branching internal tube that extracts oxygen from water and pumps out excess carbon dioxide. In other words, sea cucumbers breathe through their butts.
the sand cat:
moron or not, i lost about an hour GIS-ing these little kitties. i want one for my own please, evolution!!
but back to the ewwwwwww
the tongue-eating isopod:
A parasitic louse that crawls into your mouth, vampirizes your tongue, then clamps itself onto the withered stub so it can ride around inside you and drink your mucus for the rest of your mutual lives? Why, yes. It’s called symbiosis and it’s beautiful.
What? Relax. It’s going to be fine. This isn’t going to hurt. You won’t even miss your tongue—once the louse is latched onto the muscle, you can simply use its body as a tongue instead. These are exactly the kind of details that evolution has worked out for you, because evolution loves you and it wants you to be all right.
and also:
When a female isopod takes over a fish's tongue, a smaller male usually infests the gills, occasionally popping over into the mouth to mate.
the babirusa:
Why so gloomy, babirusas? Is it because evolution gave you some weird extra tusks that are awkward, brittle, mostly useless for fighting, and may eventually grow so long that they curve around and fatally puncture your skull? Could that be it?
the western gray kangaroo:
the duck:
the pacific hagfish:
the yellow-footed antechinus:
"Oh, what a cute little mouse!"
"It’s not a mouse! It’s a marsupial called an antechinus."
"Sorry, evolution, my mistake. Still cute, though."
"Isn’t he? And he’s excited, because he’s almost eleven months old, and that means he finally gets to start mating."
"Aw, that’s nice."
"He’s going to run around getting it on with as many females as he can for the next two or three weeks."
"That’s… nice."
"And he’ll have sex with each of them for up to 14 hours at a stretch."
"
That’s… um…"
"And he’ll get so exhausted from all the frantic mating that his fur starts falling off, and he contracts gangrene."
"What? Jesus. Then does he take a break, at least?"
"Nah, not really. He basically keeps doing it until he gets so sick and stressed out that he dies. ‘Suicidal reproduction,’ I’m calling it.”
"Are you serious? He’s going to mate himself to death?”
"Yeah, but he doesn’t know it yet. Happy coming-of-age, antechinus!"
"You’re sick, you know that?"
the wattle cup caterpillar:
"I really don’t want anyone to eat this wattle cup caterpillar.”
"Sure, evolution, that’s understandable."
"I’m going to put some huge spikes on it."
"Okay."
"Now I’m going to put more spikes on the spikes."
"… okay."
"And I’ll make them sting!"
"Fair."
"And I’ll color the whole thing like a bad acid trip."
"That might be overkill, but all right. I guess you really like this one. I bet it’ll be especially beautiful once it metamorphoses into a butterfly, huh?"
"What? Oh, no, this one doesn’t turn into a butterfly. It’s a hairy brown moth.”
the ctenophore:
Ctenophores: Because sometimes Evolution only feels like making the mouth.
the southern elephant seal:
"You know that elephant seal I made? The one with the awesome floppy nose?"
"Yes, evolution, that was a pretty good nose."
"And you know how it kept getting parasites up inside it?"
"I heard that was an issue."
"I fixed it."
"You fixed it? What did you do, give the elephant seal more protective mucus? A better immune system? Stronger nose hairs?"
"Nope! That all seemed too hard. I just made a nose-picking bird."
"A nose-picking bird."
"Works great!"
the saiga antelope:
isn't evolution spectacular??? i love this book more than i can say, and i urge you to check it out when it is published, because it is a hoot and a half.
most of the pictures i used in this review were not from the book itself; they were just from the nooks and crannies of the internet, but the writing itself is from the book.
thanks for all the nightmares, evolution!!!
come to my blog!
this book is hilarity.
by now you should know how i feel about the weird shit nature has put out there for us to enjoy. in case you don't know - i love it. i loooove it. so this book is a glorious gift to my sensibilities. and it's apparently also a tumblr: http://wtfevolution.tumblr.com/, which has tons of creatures not in the book itself, so this discovery is a fantastic hidden-track bonus for me!
i plan on using a lot of examples from the book in this review, because there were just far too many that made me laugh out loud. however - this book is like 250 pages long, so no matter how many i showcase here, there will be so many more for you to encounter in the book, which i am going to have to buy myself when it comes out in october, since this ARC has some missing images i really want to see.
to begin, evolution has produced some crazy-assed creatures:
the red handfish:
the whitemargin stargazer (which sounds like a horrible prog-rock band):
the pacific hatchetfish:
the spotted unicornfish:
the proboscis monkey:
the vervet monkey:
the surinam toad:
don't mind me - just being born over here!!
and this book lets evolution answer for itself about some of its more bizarre decisions:
Okay, look. Here's what I've realized. I make organisms, right? And I make other organisms for those organisms to eat. Then I make bigger organisms that eat the first organisms, and so on and so forth. It's all just life eating other life, back and forth, round and round, for millions of years on end. And for what? I mean, when you get down to it, what I've created it basically an unnecessarily complicated system for moving carbon molecules around.
So yeah, I could make some plain stuff, have it eat some other plain stuff, and then call it an eon and go home. But you know what? It's been billions of years. I get bored just like anyone else. And because everything is just going to keep changing, and it's all a little pointless to begin with - well, why shouldn't I just do whatever I want?
why not, indeed? and we are all glad of it.
the book is structured as a series of pictures of ill-advised creatures with commentary that either takes the form of a conversation between evolution and a puzzled interlocutor, or simply a sentence or two from the same interlocutor questioning some of evolution's decisions. there is a lot to learn here, and a lot to laugh about. so let's begin to laugh and learn.
the sharp-ribbed newt:
the stinking corpse lily:
Three feet wide. Fifteen pounds. Smells like a rotting cow carcass. Gross, Evolution.
the dumbo octopus:
the asian giant softshell turtle:
Look, Evolution, everyone has trouble staying motivated sometimes. Take a walk or have a snack when that happens... Don't force yourself to make turtles when your heart obviously isn't in it.
the irrawaddy dolphin:
These are supposed to be dolphins? Evolution, have you ever actually seen a dolphin?
that one deserves one more picture:
the sea potato:
the regal horned lizard:
The horned lizard fends off predatory coyotes by shooting three-foot streams of its own blood from its eye. Evolution, please seek psychiatric help.
the shoebill:
"Hey! Hey! I think I finally made something cute."
"Oh, yeah? Let’s see."
"It’s a ‘shoebill.’ It’s big and blue and adorable. Nice, right?"
"It’s… hm. I don’t know. I like the blue, but something about those eyes is kind of creeping me out right now."
"What? Come on. Those are friendly eyes. It wants to be your friend."
"Okay. Okay, yeah. You’re right, evolution, I’m sorry. Should I feed it, maybe? What does it eat?"
"Baby crocodiles."
"Oh Jesus Christ."
the smalltooth sawfish:
the king vulture:
the gum leaf skeletoniser:
Molting is a beautiful thing. When your insides start feeling a little too big for their case, you can just crack open your exoskeleton, head capsule and all, and emerge a whole new invertebrate. You get to leave your shed body behind and walk away, freed from all the trappings of your former, smaller life.
… unless, that is, you’re a gum-leaf skeletoniser caterpillar. In that case evolution actually stacks all your old heads on top of your new one and makes you wear them around forever like a macabre stovepipe hat. I don’t know, just go with it, okay?
the leopard sea cucumber:
with some additional info:
In addition to being useful for defense - and, of course, pooping - the sea cucumber's anus connects to a branching internal tube that extracts oxygen from water and pumps out excess carbon dioxide. In other words, sea cucumbers breathe through their butts.
the sand cat:
moron or not, i lost about an hour GIS-ing these little kitties. i want one for my own please, evolution!!
but back to the ewwwwwww
the tongue-eating isopod:
A parasitic louse that crawls into your mouth, vampirizes your tongue, then clamps itself onto the withered stub so it can ride around inside you and drink your mucus for the rest of your mutual lives? Why, yes. It’s called symbiosis and it’s beautiful.
What? Relax. It’s going to be fine. This isn’t going to hurt. You won’t even miss your tongue—once the louse is latched onto the muscle, you can simply use its body as a tongue instead. These are exactly the kind of details that evolution has worked out for you, because evolution loves you and it wants you to be all right.
and also:
When a female isopod takes over a fish's tongue, a smaller male usually infests the gills, occasionally popping over into the mouth to mate.
the babirusa:
Why so gloomy, babirusas? Is it because evolution gave you some weird extra tusks that are awkward, brittle, mostly useless for fighting, and may eventually grow so long that they curve around and fatally puncture your skull? Could that be it?
the western gray kangaroo:
the duck:
the pacific hagfish:
the yellow-footed antechinus:
"Oh, what a cute little mouse!"
"It’s not a mouse! It’s a marsupial called an antechinus."
"Sorry, evolution, my mistake. Still cute, though."
"Isn’t he? And he’s excited, because he’s almost eleven months old, and that means he finally gets to start mating."
"Aw, that’s nice."
"He’s going to run around getting it on with as many females as he can for the next two or three weeks."
"That’s… nice."
"And he’ll have sex with each of them for up to 14 hours at a stretch."
"
That’s… um…"
"And he’ll get so exhausted from all the frantic mating that his fur starts falling off, and he contracts gangrene."
"What? Jesus. Then does he take a break, at least?"
"Nah, not really. He basically keeps doing it until he gets so sick and stressed out that he dies. ‘Suicidal reproduction,’ I’m calling it.”
"Are you serious? He’s going to mate himself to death?”
"Yeah, but he doesn’t know it yet. Happy coming-of-age, antechinus!"
"You’re sick, you know that?"
the wattle cup caterpillar:
"I really don’t want anyone to eat this wattle cup caterpillar.”
"Sure, evolution, that’s understandable."
"I’m going to put some huge spikes on it."
"Okay."
"Now I’m going to put more spikes on the spikes."
"… okay."
"And I’ll make them sting!"
"Fair."
"And I’ll color the whole thing like a bad acid trip."
"That might be overkill, but all right. I guess you really like this one. I bet it’ll be especially beautiful once it metamorphoses into a butterfly, huh?"
"What? Oh, no, this one doesn’t turn into a butterfly. It’s a hairy brown moth.”
the ctenophore:
Ctenophores: Because sometimes Evolution only feels like making the mouth.
the southern elephant seal:
"You know that elephant seal I made? The one with the awesome floppy nose?"
"Yes, evolution, that was a pretty good nose."
"And you know how it kept getting parasites up inside it?"
"I heard that was an issue."
"I fixed it."
"You fixed it? What did you do, give the elephant seal more protective mucus? A better immune system? Stronger nose hairs?"
"Nope! That all seemed too hard. I just made a nose-picking bird."
"A nose-picking bird."
"Works great!"
the saiga antelope:
isn't evolution spectacular??? i love this book more than i can say, and i urge you to check it out when it is published, because it is a hoot and a half.
most of the pictures i used in this review were not from the book itself; they were just from the nooks and crannies of the internet, but the writing itself is from the book.
thanks for all the nightmares, evolution!!!
come to my blog!
May 3, 2015
This book should be available in an edition for Christians. It would then be called WTF,God?! (yeah, rather disrespectful I agree). But all you do is replace the word Evolution with the word God.
So, this book would be full of funny stuff like
These are supposed to be dolphins? God, have you ever actually seen a dolphin?
Look, God, everyone has trouble staying motivated sometimes. Take a walk or have a snack when that happens…Don’t force yourself to make turtles when your heart obviously isn’t in it.
God had not had enough coffee when He made the Surinam horned frog.
Why so gloomy, babirusa? Is it because God gave you some weird extra tusks that are ugly, useless, too brittle to fight with, and may eventually grow so long that they curve around and fatally puncture your skull? Could that be it?
Because the anti-evolutionists believe that every species was created by God individually, and did not evolve from any other species.
You know, Genesis and all that :
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
The implications of this have been rarely teased out. The Bible literalists like to say that God created the
and the
But they shuffle their feet and look down at their hands when you mention the tapeworm. But it goes further. God also created the rats which spread the bubonic plague and killed around 45% of the population of Europe in the years 1346–53. But also He spent some time creating Xenopsylla cheopis - the flea which infected the rats. And before all that, He also mulled things over and created the Yersinia pestis bacterium which is the actual disease itself. I mean, without Yersinia pestis the fleas were just hitch-hikers and the rats were just stowaways.
And He created all the other diseases too, which I shan’t list – I’m sure you have your favourites. River blindness, syphilis, malaria, whatever.
So this thing cuts both ways. Yeah, evolution does look pretty silly when you think about that saiga antelope
huh?
or the star nosed mole
wha the??
– but if this indicates that Darwin was barking up the wrong sea cucumber and Genesis is right after all, then I do find it kind of worrying that we’re all in the hands of Someone who thought the Goliath spider was a good idea
So, this book would be full of funny stuff like
These are supposed to be dolphins? God, have you ever actually seen a dolphin?
Look, God, everyone has trouble staying motivated sometimes. Take a walk or have a snack when that happens…Don’t force yourself to make turtles when your heart obviously isn’t in it.
God had not had enough coffee when He made the Surinam horned frog.
Why so gloomy, babirusa? Is it because God gave you some weird extra tusks that are ugly, useless, too brittle to fight with, and may eventually grow so long that they curve around and fatally puncture your skull? Could that be it?
Because the anti-evolutionists believe that every species was created by God individually, and did not evolve from any other species.
You know, Genesis and all that :
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
The implications of this have been rarely teased out. The Bible literalists like to say that God created the
and the
But they shuffle their feet and look down at their hands when you mention the tapeworm. But it goes further. God also created the rats which spread the bubonic plague and killed around 45% of the population of Europe in the years 1346–53. But also He spent some time creating Xenopsylla cheopis - the flea which infected the rats. And before all that, He also mulled things over and created the Yersinia pestis bacterium which is the actual disease itself. I mean, without Yersinia pestis the fleas were just hitch-hikers and the rats were just stowaways.
And He created all the other diseases too, which I shan’t list – I’m sure you have your favourites. River blindness, syphilis, malaria, whatever.
So this thing cuts both ways. Yeah, evolution does look pretty silly when you think about that saiga antelope
huh?
or the star nosed mole
wha the??
– but if this indicates that Darwin was barking up the wrong sea cucumber and Genesis is right after all, then I do find it kind of worrying that we’re all in the hands of Someone who thought the Goliath spider was a good idea
September 14, 2015
"Good morning, evolution."
"Good morning. I heard that your book about me is getting rave reviews. I'd like to tell you that I appreciate it."
"Yes, that's true. But there's this teensy problem-"
"I mean, it's time I got my due. It's pretty disheartening when you have taken so much time over one species - given it a large brain and all that - and it uses it to create some fictitious entity called God to steal all the credit for MY work."
"Yes, yes. But let me tell you-"
"Not that I care much about them anyway. It seems that they will soon kill themselves off, and I can start all over again. It'd be nice to work with a clean slate..."
"EVOLUTION!"
"...Yes?
"Nice to have finally got your attention! Well, as I said, there's a problem. With all those weird examples I cited, I'm afraid people may think that you lack in intelligence or are utterly frivolous."
"Oh that! Don't worry about it. It's taken care."
"Taken care? How?"
"Well you know, by gifting humans with large brains, I've given them a capacity for stupidity that's equally large. They are already calling me intelligent."
"Oh? First time I've heard about it."
"What? You mean to say that you have not yet heard of Intelligent Design?"
------------------------------------------
The above passage is inspired by the book - this is how the author writes. For a REAL review, see Karen's excellent review.
"Good morning. I heard that your book about me is getting rave reviews. I'd like to tell you that I appreciate it."
"Yes, that's true. But there's this teensy problem-"
"I mean, it's time I got my due. It's pretty disheartening when you have taken so much time over one species - given it a large brain and all that - and it uses it to create some fictitious entity called God to steal all the credit for MY work."
"Yes, yes. But let me tell you-"
"Not that I care much about them anyway. It seems that they will soon kill themselves off, and I can start all over again. It'd be nice to work with a clean slate..."
"EVOLUTION!"
"...Yes?
"Nice to have finally got your attention! Well, as I said, there's a problem. With all those weird examples I cited, I'm afraid people may think that you lack in intelligence or are utterly frivolous."
"Oh that! Don't worry about it. It's taken care."
"Taken care? How?"
"Well you know, by gifting humans with large brains, I've given them a capacity for stupidity that's equally large. They are already calling me intelligent."
"Oh? First time I've heard about it."
"What? You mean to say that you have not yet heard of Intelligent Design?"
------------------------------------------
The above passage is inspired by the book - this is how the author writes. For a REAL review, see Karen's excellent review.
May 9, 2020
Do you like nature's little creatures? You won't after reading this one. But please don't make Evolution sad by saying so! The poor thing has been working at it for billions of years and has made marvellous creatures that we love and adore. Even Evolution gets to mess up once in a while. Just pat her on the head and encourage her to do better next time!
Mara Grunbaum is a science and environment reporter and has the background to write such a book. She has managed to dig out some of the weirdest creatures that nature has produced. The text accompanying each photograph is in the form of a dialogue of Grunbaum with Evolution. And Evolution is really sulky and whimsical. But never forget, she gets it right every single time.
But it does appear as if Evolution is slightly sadistic sometime and clueless at other times. And sometimes drunk. But mostly just stoned on some psychedelic drug. And remember, Evolution takes it as a personal insult when we humans adore furry cats. So don't tell her so, or your descendent might end up with rainbow butts!
Mara Grunbaum is a science and environment reporter and has the background to write such a book. She has managed to dig out some of the weirdest creatures that nature has produced. The text accompanying each photograph is in the form of a dialogue of Grunbaum with Evolution. And Evolution is really sulky and whimsical. But never forget, she gets it right every single time.
But it does appear as if Evolution is slightly sadistic sometime and clueless at other times. And sometimes drunk. But mostly just stoned on some psychedelic drug. And remember, Evolution takes it as a personal insult when we humans adore furry cats. So don't tell her so, or your descendent might end up with rainbow butts!
January 6, 2025
I didn't know I needed this book, but I'm glad I found it! This is a hilarious collection of bizarre (to us) solutions evolution has found for surviving on Earth. There's an image for each entry, along with fun facts and hilarious commentary. Many I'd heard of before, but there were a lot of new species to learn about as well. To name a few early standouts (I'll keep the spellings lower-case for simplicity): the peacock flounder, stalk-eyed fly, marabou stork, giraffe-necked weevil, asian giant softshell turtle, painted frogfish, pignose frog, gunnison sage grouse, eiselt's caecilian, and pacific geoduck. The categories are: awkward solutions, half-assed attempts, dark times, dirty jokes, questionable design, and dreams and hallucinations. It's a very quick read, and a good reference if you're someone like me who needs to regularly remind people that evolution doesn't have the luxury of planning in advance.
January 1, 2019
Because who hasn't looked at these critters and asked that question? I needed a good science laugh.
February 2, 2018
I loved the sass in this book. I also liked how many creatures there were. I just wish there was at least one of those fact boxes on each animal. Sometimes it just felt a little "look at this weird thing," which I mean cool, but that tells me nothing.
2.5 stars
2.5 stars
November 25, 2015
هذا ثاني كتاب أقرئه ويجعلني اضحك بصوت مرتفع وأستمتع بتصفحه
الكتاب هو عبارة عن حوار كوميدي بين الكاتبة والتطور
الهدف منه هواظهار الجانب الآخر من التطور فليس هدف التطور هو التصميم الذكي بقدر ما هو مجرد عملية عشوائية ممكن ان ينتج عنها كائن ذو صفات مميزة او كائن ذو شكل غريب مع وظائف غريبة
وأقتبس من مقدمة الكاتبة
"Sometimes Evolution produces wonders: plants and animals so breathtakingly beautiful, so spectacularly well formed, so gracefully adapted to their own particular habitats, that you can’t help but marvel at the infinite splendor of nature. But other times—well, let’s just say that splendor may not be quite the right word for it.
Look, here’s the thing about Evolution: It means well, but it’s not exactly thinking everything through. People often assume that Evolution has some intention—that organisms turned out the way they did for a reason or in accordance with some gradual improvement plan. But it doesn’t really work that way. In reality, Evolution is more like your generally agreeable but somewhat oblivious high school buddy, plodding along with no particular goal in mind. Like the rest of us, it’s basically just fumbling in the dark"
يمكن قرائته في ساعةعلى الأقل
الكتاب هو عبارة عن حوار كوميدي بين الكاتبة والتطور
الهدف منه هواظهار الجانب الآخر من التطور فليس هدف التطور هو التصميم الذكي بقدر ما هو مجرد عملية عشوائية ممكن ان ينتج عنها كائن ذو صفات مميزة او كائن ذو شكل غريب مع وظائف غريبة
وأقتبس من مقدمة الكاتبة
"Sometimes Evolution produces wonders: plants and animals so breathtakingly beautiful, so spectacularly well formed, so gracefully adapted to their own particular habitats, that you can’t help but marvel at the infinite splendor of nature. But other times—well, let’s just say that splendor may not be quite the right word for it.
Look, here’s the thing about Evolution: It means well, but it’s not exactly thinking everything through. People often assume that Evolution has some intention—that organisms turned out the way they did for a reason or in accordance with some gradual improvement plan. But it doesn’t really work that way. In reality, Evolution is more like your generally agreeable but somewhat oblivious high school buddy, plodding along with no particular goal in mind. Like the rest of us, it’s basically just fumbling in the dark"
يمكن قرائته في ساعةعلى الأقل
December 18, 2014
An amusing and distracting little book with lots of pictures of bizarre creatures past and present. Mostly present. There were pictures of animals I've never seen before, many which made me giggle, some that had me burst out laughing and some which made me wince. There is very little text and mostly pictures, lots of fun nonetheless!
September 26, 2014
This is a clever and funny collection of photographs of some of Nature's more obscure and bizarre creatures of all shapes and sizes, presented as a collection of photographs with accompanying dialogue between an unnamed narrator and Evolution. Evolution, often excited and anxious to show off it's newest creations, is often questioned, much to the reader's delight, by the narrator who is trying to figure out what exactly Evolution had in mind. Separated into chapters such as "Awkward Solutions" and "Half-Assed Attempts", we are presented with a wide array of creatures that does make one wonder what exactly was going on in the evolutionary process.
One of the reasons I enjoyed this book as much as I did is that I was introduced to a variety of animals that I had never heard of before, and while they are presented in a comedic fashion, I found myself researching a little more about them, beyond the humorous information presented in the book. One such creature is the whitemargin stargazer, a fish found in the Indopacific oceans, which I think looks like something that actually belongs Beyond the Wall.
Mara Grunbaum has done a great job of presenting some of nature's more unique specimens, disguising some very interesting information about them is a humorous format that is both comical and informative. Check out her tumblr at wtfevolution.tumblr.com for even more of Evolution's craziness.
One of the reasons I enjoyed this book as much as I did is that I was introduced to a variety of animals that I had never heard of before, and while they are presented in a comedic fashion, I found myself researching a little more about them, beyond the humorous information presented in the book. One such creature is the whitemargin stargazer, a fish found in the Indopacific oceans, which I think looks like something that actually belongs Beyond the Wall.
Mara Grunbaum has done a great job of presenting some of nature's more unique specimens, disguising some very interesting information about them is a humorous format that is both comical and informative. Check out her tumblr at wtfevolution.tumblr.com for even more of Evolution's craziness.
April 14, 2015
There are many things I don't do on the interwebs. I don't twitter, I don't instagram, I don't tumbl. But occasionally, like when I read this book, which started as a tumblr thingy, I realize that I'm missing a few hidden gems out there amongst all the terrible poetry and body shaming.
Things like this:
This pelican looks like a urinal. Evolution, go home--you're drunk.
Photographs of actual animals that somehow evolved and survive are accompanied by clever captions -- comments addressed to Evolution and conversations with Evolution (who sounds kind of like Bill & Ted in my head and when I just have to read them to my kids).
Things like this:
This pelican looks like a urinal. Evolution, go home--you're drunk.
Photographs of actual animals that somehow evolved and survive are accompanied by clever captions -- comments addressed to Evolution and conversations with Evolution (who sounds kind of like Bill & Ted in my head and when I just have to read them to my kids).
June 4, 2015
This was cute and funny quick read. The pictures were great and the little blurbs were snappy, snarky and entertaining. I wasn't overly into evolution being personified and it seemed that evolution just kind of threw things together quickly, which isn't the actual case. Yes, I understand that was part of the joke, but I feel it took away from the biology of it.
I learned a bit and I am definitely going to be looking stuff up online to learn more about the animals featured and to see more pictures of them.
A solid three star book. I would recommend it.
I learned a bit and I am definitely going to be looking stuff up online to learn more about the animals featured and to see more pictures of them.
A solid three star book. I would recommend it.
October 30, 2014
This was really funny! I enjoyed this so much! Imagine being able to have a conversation with "Evolution" and be able to ask them "What were you thinking when you created that animal???" If you are looking for a quick laugh, this little book will do it!
June 19, 2014
3.5 stars. A very funny way to showcase some of evolution's strangest developments! I just wish there had been more facts about each creature. :)
March 20, 2015
Si seguís el Tumblr, este libro es un «must»: una recopilación de las mejores barbaridades y chistes evolutivos.
November 11, 2019
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
First, this book is ridiculously funny. I mean really funny. However, I found I wanted more. I wanted to know more about all those fabulous organisms.
While some organisms had small post-its with interesting facts, others had nothing. It would have been nice if there had been post-its for each organism. For example, there was no information, no little facts about the bald uakari (a monkey). It’s so unusual looking – long hair, bald head and bright red face. I had to look it up. I did many online searches while reading this book.
I did learn about some incredibly beautiful organisms. Many I’d never heard of before. Unbelievably beautiful, and lots of those were insects! The mirror spider, wattle cup caterpillar, the peacock mantis shrimp, the peacock spider, and the jewel caterpillar. Oh, and the nudibranchs! Gorgeous. Then there were the birds – breathtakingly beautiful. Guianan cock-of-the-rock, the king vulture (really), and the various birds-of-paradise (you’ve got to see the tail of the Wilson’s bird-of-paradise).
At the end of the book, there is an appendix with the conservation status of each organism. I found this most interesting and was really happy it was included.
Overall, I absolutely recommend this book. The photos alone make it worthwhile.
First, this book is ridiculously funny. I mean really funny. However, I found I wanted more. I wanted to know more about all those fabulous organisms.
While some organisms had small post-its with interesting facts, others had nothing. It would have been nice if there had been post-its for each organism. For example, there was no information, no little facts about the bald uakari (a monkey). It’s so unusual looking – long hair, bald head and bright red face. I had to look it up. I did many online searches while reading this book.
I did learn about some incredibly beautiful organisms. Many I’d never heard of before. Unbelievably beautiful, and lots of those were insects! The mirror spider, wattle cup caterpillar, the peacock mantis shrimp, the peacock spider, and the jewel caterpillar. Oh, and the nudibranchs! Gorgeous. Then there were the birds – breathtakingly beautiful. Guianan cock-of-the-rock, the king vulture (really), and the various birds-of-paradise (you’ve got to see the tail of the Wilson’s bird-of-paradise).
At the end of the book, there is an appendix with the conservation status of each organism. I found this most interesting and was really happy it was included.
Overall, I absolutely recommend this book. The photos alone make it worthwhile.
October 2, 2017
3.5/5 - wish there was a bit more information about the creatures showcased.
This had been on my plan to read list for quite a while, as I discovered the "Wtf, evolution?" tumblr blog a few years back and absolutely loved it.
It's a funny book depicting evolution's weirdest plants and animals and trying to make sense of them, with no success. According to this, Evolution is just a drunk guy who loves to experiment and has no sense of limit.
This had been on my plan to read list for quite a while, as I discovered the "Wtf, evolution?" tumblr blog a few years back and absolutely loved it.
It's a funny book depicting evolution's weirdest plants and animals and trying to make sense of them, with no success. According to this, Evolution is just a drunk guy who loves to experiment and has no sense of limit.
April 3, 2015
Really entertaining while also showcasing a lot of weird organisms that I hadn't heard of before. It's a little annoying that evolution is anthropomorphized since it reinforces the misconception that evolution is purposeful.
April 28, 2015
A delightful, light-hearted, humorous yet educational read that introduced me to many animals I wasn't aware of, with quite a few being fairly recent discoveries. Good quality photos of the animals accompany the descriptions.
October 8, 2019
Hilarious AND educational - much more available at http://wtfevolution.tumblr.com/
UPDATE: Reread, and it remains just as funny and informative as the first time - the perfect bathroom book!
UPDATE: Reread, and it remains just as funny and informative as the first time - the perfect bathroom book!
January 3, 2016
What a clever book. All about science and you can hardly notice. A light hearted fun book filled with beautiful yet weird and curious animals and dialogue between Evolution and their friend.
I would give this to my 15yo sister in law, it's great for all ages!
I would give this to my 15yo sister in law, it's great for all ages!
January 28, 2015
Can I have more than one spirit animal? There are so many I feel connected to. I'm going with the platypus for now, because I like the name.
January 14, 2018
I did not get the humor of the book, and the stock photos are quite chaotic. It might have been a nice blog post, but this looks like a waste of paper.
February 24, 2018
“Hey evolution! Have you read this book about all the weirdest stuff you’ve ever produced?”
“What!? Weird!? None of the animals I’ve made are weird! They’re perfect for all their specific niches!”
“Hm, I don’t know, Evolution. You may want to check it out. Maybe you’ll learn something?”
“Preposterous! I’ll just go and put some noses on animals that have no need for them.”
Everything has its purpose in the evolutionary armsrace, but some things are just plain impossible to understand. This book is a hilarious account of all the strangest animals that we know of. Enjoyable for the biology buff and layman alike.
“What!? Weird!? None of the animals I’ve made are weird! They’re perfect for all their specific niches!”
“Hm, I don’t know, Evolution. You may want to check it out. Maybe you’ll learn something?”
“Preposterous! I’ll just go and put some noses on animals that have no need for them.”
Everything has its purpose in the evolutionary armsrace, but some things are just plain impossible to understand. This book is a hilarious account of all the strangest animals that we know of. Enjoyable for the biology buff and layman alike.
March 10, 2021
The natural world is full of beautiful, admirable creatures full of grace and poise who inspire thoughts about the ordered loveliness of the world. None of those creatures are in this book. WTF Evolution celebrates instead the hideous, the absurd, the design choices that would get one-star user reviews of they appeared in Spore's user gallery. The content ranges from animals with grostesque appearances or unwieldly lifestyles, to sections having fun with animals' appearances -- those with flamboyantly colored rear ends, for instance. This is book replete with absurd animal trivia ("What is the only venomous primate and why does it keep venom in its ARMPITS") and humor.
July 29, 2021
Suppose the book's objective is to entertain with the animal wonders to people who do not know anything about it and do not have time to read long treatises. The goal is fulfilled. I`m a biologist in the zoology area, and I know many interesting things that could be used and addressed more with the animals here present. However, I know that many people do not want a long treatise because many do not have the objective of understanding the complete life of the animal but simply knowing that it exists. Then it's perfect. My score was based on that perspective. However, if it were a book with an objective public like me, I will demand more content.
January 2, 2022
A cute coffee table book that can easily be picked up and put down, read in any order. The book features page after page of full color close-up photos featuring the weirdest examples of life our planet has produced over the course of evolution.
Each picture is accompanied by a caption of the lifeform's name, a quick factoid, and a bit of dialogue back and forth between the book's unnamed narrator and the character of Evolution, treated like an eccentric, overworked artist, trying to explain their vision of the many weird things seen in nature.
January 5, 2021
Moderately amusing picture book about some of the weirder species evolution has produced in the course of time. There's not a lot of actual information provided in the book but the author wants to make the point that evolution is not directed. It works on what its got & its solutions are not the best, they're just good enough.
If I were 9, I'd probably give it 3+ stars. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone older than 12 and their parents.
If I were 9, I'd probably give it 3+ stars. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone older than 12 and their parents.
May 4, 2023
This was cute! I picked it up on a whim because I used to read tons of animal books and want to get back to that. In that regard, it was perfect. It's a lighthearted and casual display of some of the most unique animals alive today. I can't fault it for doing what it set out to do, though I wish it had more facts instead of only the funny banter of a narrator and personified Evolution. The pictures were great, and it was a fun, quick read. 10/10 if you like photos of animal friends.
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