Astonishing Animals: Extraordinary Creatures and the Fantastic Worlds They Inhabit

by Tim Flannery, Peter Schouten (Illustrator)

Sumptuous birds of paradise, amazing soft shell turtles, frogs that look like tomatoes, and terrifying fish (including the deep-water angler fish from Finding Nemo) are just some of the extraordinary creatures that can be found in Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten’s new book Astonishing Animals.

Superbly illustrated in lifelike full color paintings, Astonishing Animals details ninety of the world’s most amazing animals from around the world. In this book you will find the Hairy Seadevil, the spectacular Sulawesi Naked Bat, and in the depths of the limestone caves in Slovenia, the Olm, a pink, four-legged, sightless salamander that lives for a hundred years. In fascinating vignettes, Flannery offers the true evolutionary tale of how each of these bizarre creatures came to look the way they do. Alongside each historical account is a stunning hand painted color reproduction (life-size in the original painting) by Schouten.

Filled with purple-faced apes, jagged toothed dolphins, antlered lizards, Astonishing Animals is a remarkable collection of the world’s most incredible creatures and the stories behind their remarkable survival into a modern age.

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Natural History, Biology, Wildlife

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2004

About the author

Tim Flannery is one of Australia's leading thinkers and writers.

An internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist, he has published more than 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers and many books. His books include the landmark works The Future Eaters and The Weather Makers, which has been translated into more than 20 languages and in 2006 won the NSW Premiers Literary Prizes for Best Critical Writing and Book of the Year.

He received a Centenary of Federation Medal for his services to Australian science and in 2002 delivered the Australia Day address. In 2005 he was named Australian Humanist of the Year, and in 2007 honoured as Australian of the Year.

He spent a year teaching at Harvard, and is a founding member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, and the National Geographic Society's representative in Australasia. He serves on the board of WWF International (London and Gland) and on the sustainability advisory councils of Siemens (Munich) and Tata Power (Mumbai).

In 2007 he co-founded and was appointed Chair of the Copenhagen Climate Council, a coalition of community, business, and political leaders who came together to confront climate change.

Tim Flannery is currently Professor of Science at Maquarie University, Sydney.

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book years ago, about when it was first published. The note from the introduction that one of the animals was fictional stuck with me, a sort of irritating uncertainty since I didn't remember any of the creatures standing out as especially unlikely. It is interesting to note that at that time, I don't think I even thought to google the answer, and I wonder if it would have even been readily findable if I had. Anyway, I saw it again at the library recently while looking for other books and decided to read it again, and to finally figure out the fake animal. My initial plan to google all of them proved too daunting, so I ended up browsing reviews here until I found the answer. It is the crested basketfish; on reflection there are some details in its description and illustration that could make it a bit doubtful, but it also feels like cheating to have the fake be one of the deepsea fish, given how bizarre they are; the entry immediately after it, the stoplight loosejaw, has functioning jaws that are mostly detached from its body. Anyway, the illustrations were so beautiful that I read it again. I could do with a bit more hard data on the various animals, and especially maps showing their ranges would be nice, but otherwise quite nice. The writing is a bit dull or even repetitive at times, like all the reiterations of "who knows what the female finds attractive in the male's fantastical display" when talking about various birds of paradise, but otherwise serviceable and fairly informative.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! Short pieces about fascinating animals, the pieces are quick to read and are accompanied by beautiful drawings/artwork. I just wished there was a little more animal diversity, the book describes mostly birds and monkeys.

[Dollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has short descriptions of a few dozen rare animals, many of them endangered. I especially liked the beautiful illustrations by Peter Schouten. Many of these animals I’d never heard of and I’m sure I’ll never see them, so it was interesting to read about them. The author included one fictitious animal in the book, so I spent my time reading it trying to figure out what animal it was. I’ll figure it out eventually with help from Google.

[Ushan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has portraits of 97 vertebrate animals and a short essay about each. They are some of the bizarrest vertebrates in the world, including a blind salamander from Slovenian caves that survived without food in a fridge for 12 years, several species of oddly shaped ghostpipefish from Australian reefs, a blind freshwater dolphin from the Indus river, the world's smallest mammal (a bumblebee-sized bat), lizard, frog, bird, and more. The preface says that of the 97 species, one is fictitious; I don't know which it is; the few I checked on the Internet are real.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stunning book is sure to grab anyone interested in nature or animals. A brief description of some of the most unusual birds, mammals, and fish in the world is accompanied by a full color painting of the creature to rival 19th century books that only the wealthy owned. If this weren't enticing enough, look through it with a child- the authors freely admit in the introduction that one of these animals is fake, and the speculation on which one is worth hours of debate. One of the most stunning books I've seen in years.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

DO judge this book by its cover--its awesome, cute, delightful cover. Look at that guy they put on the front. Hello. There are more illustrations inside which are just like the one on the front here except of other cute and weird animals. There is also some good descriptive writing that just might astonish you! I heart astonishing animals.

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has close to the finest collection of animal paintings I've seen. It also has the best short (about six page) history of life on earth I've seen. It's great for reading to kids, being a light romp through nature's greatest absurdities, explained in a way to keep everybody entertained. And my nomination for wildest creature is--the Wolftrap Seadevil.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great! I love the combo of Flannery & Schouten. I couldn't figure out which one was the fake though.

[George Polansky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well illustrated guide to animals that are rarely written about.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book with pictures and some details of unusual creatures - mammal, bird and fish - with extraordinary colors or appearances or appendages. The pictures and facts include platypuses, birds of paradise, chameleons, etc. Some have few details since they have been recently discovered and are not well-observed. Occasionally the note reports that only one or two have been sighted.

[Bill Leach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flannery presents 97 animals, most so obscure that even well read naturalists probably have never heard of 90 percent of them.

While each is depicted with a painting, one is inevitably lead to the web to find out more about each creature and see additional images.

He includes one fictional species and challenges the reader to discover which it is.

[Tom McGlynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best and most well written books on this topic and in this style I’ve read. Occasionally funny, beautifully illustrated and written with all the passion and wonder of an 19th Century explorer, much of the information in this book sounds too good to be true - but true it is. A real hidden gem.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great informative and humorous blurbs about each unusual creature! Very witty. Amazing artwork by a talented wildlife artist!

[Foggygirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impulse buy but a great one.