As our closest relatives in the animal world, monkeys have always fascinated and amused humans in equal measure. Monkeys is an outstanding collection of photographs showing these complex, intelligent animals in their natural habitat.

The book is divided into chapters on Old World monkeys, New World monkeys, monkey relatives, anatomy, behaviour and family and the young. Monkeys features a wide variety of monkeys and apes, including baboons, gorillas, orangutans, macaques, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, marmosets, gibbons, mandrills and chimpanzees.

The smallest monkey is the pygmy marmoset, which can be just 117 millimetres (4.6in) in length with a 172-millimetre (6.8in) tail and weighing just over 100 grams (3.5oz); while the massive Grauer’s gorilla can weigh over 180 kilos (400lbs).

With full captions explaining how the species act in a group, communicate, hunt and feed, and rear its young, Monkeys is a brilliant examination in 230 outstanding colour photographs of this remarkable species.

About the Author:

Tom Jackson is a leading natural history writer based in the United Kingdom. As an author and contributor, he has worked on more than 60 books. A zoology graduate from the University of Bristol, he has also worked as a zookeeper and in safari parks in Zimbabwe.

How does a mudskipper fish manage to “walk” on land? Why is the Hoatzin also known as ‘The Stinkbird’? And once the female Pipa toad has laid her eggs, where does she put them? The answers?

The mudskipper can “walk” using its pectoral fins, the Hoatzin has a unique digestive system which gives the bird a manure-like odour, and the female Pipa Toad embeds its eggs on its back where they develop to the adult stage. Illustrated throughout with outstanding colour photographs, Strange Animals presents the most unusual aspects of 100 of the most unusual species. The selection spans a broad spectrum of wildlife, from the tallest land-living mammal, the giraffe, to the light, laughing chorus of Australian kookaburra birds, from the intelligence of the Bottlenose dolphin to octopuses that change colour when they dream, to the slow pace of the three-toed sloth. Arranged geographically, the photographs are accompanied by fascinating captions, which explain the quirky characteristics of each entry.

Including egg-laying mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, cannibalistic insects and other invertebrates, Strange Animals is a compelling introduction to some of nature’s most curious beasts.

About the Author:

Tom Jackson is a leading natural history writer based in the United Kingdom. As an author and contributor, he has worked on more than 60 books. A zoology graduate from the University of Bristol, he has also worked as a zookeeper and in safari parks in Zimbabwe.