Atlas Obscura: Wild Life: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders

From the curious minds of Atlas Obscura, authors of #1 NY Times bestselling Atlas Obscura & Gastro Obscura, comes unputdownable tour through the world's most extraordinary natural wonders & curiosities. Learn how dung beetles navigate by the stars & trees communicate through their roots. Meet one of the strongest animals in the world: the puny peacock mantis shrimp. Visit a 44,000 year old shrub, float along flying rivers, & explore a garbage dump teeming with endangered storks.

There are first person interviews: hear from a honey hunter & his avian partners, a scientist working to understand the hidden language of prairie dogs, an offshore radio DJ who is at the heart of the local fishing community. Examine old examples of bird song notation written on sheet music. 

Featuring over 500 extraordinary plants, animals, & natural phenomena with illustrations & photos on every page, first person interviews, & engaging infographics, the book takes readers around the globe, with stops in every continent---from Arctic deserts to lush jungles, to the deepest fathoms of the ocean, & into the heart of our densest cities.

In a time where the world that feels more knowable than ever, where can access anything with the click of a mouse or a swipe of a finger, & where nature documentaries are a dime a dozen, Wild Life finds a way to reinvigorate our send of wonder about the natural world.

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Cara Giaimo’s first book, Detector Dogs (with Christina Couch), was published by MIT Kids Press in 2022. She plays guitar in Sidebody.

Joshua Foer is the cofounder of Atlas Obscura. His book, Moonwalking with Einstein, was an international bestseller published in 37 languages.