Ebook: The Unexpected Truth about Animals: Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Wild Tales

'Endlessly fascinating.' -Bill Bryson'Eye-opening, informative and very funny!' -Chris Packham
'Well-informed and downright funny' -Richard Dawkins


History is full of strange animal stories invented by the brightest and most influential, from Aristotle to Disney. But when it comes to understanding animals, we’ve got a long way to go.

Whether we’re watching a viral video of romping baby pandas or looking at a picture of penguins ‘holding hands’, we often project our own values – innocence, abstinence, hard work – onto animals. So you’ve probably never considered that moose get drunk and that penguins are notorious cheats.

InThe Unexpected Truth About AnimalsZoologist Lucy unravels many such myths – that eels are born from sand, that swallows hibernate under water, and that bears gave birth to formless lumps that are licked into shape by their mothers – to show that the stories we create reveal as much about us as they do about the animals.

Astonishing, illuminating and laugh-out-loud funny.