Our earth is home to millions of species, yet most of us only know a few, often overlooking some very fascinating some very fascinating species that cohabit this planet with us. Ross Piper through his book Animal Earth seeks to bring attention to the several species that the author feels do not get the attention they deserve. In the views of Piper, humans have so far cataloged about 1.5 million different species, yet there may be more than 200 million still waiting to be discovered.
The book shows the reader the colorful world of these animals, and also includes information on the species that are so brilliantly photographed and displayed in the book. Piper mentioned in an interview with Slate:
Most of the time, if you’re watching things on television, it’s just about mammals or other vertebrates. But that’s only a tiny fraction of animal diversity. I want to show people that animals are enormously diverse, not just in how they look but how they live.
One can get an idea of the fascinating lives of these animals and insects from a bit of trivia. The Ribbon worms, or Nemertea for example, are the longest animals in the world. There have been reports of one being 180 feet, while some of them never grow beyond 0.02 inches.
Animal Earth: The Amazing Diversity of Living Forms
Via Slate
