Why Elephants Have Big Ears

"Provocative stabs at answering the really big questions regarding wildlife biology. . . . Lavers's prose is as comfortable as flannel sheets on a cold night and as crisp as starlight." — Kirkus Reviews , starred review "A book which evokes a deeper fascination for nature's marvels." —Richard Leakey, author of The Origin of Mankind Why Elephants Have Big Ears is the result of one man's lifelong quest to understand why the creatures of the earth appear and act as they do. In a wry manner and personal tone, Chris Lavers explores and solves some of nature's most challenging evolutionary mysteries, such as why birds are small and plentiful, why rivers and lakes are dominated by the few remaining large reptiles, why most of the large land-dwellers are mammals, and many more. " Why Elephants Have Big Ears expresses a wonderfully quirky curiosity about biology. Chris Lavers skillfully melds physiology, evolution, biomechanics, and ecology to answer questions almost too big to be asked. A delightful read." —Pat Shipman, Rhone-Poulenc Prize-winning co-author of The Wisdom of the Bones and author of Taking Wing "If you want to understand evolution, read this. A pachyderm of a book!" —David Bellamy, author of Bellamy's New World