The world’s most marvellous ridiculous animals.

The process of evolution through natural selection has thrown up some pretty marvellous ridiculous creations. This book features over 50 of our planet’s most absurd, flamboyant and downright unbelievable creatures.

Over multiple generations, all of the animals in our wild and wonderful world have been unknowingly shaped by their environment. Each of their apparently ridiculous adaptations is a finely-honed tool to help them succeed in their particular surroundings.

As we go about our lucky lives, we must each adapt to (and make the best of) the changes and conditions in the world around us. You, me, fireflies, fennec foxes and flamingos – we’re all here thanks to a long line of survivors and thrivers, countless individuals who adapted over billions of years to allow us to be here right now. Every one of us is pretty marvellous (and just a little bit ridiculous) in our own particular way.

The World’s Most Ridiculous Animals is published in the UK, USA and Canada by Quarto (July 2022), and in Australia by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (July 2022).

The World’s Most Ridiculous Animals was listed as a Notable Book by the Children’s Book Council of Australia in 2023.

The World’s Most Pointless Animals (2021) is also available.