Mammals, warm-blooded, big-brained, and lactating, are the most highly organized animal group on the planet and, despite their relatively small numbers, the dominant one. Split off from reptiles over 200 million ears ago, they now range over the earth in myriad forms from rodents to whales to primates. Humans are but one subspecies of mammals, but we have much in common with even the most distant of our cousins, and examining their biology and sociology reveals much about ourselves. This volume collects fascinating articles about mammals by award-winning Times journalists, carefully organized so that each builds upon the principles gleaned in the preceding article. The result provides fundamental truths about the way our world and its mammalian inhabitants work. In order of ascending brain power, the book reveals the bizarre behaviors of the rarest of creatures and little-known facts about common animals, from naked mole rats that colonize like bees and the two-foot-tall Himalyan flying squirrel, thought to be extinct, to the randy peace-keeping practices of bonobo chimpanzees of Zaire and the brutal and cunning courtship of dolphins, who depend on an exceedingly complicated social structure to get the job done. Among the startling discoveries of odd animals are bats who lactate and a giant, man-size sloth that may still exist in the Amazon rainforest. Focused chapters include: surprisingly cowardly lions, hyenas, and other cat relatives; returning wolves - and the landmark journalism on their reintroduction to Yellowstone Park - as well as their cousins foxes and African wild dogs; seafaring mammals such as the placid manatees and disappearing right whales; primates; and finally, a look at ourselves and how we relate to others in our mammalian class regarding parenting, play, aggression, emotionality, sociability, and more. With the wonderful illustrations that originally accompanied the articles, and introductions to each chapter by Nicholas Wade, who guides readers through the maze of mammals with erudition and insight, this book will fascinate naturalists, biologists, and animal lovers of every stripe.

主編尼古拉斯·魏德

尼古拉斯·魏德是《紐約時報》的撰稿人。他早年曾作過《自然》雜誌駐華盛頓的通訊員和代理編輯，1990至1996年間，他擔任過《紐約時報》“科學時代”欄目的編輯。他發錶的主要著作有：《最後的實驗》、《諾貝爾的決鬥》、《真理的叛逆》（與威廉·J·布勞德閤著）和《病入膏肓的世界》。他齣生於英國，現居美國新澤西州。