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

Shortlisted for the 2018 Royal Society Investment Science Book Prize'Endlessly fascinating.' - Bill Bryson 'Eye-opening, informative and very funny!' - Chris Packham'Well-informed and downright funny' - Richard DawkinsHistory 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. In The Unexpected Truth About Animals Zoologist 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.

Shortlisted for the 2018 Royal Society Investment Science Book Prize
''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.

In The Unexpected Truth About Animals Zoologist 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.

• | Author: Lucy Cooke
• | Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
• | Publication Date: May 31, 2018
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781784161903
• | ISBN-10: 178416190X