Those iconic birds made even more famous by the 2005 film March of the Penguins, penguins conjure up images of caring parents, devoted couples and tough survivors. In Penguins: The Animal Answer Guide, Gerald Kooyman and Wayne Lynch inform readers about all seventeen species, including the Emperor Penguin made famous by the film. Do you know why penguins live only in the southern hemisphere? Or that they can be ferocious predators? Why are penguins black and white? Do they play? Penguins: The Animal Answer Guide answers these questions and many more, illuminating the fascinating biology and evolutionary history of these odd, flightless birds. Kooyman has studied penguins for decades and Lynch's photographs of penguins in the wild are the best ever captured. The result of their combined effort is an engaging book that answers every penguin question you've ever had.
Gerald L. Kooyman is a professor emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and is the world's foremost expert on emperor penguins. Wayne Lynch is Canada's most published wildlife photographer. His books include Owls of the United States and Canada: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior and Polar Bears: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior, both published by Johns Hopkins.
"The writing is crisp and often witty and entertaining. These characteristics make it appealing to professional ornithologists as well as enthusiastic children – it would be great bedtime reading for any penguin lover [...] Highly recommended."
– Choice
"In an easy-reading question-and-answer format, Kooyman and Lynch pack a huge amount of information into this volume, which covers a wide array of topics [...] As a penguin biologist, I was surprised how much I learned reading Penguins that I had not already known. For penguin enthusiasts, Penguins: The Animal Answer Guide is a must read that will, thanks to Lynch's spectacular photographs, be thoroughly thumbed through by the whole family. Likewise, this book should be required reading for those doing penguin outreach or informal education."
– Heather J. Lynch – Quarterly Review of Biology