I, Mammal : The Story of What Makes Us Mammals

Humans are mammals, but what is a mammal? What traits tie this incredibly diverse group together? And what does it mean for humans to have more in common with a horse and an elephant than with a parrot, a snake or a frog? After a misdirected football struck new father Liam Drew in a uniquely mammalian part of his anatomy, he began to question what it meant to be a mammal. In I, Mammal, Drew takes us on a tour of where mammals came from and how they evolved the traits that set them apart from all other creatures. As he explores the emergence of hair, milk and big brains, of molar teeth, elaborate ears and attentive parenting, he entwines tales of zoological peculiarities with personal reflections to reveal that our mammalian-ness is a central part of who we are. And in doing so, Drew binds us a little tighter to the other five-and-a-half thousand species of mammal with which we share the planet. Book jacket.