Lucas Riera - Evolved: An Illustrated Guide to Evolution

Editor Sophie Park es Project Art Editors Polly Appleton , Jaileen K aur Acquisitions Editor Fay Evan s Managing Ar t E ditor Romi Chakr abort y US Senior Editor Shannon Beat ty Product ion Edi tor Rob Dunn Product ion Cont roller Isabe ll Schar t Jacket D esigner Dheeraj Arora Deputy Art Direct or Mabel Chan Publishing D irect or Sarah La rt er Consultant Professor Michael Ri tchie Proofreader and ind exer Susie Rae Originally p ublished in 2020 by Mos quito Boo ks Barcelona First Americ an Ed ition, 20 Published i n the Unit ed Sta tes by D K Publishing 145 0 Broadway , Su ite 801 , New Y or k, NY Tex t 2020 Luc as Rie ra Illust rations 2020 ng el Svobo da 2020 Mos quito Books Barcelona 21 22 2 3 24 25 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 001 32527 Sep/2021 All ri ghts reserv ed. Without limiting t he right s u nder the copyrigh t reserv ed above, no part of this p ublicatio n may be re produced, store d in or i ntroduced into a re trieval syst em, or tr ansmitt ed, in any form , or by any me ans (e lect ronic, me chanica l, photocopying, recording, or otherw ise) , witho ut the prior writt en permis sion of the copy right o wner . Published i n Great Bri tain by Dorl ing Kinde rsley L imited. A cat alog r ecord for t his book is availabl e from the Libra ry of Congr ess. ISBN: 97 8- 0- 40-44 -2 DK books are available at spe cial disc ounts when purch ased in bulk for s ales promo tions, premi ums, fu nd-raising, or educationa l use. F or deta ils, conta ct : DK Publ ishing Spec ial Markets , 14 50 Broadway , Su ite 801 , New Y or k, NY SpecialS ales@dk.c om Printed and bound in China For the curious www. dk.com This b ook was made with Fore st Stewardship Council cer ti ed p aper one small st ep i n DK s c ommitment to a sustai nable fut ure. For m ore informat ion go to ww w. dk.com/ our -g reen-pledge

Lucas R i er a ngel Sv oboda

Te eth Fea thers Fins Antennae Beaks Defe nses Eyes Surprising finds Legs Fingers Intro duction

Hair Colors Mr. Linnaeus and his obsession with org aniza tion Fo ssils Fa st evo lution Scales Claws Wings Glossary Index

Intro duction Evolution is a proce ss that has take n place over thousands o f years. Howeve r, we sometimes talk about it as if it is now over as if, th ough evolution can expla in why any give n species is the way it is today , the same species wont continue changing and adapting in the futur e. Evolution is an idea put forward by scienti sts such as Charles Darwin about how living things adapt ( ch ange) during their time on Earth. Its sometimes a dicult idea to understand, though, beca use we arent usually able to see it happening befo re our eyes. So, what is evolution? Y ou might nd it useful to think of it as a never -en ding fashion show with all living things walking down a catwalk. The evolution c atwalk is full of dieren t feathers, paws, legs, patterns, and colors. The feature s that are useful and improv e an animals chance of survival in some way , get to continue to walk on the catwalk. Ho wever, the features that are less help ful or dont serve a purpose are made to leav e the catwalk. This is evolution: a never -en ding experiment where the best of each species survives and thrives in their environment long enough to pass their f eatures onto the nex t generation. This book talks about the dierent fe atures of many animals, and e xplains how these feature s aect why some animals survive and some dont. Essentially , evol ution means that the features that have co ntinued to exist in animals hav e done so because they help to impro ve something that the animals need to do to live, such as hunting, y ing, spotting food, roaring, running, or swimming. Basically , an y feature that helps animals to survive stay s on the catwalk. If owls were not able to ro tate their neck up to 270 to scan the ground and y without making a sound, they may not have gotten eno ugh to eat to survive. Their prey co uld have heard them swooping and run away . If giraes didnt hav e such long necks, they wouldnt be able to re ach their food high in the trees and would ha ve died out. If golden ea gles had to close their eyes to protect them from the wind when diving at speeds of up to 150 mph (320 kph) , they would crash or not be able to see their prey , and would die. A specially ev olved see- through eyelid protects their eyes as the y zoom toward their pre y. The re are endless exam ples of incredible evolution. Like clo thes on a catwalk, what is fashionable today is not necessarily what people will wear in the future. Other items will be designed that t better or use improv ed fabrics that ke ep us warm in the winter and cool in the summer . I n a similar way , mor e exible paws, eyes that can see farther into the distance, or legs that can run fa ster, will replace older designs of these f eatures in animals. This process hasnt nished it is always happening. Animals as we know them today will continue to change and improv e forever. Welc ome to the wonderful world of ev olution and adaptation! LR

Antennae are very sensitive feelers. Generally , th ey can be found on the heads of arthropods ( a g roup of animals that includes insects, arachnids, and crustaceans) . Animals use them to get information about their surroundings, since antennae can touch, taste, and sense movement. Longhorn beetles get their name from their spectacular antennae, which are usually longer than their body. Some insects use their antennae as their main smelling organ. Many butteries and moths use their antennae to smell the plants that they eat. Other insects, such as wasps, use their antennae to sense prey.

Some animals in the mollusk family , such as slugs and snails, have two pairs of tentacles on their head, which are also called antennae. One pair is used to feel and taste, while the other pair smells and senses light. Using their antennae to smell is very useful to insects. Without their sense of smell, they couldnt reco gnize other insects of the same species, and this would mean they would struggle to nd mates to reproduce with. Many antennae can also sense things other than smells. For exam ple, some c an sense humidity in the air , the speed the wind is blowing, back gr ound noise, or the temperature outside. Crustaceans, which include crabs, lobsters, and wood lice, hav e two pairs of antennae: a small primary pair and a longer secondary pair .