INTRODUCTION MARVELOUS MOTION May the Force Be Mostly with You CHAPTER ONE LAND CROSSINGS Walking Running and Hopping Slow-Mo Mover The Fastest by Far Nonstop Hop CHAPTER TWO KEEPING A LOW PROFILE Crawling Life on a Leaf Slimy Slippery and Stuck Weaving Ways to Move Shape-Shifter CHAPTER THREE GOING UP Climbing Swinging and Jumping Go Gecko Go It’s Swing-Time A Bounding Bloodsucker CHAPTER FOUR STAYING SKY-HIGH Gliding Flapping and Hovering Surfing the Wind A V-ery Great Way to Fly A Pro at Staying Put CHAPTER FIVE NO SINKING ALLOWED Rowing Walking on Water and Staying Buoyant Whirl Twirl and Swirl Water Wizard Big Mouth Bigger Liver CHAPTER SIX UNDERWATER EXPERTS Undulating Using Hydrofoils and Shooting with Jet Propulsion Functional Flowy Fins Flying Through Water The Spaceship of the Sea CONCLUSION THE NEXT STEP SELECT SOURCES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 61 62
Introduction MARVELOUS MOTION The kangaroo hops huge distances but never gets tired The flea is as small as a pencil-point but jumps high up to the back of a passing dog The albatross rarely flaps its wings but soars in the air for hours The fishing spider is as big as an adult person’s palm but walks on top of the lake Animals of all shapes and sizes must move their lives depend on it They need to find food or escape from becoming food They need to mate They may need to migrate or defend their territories Whatever the reasons animals are always traveling from place to place and they do so in many amazing ways In this book you’ll meet a collection of animals that move differently You’ll meet those that live on land in air and in water Those that use feet fins or feathers to walk swim or fly You’ll learn about movements powered by muscles waving hairs or flowing liquids Some of these animals are the best at what they do like the can’t catch-me cheetah or the wrist-twisting gibbon Others are wonderful examples of the travel techniques of lots of similar animals like the wing-flapping Canada goose or the fin-undulating triggerfish Yet others seem utterly bizarre like the slime-slipping snail or the rocket-booster squid but make perfect sense for how the animal lives Overall you’ll discover the main methods animals use to get from one spot to another 4
