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In this menagerie of the misunderstood, zoologist Lucy Cooke explores centuries of animals myths, revealing the fascinating and often hilarious truths behind some of the strangest animal theories.

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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.

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"A riot of facts....Cooke scores a series of goals with style and panache." James Marriott The Times 20171021

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