About the Author

Graeme D. Ruxton is professor of biology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Norman Owen-Smith is Emeritus Research Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand and fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa.

Reviews

"Packed with glossy photos of stomping dinosaurs, belly-flopping whales, colossal squid and even prodigious pumpkins. Both fossils and modern species fill the gallery of giants, and while some gargantuan species are extinct, Mr. Ruxton has created a menagerie of modern organisms that will make any reader do a double-take."—Riley Black, Wall Street Journal

“Although the numerous illustrations and pictures (of varying elucidative value) provide moments of unquenchable biological wanderlust for species past, the strength of this book lies in the why rather than the what”— D Cornish, The Biologist

“We are dwarfed by many animals, from the blue whale to the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. Size poses its own physical challenges as expertly explained by Graeme Ruxton in a book chock-full of fun facts about the biggest animals and the reasons for their success or failure in the natural world.”—Frans de Waal, author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

"This thoroughly researched and beautifully presented book not only invites us into awe; its pages also celebrate the dynamic living processes that gave rise to all creatures, great and small."—David George Haskell, author of The Songs of Trees

"The biggest animals and plants in nature command our attention. They are the monsters of our nightmares, or the objects of our awe. Nature’s Giants is a wonderful tour of their oversized world, combining gorgeous photographs and illustrations with the latest insights that science has to offer about how life can get so large."—Carl Zimmer, author of She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity

“An attractive and accessible natural history of large organisms.”—Noel A. Heim, Stanford University