Publisher:London, UK : Bloomsbury Sigma, 2017.
Copyright Date:©2017
ISBN: 9781472922892
Characteristics: 336 pages :,illustrations.
This book was recommended to me by one of the staff at the University of Alberta, and after reading it I can confirm two things: 1) Platypuses are definitely out there on the weird end of the evolutionary tree. 2) Mammals are extremely interesting beasts, and I am quite glad the circumstances that brought the author to write this book happened, but at the same time I'm sorry that it did happen to him - that's gotta hurt!
Dr. Drew essentially takes the reader on quest to discover what makes a mammal, a mammal. In this book he deals with subjects such as why the male gonads are outside the body, the early investigations about what is a mammal, the role of the 'Y' chromosome in being male, sex in the mammal kingdom, the function of the placenta, nursing, how mammals learn to be caregivers, the mammalian family tree, and much more.
Now while some may consider this to be a very dry subject, Dr. Drew makes it well worth the read as he intersperses numerous examples, real life events, and a good deal spot-on humour to make it an enjoyable read.
I believe this book would make a wonderful supplementary text for any 1st year comparative anatomy course (at least one dealing with mammals), and would suggest that even if you aren't in school, you are a mammal (at least I assume you are), and this is the story of how you came to be what you are.
A great read!
