Micro Life: Miracles of the Miniature World Revealed

336 Pages·2021·130.08 MB·English

by  DK

MICRO LIFE
000011__HHaallff__TTiittllee..iinndddd 11 1111//0066//22002211 1144::5544 000000--000000__EEnnddppaappeerrss..iinndddd 22 1111//0066//22002211 1144::3344
MICRO LIFE
MIRACLES OF THE MINIATURE WORLD REVEALED
First published in Great Britain in 2021 by
Dorling Kindersley Limited
DK, One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London SW11 7BW

The authorized representative in the EEA is Dorling Kindersley Verlag
GmbH. Arnulfstr. 124, 80636 Munich, Germany
DK LONDON
Copyright © 2021 Dorling Kindersley Limited
Senior Editor Dr Rob Houston Senior Art Editor Ina Stradins
A Penguin Random House Company
Editors Jemima Dunne, Tim Harris, Designers Simon Murrell, Francis Wong 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Annie Moss, Steve Setford, Illustrator Phil Gamble 001–316673–Oct/2021
Hannah Westlake Picture Researcher Laura Barwick
Production Editors Andy Hilliard, Gillian Reid Senior Jacket Designer Akiko Kato All rights reserved.
Senior Production Controller Meskerem Berhane Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into
Managing Editor Angeles Gavira Guerrero Managing Art Editor Michael Duffy a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler Art Director Karen Self mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior
Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf Design Director Phil Ormerod written permission of the copyright owner.
DK DELHI A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-2414-1275-6
Senior Editor Dharini Ganesh Project Art Editor Anjali Sachar
Editor Ishita Jha Senior Jacket Designer Suhita Dharamjit
Senior DTP Designer Jagtar Singh DTP Designers Jaypal Singh Chauhan, Rakesh Kumar Printed in China
Project Picture Researcher Aditya Katyal Picture Research Manager Taiyaba Khatoon
Senior Managing Editor Rohan Sinha Managing Art Editor Sudakshina Basu
Pre-production Manager Balwant Singh Production Manager Pankaj Sharma
Editorial Head Glenda R Fernandes Design Head Malavika Talukder www.dk.com
000022--000033__TTiittllee__PPaaggee..iinndddd 33 2288//0066//22002211 1177::5599 000044--000055__IImmpprriinntt..iinndddd 44 2299//0066//22002211 1166::0066
MICRO LIFE
MIRACLES OF THE MINIATURE WORLD REVEALED
First published in Great Britain in 2021 by
Dorling Kindersley Limited
DK, One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London SW11 7BW

The authorized representative in the EEA is Dorling Kindersley Verlag
GmbH. Arnulfstr. 124, 80636 Munich, Germany
DK LONDON
Copyright © 2021 Dorling Kindersley Limited
Senior Editor Dr Rob Houston Senior Art Editor Ina Stradins
A Penguin Random House Company
Editors Jemima Dunne, Tim Harris, Designers Simon Murrell, Francis Wong 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Annie Moss, Steve Setford, Illustrator Phil Gamble 001–316673–Oct/2021
Hannah Westlake Picture Researcher Laura Barwick
Production Editors Andy Hilliard, Gillian Reid Senior Jacket Designer Akiko Kato All rights reserved.
Senior Production Controller Meskerem Berhane Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into
Managing Editor Angeles Gavira Guerrero Managing Art Editor Michael Duffy a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler Art Director Karen Self mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior
Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf Design Director Phil Ormerod written permission of the copyright owner.
DK DELHI A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-2414-1275-6
Senior Editor Dharini Ganesh Project Art Editor Anjali Sachar
Editor Ishita Jha Senior Jacket Designer Suhita Dharamjit
Senior DTP Designer Jagtar Singh DTP Designers Jaypal Singh Chauhan, Rakesh Kumar Printed in China
Project Picture Researcher Aditya Katyal Picture Research Manager Taiyaba Khatoon
Senior Managing Editor Rohan Sinha Managing Art Editor Sudakshina Basu
Pre-production Manager Balwant Singh Production Manager Pankaj Sharma
Editorial Head Glenda R Fernandes Design Head Malavika Talukder www.dk.com
000022--000033__TTiittllee__PPaaggee..iinndddd 33 2288//0066//22002211 1177::5599 000044--000055__IImmpprriinntt..iinndddd 44 2299//0066//22002211 1166::0066
contents
introduction powering the body sensing and responding moving
10 scale in the micro world 72 energy release 100 sensing the environment 128 beating hairs
12 types of living organisms 74 using oxygen 102 antennae 130 Paramecium
14 macro life up close 76 mineral energy 104 sensing taste 132 crawling cells
78 fermentation energy 106 hearing sound 134 swimming with hairs
80 poisoned by oxygen 108 sensory cells in the ear 136 combs of cilia
getting nourishment
82 gas exchange 110 judging distance 138 simple muscles
84 breathing tubes 112 compound eyes 140 contracting muscles
18 solar-powered microbes 86 the gills of insects 114 producing colour 142 overcoming friction
20 absorbing light 88 mammal lungs 116 iridescence 144 smooth rowing
22 root hairs 90 carrying oxygen 118 producing light 146 controlling buoyancy
24 topping up nitrogen 92 circulatory system 120 colour changers 148 tube feet
26 fixing nitrogen 94 leaf pores 122 nerve cells 150 living at the surface
28 bacteria 96 keeping warm 124 coordinating behaviour 152 backswimmers
30 Escherichia coli 154 clinging feet
32 damaging a host 156 telescopic legs
34 absorbing food 158 jointed legs
36 Penicillium 160 catapulting
38 engulfing prey 162 jumping with legs
40 microbial predator 164 insect wings
42 stinging cells 166 stabilizing flight
44 feeding on particles 168 tiniest fliers
46 connecting mouthparts 170 flight feather
48 insect mouthparts 172 hitchhiking mites
50 blood sucker
52 drinking sap
54 rasping food
Contributors Consultants
56 venomous pincers
58 pre-digesting prey
Derek Harvey (lead author) is a naturalist with a particular interest in evolutionary Mark Viney is Professor of Zoology at the University of Liverpool. He studies the
biology, who studied Zoology at the University of Liverpool. He has taught a generation biology of parasitic nematode worms and the immunology of wild mammals. He 60 food into the bloodstream
of biologists, and has led student expeditions to Costa Rica, Madagascar, and Australasia. was a student at Imperial College, London and the Liverpool School of Tropical
Medicine, and was previously based at the Universities of Edinburgh and Bristol. 62 living in the gut
Dr Elizabeth Wood is a marine biological consultant specializing in conservation and
sustainable use of coral reef resources. She is a diver and underwater photographer with Dr Richard Kirby is an independent marine scientist. A former Royal Society 64 spinning webs
particular research interests in reef ecology, fish behaviour, and the biology of corals. university research fellow, his interests are the plankton and the food web it
supports. In order to engage the public with plankton science he founded 66 neither animal nor plant
Michael Scott is a natural history writer, conservationist, and former broadcaster. He has the global citizen science Secchi Disk study.
contributed to the DK publications Earth Matters, Oceans, and The Natural History Book. 68 eating wood
Dr Kim Dennis-Bryan is a zoologist who began her career studying fossil fish at
Tom Jackson is a science writer who has written more than 100 books and contributed to London’s Natural History Museum, before becoming an Open University lecturer
many more over the past 20 years. Tom studied zoology at Bristol University, UK, and has specializing in natural sciences. She has written for and consulted on many
worked as a zookeeper and a conservationist. science books, including DK’s Animal, Ocean, and Prehistoric Life.
Dr Bea Perks studied zoology then gained a PhD in clinical pharmacology. She has been a
science writer for 20 years, contributing articles to New Scientist and Nature magazines.
Half-title page Mineralized cell wall of a diatom (Amphora sp.), scanning electron micrograph This book was made with Forest Stewardship
Council ™ certified paper – one small step
Title page Predatory mite, scanning electron micrograph
in DK’s commitment to a sustainable future.
Above Moth antenna, confocal laser-scanning light micrograph For more information go to
Contents page Rotifers and a desmid (single-celled alga) , confocal laser-scanning light micrograph www.dk.com/our-green-pledge
000044--000055__IImmpprriinntt..iinndddd 55 2288//0066//22002211 1177::2255 000066--000077__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 66 1111//0066//22002211 1144::3355
contents
introduction powering the body sensing and responding moving
10 scale in the micro world 72 energy release 100 sensing the environment 128 beating hairs
12 types of living organisms 74 using oxygen 102 antennae 130 Paramecium
14 macro life up close 76 mineral energy 104 sensing taste 132 crawling cells
78 fermentation energy 106 hearing sound 134 swimming with hairs
80 poisoned by oxygen 108 sensory cells in the ear 136 combs of cilia
getting nourishment
82 gas exchange 110 judging distance 138 simple muscles
84 breathing tubes 112 compound eyes 140 contracting muscles
18 solar-powered microbes 86 the gills of insects 114 producing colour 142 overcoming friction
20 absorbing light 88 mammal lungs 116 iridescence 144 smooth rowing
22 root hairs 90 carrying oxygen 118 producing light 146 controlling buoyancy
24 topping up nitrogen 92 circulatory system 120 colour changers 148 tube feet
26 fixing nitrogen 94 leaf pores 122 nerve cells 150 living at the surface
28 bacteria 96 keeping warm 124 coordinating behaviour 152 backswimmers
30 Escherichia coli 154 clinging feet
32 damaging a host 156 telescopic legs
34 absorbing food 158 jointed legs
36 Penicillium 160 catapulting
38 engulfing prey 162 jumping with legs
40 microbial predator 164 insect wings
42 stinging cells 166 stabilizing flight
44 feeding on particles 168 tiniest fliers
46 connecting mouthparts 170 flight feather
48 insect mouthparts 172 hitchhiking mites
50 blood sucker
52 drinking sap
54 rasping food
Contributors Consultants
56 venomous pincers
58 pre-digesting prey
Derek Harvey (lead author) is a naturalist with a particular interest in evolutionary Mark Viney is Professor of Zoology at the University of Liverpool. He studies the
biology, who studied Zoology at the University of Liverpool. He has taught a generation biology of parasitic nematode worms and the immunology of wild mammals. He 60 food into the bloodstream
of biologists, and has led student expeditions to Costa Rica, Madagascar, and Australasia. was a student at Imperial College, London and the Liverpool School of Tropical
Medicine, and was previously based at the Universities of Edinburgh and Bristol. 62 living in the gut
Dr Elizabeth Wood is a marine biological consultant specializing in conservation and
sustainable use of coral reef resources. She is a diver and underwater photographer with Dr Richard Kirby is an independent marine scientist. A former Royal Society 64 spinning webs
particular research interests in reef ecology, fish behaviour, and the biology of corals. university research fellow, his interests are the plankton and the food web it
supports. In order to engage the public with plankton science he founded 66 neither animal nor plant
Michael Scott is a natural history writer, conservationist, and former broadcaster. He has the global citizen science Secchi Disk study.
contributed to the DK publications Earth Matters, Oceans, and The Natural History Book. 68 eating wood
Dr Kim Dennis-Bryan is a zoologist who began her career studying fossil fish at
Tom Jackson is a science writer who has written more than 100 books and contributed to London’s Natural History Museum, before becoming an Open University lecturer
many more over the past 20 years. Tom studied zoology at Bristol University, UK, and has specializing in natural sciences. She has written for and consulted on many
worked as a zookeeper and a conservationist. science books, including DK’s Animal, Ocean, and Prehistoric Life.
Dr Bea Perks studied zoology then gained a PhD in clinical pharmacology. She has been a
science writer for 20 years, contributing articles to New Scientist and Nature magazines.
Half-title page Mineralized cell wall of a diatom (Amphora sp.), scanning electron micrograph This book was made with Forest Stewardship
Council ™ certified paper – one small step
Title page Predatory mite, scanning electron micrograph
in DK’s commitment to a sustainable future.
Above Moth antenna, confocal laser-scanning light micrograph For more information go to
Contents page Rotifers and a desmid (single-celled alga) , confocal laser-scanning light micrograph www.dk.com/our-green-pledge
000044--000055__IImmpprriinntt..iinndddd 55 2288//0066//22002211 1177::2255 000066--000077__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 66 1111//0066//22002211 1144::3355
supporting and reproducing growing and changing habitats and lifestyles foreword
protecting
220 sabotaging cells 252 colonies of cells 276 ubiquitous bacteria
176 a cell’s internal skeleton 222 coronavirus 254 cell division 278 surviving extremes Elephants are big, dinosaurs were bigger, blue whales are the biggest ever…
178 diatoms 224 swarming bacteria 256 developing embryo 280 tardigrades
but is size really important, do big things make the world go round, and is
180 microscopic shells 226 asexual reproduction 258 insect eggs 282 surviving cold
being big really so impressive? And do you have to be big to be beautiful?
182 silica skeletons 228 fertilizing an egg 260 how ferns grow 284 hanging on
184 cellulose armour 230 fungus reproduction 262 seeds 286 marine plankton
Put simply, no. As we take a fantastic voyage into the micro-life of our planet,
186 sponge spicules 232 alternating generations 264 seed germination 288 copepods
the profound and unimaginable beauty previously hidden from our “big”
188 shedding water 234 sex in flowering plants 266 simple plants 290 pond microorganisms
190 chemical defences 236 pollen grains 268 growing up as plankton 292 freshwater communities eyes is revealed – the rainbow wefts of wafting cilia, the exquisite symmetry
192 skeleton on the outside 238 bees 270 growing in steps 294 nematodes of diatoms’ skeletons, the “op art” of a fly’s compound eyes.
194 staying hidden 240 hidden pollination 272 long and short lifespans 296 recycling matter
196 echinoderm skeleton 242 boom and bust 298 between sand grains
But beauty is more than skin deep in the microscopic world. Here lie the
198 shark skin 244 escaping starvation 300 forming galls
origins of life itself, of our life, and all its complex history and ongoing
200 vertebrate skeletons 246 competing for mates 302 mosquitoes
interrelationships still form the essential fabric of our whole planet’s ecology.
202 mammal hair 248 parental care 304 living on skin
Here, the multitudes of the minute are pictured using remarkable microscopic
204 cell walls 306 living in hair
technologies and each of their little stories told. And it’s both surprising and
206 supporting stems 308 gut communities
208 leaf surfaces 310 infecting blood cells amazing that we live our lives amongst this invisible horde of littler things and
210 insect stingers 312 brain parasites never appreciate or understand their fundamental importance. So shrink
212 irritating hairs 314 plant-fungus partnership your world and dive into another, denied to us by scale alone. Meet your
214 stinging hairs 316 part fungus, part alga
neighbours – they are all around you, on you and inside you – viruses,
216 internal defence 318 photosynthetic helpers
bacteria, other microbes – some bad, many good. See inside your organs,
peer inside cells, discover the methods of insect senses, and how pollen,
seeds, and spores work. Come face to face with a tardigrade, a mite, and the
320 glossary
curious beady eyes of a springtail.
326 index
334 acknowledgments
This spectacular book is a portal into a world within our world – one we are
too big to know but clever enough to have unveiled.
CHRIS PACKHAM
NATURALIST, BROADCASTER, WRITER,
PHOTOGRAPHER, AND CONSERVATIONIST
000066--000077__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 77 1111//0066//22002211 1199::5544 000088--000099__FFoorreewwoorrdd..iinndddd 88 1111//0066//22002211 1144::5555
supporting and reproducing growing and changing habitats and lifestyles foreword
protecting
220 sabotaging cells 252 colonies of cells 276 ubiquitous bacteria
176 a cell’s internal skeleton 222 coronavirus 254 cell division 278 surviving extremes Elephants are big, dinosaurs were bigger, blue whales are the biggest ever…
178 diatoms 224 swarming bacteria 256 developing embryo 280 tardigrades
but is size really important, do big things make the world go round, and is
180 microscopic shells 226 asexual reproduction 258 insect eggs 282 surviving cold
being big really so impressive? And do you have to be big to be beautiful?
182 silica skeletons 228 fertilizing an egg 260 how ferns grow 284 hanging on
184 cellulose armour 230 fungus reproduction 262 seeds 286 marine plankton
Put simply, no. As we take a fantastic voyage into the micro-life of our planet,
186 sponge spicules 232 alternating generations 264 seed germination 288 copepods
the profound and unimaginable beauty previously hidden from our “big”
188 shedding water 234 sex in flowering plants 266 simple plants 290 pond microorganisms
190 chemical defences 236 pollen grains 268 growing up as plankton 292 freshwater communities eyes is revealed – the rainbow wefts of wafting cilia, the exquisite symmetry
192 skeleton on the outside 238 bees 270 growing in steps 294 nematodes of diatoms’ skeletons, the “op art” of a fly’s compound eyes.
194 staying hidden 240 hidden pollination 272 long and short lifespans 296 recycling matter
196 echinoderm skeleton 242 boom and bust 298 between sand grains
But beauty is more than skin deep in the microscopic world. Here lie the
198 shark skin 244 escaping starvation 300 forming galls
origins of life itself, of our life, and all its complex history and ongoing
200 vertebrate skeletons 246 competing for mates 302 mosquitoes
interrelationships still form the essential fabric of our whole planet’s ecology.
202 mammal hair 248 parental care 304 living on skin
Here, the multitudes of the minute are pictured using remarkable microscopic
204 cell walls 306 living in hair
technologies and each of their little stories told. And it’s both surprising and
206 supporting stems 308 gut communities
208 leaf surfaces 310 infecting blood cells amazing that we live our lives amongst this invisible horde of littler things and
210 insect stingers 312 brain parasites never appreciate or understand their fundamental importance. So shrink
212 irritating hairs 314 plant-fungus partnership your world and dive into another, denied to us by scale alone. Meet your
214 stinging hairs 316 part fungus, part alga
neighbours – they are all around you, on you and inside you – viruses,
216 internal defence 318 photosynthetic helpers
bacteria, other microbes – some bad, many good. See inside your organs,
peer inside cells, discover the methods of insect senses, and how pollen,
seeds, and spores work. Come face to face with a tardigrade, a mite, and the
320 glossary
curious beady eyes of a springtail.
326 index
334 acknowledgments
This spectacular book is a portal into a world within our world – one we are
too big to know but clever enough to have unveiled.
CHRIS PACKHAM
NATURALIST, BROADCASTER, WRITER,
PHOTOGRAPHER, AND CONSERVATIONIST
000066--000077__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 77 1111//0066//22002211 1199::5544 000088--000099__FFoorreewwoorrdd..iinndddd 88 1111//0066//22002211 1144::5555
CONTENTS OF ONE DIP OF A HAND NET IN THE OCEAN, INCLUDING COPEPOD CRUSTACEANS, A CRAB LARVA, AND SINGLE-CELLED ALGAE; MAGNIFICATION × 20
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CONTENTS OF ONE DIP OF A HAND NET IN THE OCEAN, INCLUDING COPEPOD CRUSTACEANS, A CRAB LARVA, AND SINGLE-CELLED ALGAE; MAGNIFICATION × 20
000088--000099__FFoorreewwoorrdd..iinndddd 99 1111//0066//22002211 1144::5555 001100--001111__331166667733__SSccaallee__iinn__tthhee__mmiiccrroo__wwoorrlldd..iinndddd 1100 1111//0066//22002211 1144::3366