Table Of Content

US_001_Half_title_ND.indd 1 08/03/18 11:25 AM DK Delhi Senior Editor Suefa Lee Project Art Editor Pooja Pipil Editor Isha Sharma Assistant Art Editor Kanupriya Lal Jacket Designer Tanya Mehrotra Jackets Editorial Coordinator Priyanka Sharma Senior DTP Designer Harish Aggarwal DTP Designers Sachin Gupta, Rajdeep Singh Picture Researcher Vishal Ghavri Managing Jackets Editor Saloni Singh Picture Research Manager Taiyaba Khatoon Pre-production Manager Balwant Singh Production Manager Pankaj Sharma Senior Managing Editor Rohan Sinha Managing Art Editor Govind Mittal DK London Editor Jessica Cawthra Designer Chrissy Barnard US Editor Kayla Dugger Jacket Editor Claire Gell Jacket Designer Surabhi Wadhwa-Gandhi Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT Producer, Pre-production Siu Yin Chan Senior Producer Angela Graef Managing Editor Francesca Baines Managing Art Editor Philip Letsu Publisher Andrew Macintyre Art Director Karen Self Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler Design Director Phil Ormerod Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf Written by Derek Harvey Consultant: Dr. Kim Bryan First American Edition, 2018 Published in the United States by DK Publishing 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 Copyright © 2018 Dorling Kindersley Limited DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC 18 19 20 21 22 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 001–299826–Aug/2018 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-1-4654-5897-1 DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 [email protected] Printed and bound in China A WORLD OF IDEAS: SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW www.dk.com US_002-003_Title_Imprint_ND.indd 2 08/03/18 4:18 PM US_002-003_Title_Imprint_ND.indd 3 08/03/18 11:25 AM CONTENTS 1 2 DEADLY CREATURES 08 MUSCLES, JAWS, AND CLAWS 10 VENOMOUS BITES 36 Giant squid 12 Blue-ringed octopus 38 Giant Pacific octopus 13 Arrow worm 39 Peacock mantis shrimp 14 Yellow-legged giant centipede 40 Camel spider 16 Sydney funnel-web spider 42 Great white shark 17 Brown recluse spider 43 Bull shark 18 Redback spider 44 Arapaima 19 Robber fly 45 Viperfish 20 Gila monster 46 Saltwater crocodile 21 Gaboon viper 47 Green anaconda 22 Saw-scaled viper 48 Perentie 23 Black mamba 49 Komodo dragon 24 Boomslang 50 Southern cassowary 26 Inland taipan 51 Secretarybird 27 King cobra 52 Osprey 28 Northern short-tailed shrew 54 Harpy eagle 29 Slow loris 55 Tasmanian devil 30 Siberian tiger 31 Clouded leopard 32 Wolverine 33 Leopard seal 34 Sperm whale 35 US_004-007_Contents.indd 4 08/03/18 11:42 AM 3 4 STINGS AND POISONS 56 TRAPPED! 86 Sea wasp 58 Predatory tunicate 88 Bearded fireworm 59 Brown-lined ribbon worm 89 Purple cone snail 60 Trapdoor spider 90 California sea hare 60 Darwin’s bark spider 91 Disco clam 62 Ogre-faced spider 92 Flamboyant cuttlefish 63 Antlion larva 94 Cyanide millipede 64 Glowing fungus gnat larva 94 Deathstalker 65 New Zealand velvet worm 96 Spanish fly 66 Humpback whale 97 Rattlebox moth caterpillar 67 Puss moth caterpillar 68 Giant silkworm moth caterpillar 69 Queen Alexandra’s birdwing 70 Tarantula hawk 72 Maricopa harvester ant 73 Bullet ant 74 Flower urchin 75 Blue-spotted ribbontail stingray 76 Striped eel catfish 77 Web burrfish 78 DANGER FACTOR Reef stonefish 80 Our danger factor rates creatures from across a wide Rough-skinned newt 81 range of species and includes both those that are Fire salamander 82 deadly in attack and those that are deadly in defense. The scale goes from a rating of 1 to 5. Golden poison frog 83 Hooded pitohui 84 Platypus 85 Creatures that are given a rating of 1 are the least deadly. Creatures that are given a rating of 5 are the most deadly. US_004-007_Contents.indd 5 08/03/18 11:42 AM 5 6 DECEIVERS AND TRICKSTERS 98 DEADLY NUMBERS 124 Flower crab spider 100 Blue shark 126 Portia spider 101 Red-bellied piranha 126 Femme fatale lightning bug 102 Giant moray eel 128 Orchid mantis 103 Yellow-saddle goatfish 129 Moth butterfly caterpillar 104 Social spider 130 Tasselled wobbegong 105 Western honeybee 131 Humpback anglerfish 106 Asian giant hornet 132 Pirate perch 108 African driver ant 133 South American leaf fish 109 Tropical American army ant 134 False cleanerfish 110 Fossa 135 Indian Ocean crocodile fish 111 Harris’s hawk 136 Alligator snapping turtle 112 South American coati 138 Sidewinder 113 Spotted hyena 139 Cantil 114 Gray wolf 140 Puff adder 115 African wild dog 141 Tentacled snake 116 Lion 142 Black heron 117 Green-backed heron 118 Polar bear 119 Snow leopard 120 Margay 122 Orca 123 US_004-007_Contents.indd 6 21/03/18 11:25 AM 7 8 SKILLS, TACTICS, DISEASE AND AND CUNNING 144 DESTRUCTION 166 Humboldt squid 146 Rosy wolfsnail 168 Bolas spider 146 Chinese mitten crab 169 Red-veined darter 148 Anopheles mosquito 170 Electric eel 150 Australian paralysis tick 171 Texas horned lizard 151 Tsetse fly 172 Common lancehead 152 Oriental rat flea 173 Spitting cobra 153 Electric ant 174 Brown skua 154 Crown-of-thorns starfish 175 Barn owl 155 Snakehead 176 Golden eagle 156 Nile perch 177 Peregrine falcon 158 Red lionfish 178 Great grey shrike 159 Cane toad 179 Ghost bat 160 Brown tree snake 180 Stoat 161 Brown rat 181 Cheetah 162 Vampire bat 182 Bottlenose dolphin 163 Domestic cat 184 Chimpanzee 164 Red fox 185 Common hippopotamus 186 Moose 188 Cape buffalo 189 African savanna elephant 190 REFERENCE 192 GLOSSARY 204 INDEX 206 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 208 US_004-007_Contents.indd 7 22/03/18 10:42 AM DEADLY CREATURES Animals can be deadly for many different reasons—some in attack and some in defense. But they vary a lot in the risk they pose to other living things—including humans. Deadly in all sizes Any animal that can kill another organism such as ocean plankton, while others are can be classed as deadly. Some are only deadly on a much larger scale. Only a few deadly to tiny insects or minute animals are dangerous to humans. Small killers, small victims Small killers, big victims Big killers, big victims The smallest animals are usually There are exceptions. This blue-ringed Animals that combine massive size; deadly to other small animals. This octopus is not much bigger than your physical strength; and large weapons, spider’s venom kills other spiders, but fist, but its venom is strong enough such as teeth, can sometimes be the its bite cannot harm anything bigger. to kill a human. deadliest of them all. 725,000 Mosquito Snake 50,000 Which animals are deadly to humans? Some big predators, such as sharks, have the Tsetse fly 10,000 strength to kill humans, but such attacks are Crocodile 1,000 very rare. The most dangerous killers of humans are animals that spread disease, such as malaria-carrying mosquitoes. And many animals, including venomous Hippopotamus 500 snakes, are deadly in self-defense and will only attack if they feel threatened. Lion 100 Shark 10 0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 Humans killed every year 8 US_008-009_Introduction.indd 8 08/03/18 6:33 PM

Description:

Come face-to-face with 150 of the world's scariest killer creatures, from the lion and great white shark to the tarantula, anaconda snake, golden eagle, vampire bat, and even the fierce ant! The book profiles every kind of animal--mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, insects, and arachnids. Chapters are