Therearefewcreaturesmorebeautiful,aloof,andfascinatingthangiraffes.Theirsocialandecologicalimpacthasbeendocumentedbymanyresearchers.However,theinnerworkingsofextantgiraffesarelesswellknown.ThatiswhyGrahamMitchelldecidedtowriteHowGiraffesWork:acomprehensiveoverviewoftheanatomy,physiology,andbiochemistry--inshort,thenormalfunctions--ofafree-living,wildanimalinitsnaturalenvironment.Azoologist,veterinarian,andphysiologist,Mitchellexplainshowgiraffesgetthroughtheirday.Additionally,hetakesreadersthroughtheevolutionoftheirphysicalcharacteristics,suchastheirsize,shape,andcoatmarkings.Hisapproachintegrateshistorywiththephysiology,anatomy,biochemistry,behavior,evolution,genetics,ecology,climatescience,andmore.Eachchapterfollowsthediscoveryandutilityofadifferentcharacteristicofgiraffes.Illustratedwithovertwohundredfiguresanddiagrams,thebookexplainshowgiraffesmighthaveevolvedandsurvivedovermanymillionsofyearsaswellashowourperceptionofthemhaschangedthroughouthistory.So,howdogiraffeswork?Theanswerslieinastoryfillednotonlywiththedetailsoftheirinternalworkingbutalsowiththelaborsoftheextraordinaryscientistswhohaveputsomanypiecesofthispuzzletogether.
climatescience ANATOMY biochemistry veterinarian EVOLUTION WORK
