A Mess of Iguanas, A Whoop of Gorillas ...: An Amazement of Animal Facts

Alon Shulman

Oct 2009 · Penguin UK

About this ebook

There are many wonderful creatures on earth - and even more incredible ways to describe them.

With more collective nouns for animal groups than anyone else in the world, from a Business of Ferrets to a Wobble of Ostriches (not forgetting, of course, an Implausibility of Gnus) Alon Shulman's A Mess of Iguanas, A Whoop of Gorillas will tell you what to call a group of zebras, chickens, parrots, spiders, tigers or penguins the next time you encounter one - and will even let you know the difference between a school and a shoal of fish. Not to mention why groups of swans are known as a lamentation, a bank and a wedge.

It will also tell you the most outlandish, strange yet completely accurate animal facts you can imagine. For example, did you know that polar bears are invisible to infra-red because they have transparent fur? Or that hippopotamus can't swim? Or that ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand?

Filled with everything you could ever want to know about the creatures that inhabit our world, this brilliant compendium of animal curiosities is perfect for pub quizzers, language buffs, wannabe know-it-alls and any readers aged, well ... 8 to 80.

About the author

Alon Shulman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a fascination with facts. He loves to travel - and he's collected names and facts about animals along the way. As a student he crossed East Africa from Zimbabwe to Kenya and has trekked through the Sahara. He drove with a friend from LA, through Central America, to Panama. He has trekked in the jungles of Borneo and the rainforests of South America. He has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, cleaned the oil off penguins in Cape Town, swum with dolphins, and ridden horses in Texas, mules in Venezuela, camels in Morocco and an elephant in Rajasthan.