Animal Kingdom

From a single beginning, countless millions of stories from the animal kingdom have - and continue to - run their course. Museum objects allow us to investigate some of those stories. Animal Kingdom journeys through both the evolutionary history of animals, and the ways that people have interpreted them in museums. Animals in museums are not only representatives of their entire species, but they also tell us something about the time in which they were collected. They provide windows into the past as well as data for the present. They embody centuries of natural ecosystems and human cultures. Through a selection of 100 objects, telling 100 stories, this beautifully illustrated book explores the diversity of animal life over the past 600 million years, and delves into some of the most exciting mechanisms in evolution. By understanding some of the key stories of how nature operates, we can gain amazing insight into the systems underlying life itself.

Jack Ashby is the manager of the Grant Museum of Zoology at University College London. After studying zoology at the University of Cambridge, he entered a career engaging people with the natural world through museums. His zoological interests focus on the mammals of Australia, where he regularly undertakes ecological fieldwork.