Describes how predators hunt, raise their young, and contribute to the food chain.

Dare to get close to the most dangerous animals on earth—and find out what lies beneath! On the pages of Scanorama: Deadly Predators, kids are treated to a virtual X-ray tour featuring some of the world's most dangerous animals. Five movable sliders transform illustrated animals into full-body scans that reveal their skeletons and show how they have come to rule their habitats. Featured animals include a tiger, a scorpion, and a great white shark; each animal is covered in detail through informative text, photographs, and illustrations. To learn about even more deadly creatures, readers can lift the flaps and discover what is hiding in wait, ready to pounce on its next victim!

Predators have adapted to be ruthless hunters and killers. Find out how a cheetah's paws help it to chase its dinner, how a king cobra ambushes its prey and how a box jellyfish enjoys a feast.

Every great animal predator has a secret weapon. The crocodile opens toothy jaws. The harpy eagle grabs and crushes prey with strong talons. The boa constrictor uses its body to coil and squeeze. In this book, fluent readers will watch some of the animal kingdom's most infamous attack methods.

In this illuminating and evocative exploration of the origin and function of storytelling, the author goes beyond the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell, arguing that mythmaking evolved as a cultural survival strategy for coping with the constant fear of being killed and eaten by predators. Beginning nearly two million years ago in the Pleistocene era, the first stories, Trout argues, functioned as alarm calls, warning fellow group members about the carnivores lurking in the surroundings. At the earliest period, before the development of language, these rudimentary "stories" would have been acted out. When language appeared with the evolution of the ancestral human brain, stories were recited, memorized, and much later written down as the often bone-chilling myths that have survived to this day. This book takes the reader through the landscape of world mythology to show how our more recent ancestors created myths that portrayed animal predators in four basic ways: as monsters, as gods, as benefactors, and as role models. Each incarnation is a variation of the fear-management technique that enabled early humans not only to survive but to overcome their potentially incapacitating fear of predators. In the final chapter, Trout explores the ways in which our visceral fear of predators is played out in the movies, where both animal and human predators serve to probe and revitalize our capacity to detect and survive danger. Anyone with an interest in mythology, archaeology, folk tales, and the origins of contemporary storytelling will find this book an exciting and provocative exploration into the natural and psychological forces that shaped human culture and gave rise to storytelling and mythmaking.

Describes the physical characteristics and behavior of four deadly predators--sharks, grizzly bears, tigers, and alligators and crocodiles.

Recalling his childhood encounter with a cougar on his family farm, the author of The Red Hourglass describes the life-long obsession with dangerous animals that prompted his amateur studies with virtually all dangerous creatures, from sharks and bears to alligators and spiders.