The Oldest Living Things in the World is an epic journey through time and space. Over the past decade, artist Rachel Sussman has researched, worked with biologists, and traveled the world to photograph continuously living organisms that are 2,000 years old and older. Spanning from Antarctica to Greenland, the Mojave Desert to the Australian Outback, the result is a stunning and unique visual collection of ancient organisms unlike anything that has been created in the arts or sciences before, insightfully and accessibly narrated by Sussman along the way. Her work is both timeless and timely, and spans disciplines, continents, and millennia. It is underscored by an innate environmentalism and driven by Sussman’s relentless curiosity. She begins at “year zero,” and looks back from there, photographing the past in the present. These ancient individuals live on every continent and range from Greenlandic lichens that grow only one centimeter a century, to unique desert shrubs in Africa and South America, a predatory fungus in Oregon, Caribbean brain coral, to an 80,000-year-old colony of aspen in Utah. Sussman journeyed to Antarctica to photograph 5,500-year-old moss; Australia for stromatolites, primeval organisms tied to the oxygenation of the planet and the beginnings of life on Earth; and to Tasmania to capture a 43,600-year-old self-propagating shrub that’s the last individual of its kind. Her portraits reveal the living history of our planet—and what we stand to lose in the future. These ancient survivors have weathered millennia in some of the world’s most extreme environments, yet climate change and human encroachment have put many of them in danger. Two of her subjects have already met with untimely deaths by human hands. Alongside the photographs, Sussman relays fascinating – and sometimes harrowing – tales of her global adventures tracking down her subjects and shares insights from the scientists who research them. The oldest living things in the world are a record and celebration of the past, a call to action in the present, and a barometer of our future.

Poor old Ming was a very old clam indeed! This book introduces young audiences to the fascinating story of Ming the Quahog clam, whose story is a lesson in life cycles, ecology, climate change, environmentalism, responsible science, and much more. The best part is, all of these complex science concepts are made easy for young readers. By communicating this tale of marine science with accessible language and vivid, full-color photography, readers are sure to be bitten by the science bug, and inspired to learn more.

Parrots are common pets, but not many people know that some parrots may outlive their owners! These amazing animals are the world’s longest-living birds. Readers will learn why parrots are not often prey for other animals, and how taking care of them in captivity can extend their lives even longer. Colorful photographs show off these bright, feathered birds at all ages, showing where they live and how they stay alive in some of the most dangerous places on Earth.

Superheroes, record holders, and fascinating facts from the animal kingdom! Welcome to our animal Olympics! The animal world has almost infinite variety. Many of its creatures have strengths similar to superheroes. The world's fastest animals can move at the speed of a race car; one small creature has the strength of a trained weightlifter; the world's strongest animal can lift many times its own weight; and the longest-lived animal survives for several hundred years. Fastest, slowest, strongest, largest, smallest, longest living, furthest jumping, most dangerous, most beautiful, ugliest, deepest diving--these and many other record holders from the animal kingdom fill this book with unexpected, fascinating facts.

Elephants are smart animals often put in danger because of their large ivory tusks. Left alone, however, these amazing creatures can live for more than 80 years! Through innovative graphics and colorful photographs bringing the lives of these stunning animals into sharp focus, readers explore the differences between Asian and African elephants, their diets, and how they live their lives in different parts of the world.

A marine biologist’s “funny and entertaining” look at the mating rituals of undersea creatures (Miami Herald). Forget the Kama Sutra. When it comes to inventive sex acts, just look to the sea. There we find the elaborate mating rituals of armored lobsters; giant right whales engaging in a lively threesome while holding their breath; full moon sex parties of groupers and daily mating blitzes by blue-headed wrasse. Deep-sea squid perform inverted 69s, while hermaphrodite sea slugs link up in giant sex loops. From doubly endowed sharks to the maze-like vaginas of some whales, Sex in the Sea is a journey unlike any other to explore the staggering ways life begets life beneath the waves. Beyond a deliciously voyeuristic excursion, the book also connects the timeless topic of sex with the timely issue of sustainable oceans—revealing how overfishing, climate change, and pollution are disrupting the creative procreation that drives the wild abundance of life in the sea, and how we can promote successful sex in the sea. “Hardt’s writing is often spectacular at describing the rituals and courtships of underwater reproduction.” —The New Republic “Weird [and] excellent.” —GQ “An oceanographic Kinsey Report.” —O, The Oprah Magazine “[Readers] will find much to learn in this well-written and delightful study.” —Library Journal (starred review)