Five Kingdoms, 3rd Edition: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth

Although this is primarily intended to be an illustrated reference guide, it's a surprisingly fun one to thumb through. Part of that is the delight of looking at pictures and illustrations of some truly strange organisms (science fiction writers should really buy this book to see what genuinely alien creatures are like), but also due to the plethora of interesting facts.I know that when I was reading through the section detailing the Animal phylla, I was struck by how many creatures -- entire phyllums -- get along without even rudimentary brains (or digestive systems, respiratory systems, circulatory systems, or even organs, altogether, in some cases). Likewise I was surprised to learn that only two phylla (including our own) ever developed winged flight.The sections comprising the non-Animal kingdoms were of particular interest to me mainly for the simple reason that they invariably get little attention from most texts. At best, you'll usally find a chapter dealing with micro-organisms as a whole, and a brief chapter on plants. To see how much sheer diverity there is in just the Fungus kingdom is eye-opening.I will note that the book does assume a basic level of biological literacy and that it sometimes throws jargon at the reader with little warning or explaination but, as a whole, this is a very accessible work and well worth having on one's shelf.

This wonderful book is an endless source of recondite, amusing and enlightening tidbits of information about the fantastic diversity of living things with which we share this earth. In organizing their catalogue of biodiversity around the highest taxonomic level, the phylum, the authors subtly communicate lessons that are both humbling and uplifting. Humbling because one realizes that the entire biological group of backboned creatures that we think of as the paradigmatic "animals" -- mammals, fish, reptiles, birds and amphibians -- is just one among dozens of broad categories of species that populate earth's complex living systems. In fact it appears that much animal life is either microscopic or vermiform. Uplifting because we come to understand that we are ultimately kin to and interdependent with this entire teeming, manifold, cornucopia of life. The presentation, including photos and drawings as well as text, is clear and elegant, providing a wealth of detail about the distinctive metabolisms, feeding habits, body forms, ecological roles and reproductive cycles found in each phylum. We learn, for example, that one species of the remarkably ugly Echiurans, or spoon worms -- which look like out- takes deemed too repulsive for the movie Eraserhead -- holds the world record for the most extreme difference between male and female forms: the male is a tiny dwarf form nestled entirely inside the female's body, which presumably allows him to avoid entirely his share of the housework. Some forms of the microscopic one-celled Zoomastigina dwell symbiotically in the intestines of insects, apparently digesting cellulose to yield nutrients for themselves and their hosts. Such are the divergent options, so different from the choices of most members of our own species, for making a living on this planet.

I'm a biology student in high school, and this book has helped me to understand all parts of the 5 kingdoms. It's a big help. I highly reccomend it.

This text is very complete. The illustrations are excellent. This book could potentially be an incredible text for a biology course and is definately a must have for the modern biologist. Very well written