Strange Survivors

Strange Survivors is a top line ode to the unmeasured variety of life on Earth. Dr. Oné Pagán absolutely loves the variety, and continually seems thrilled to point out different species and how they approach survival. There are wonders galore. We have only just begun to examine (let alone understand) the blizzard of life forms on this planet. Pagan gives us glimpses:

-There are flatworms that can regenerate an entirely new , whole flatworm if just a scrap of it is left over.
-Electric eels can generate 800 volts from muscles arranged like a battery. We have yet to determine how and why they don’t shock themselves to death in the water.
-There is a jellyfish that when stressed, reverts to its birth size and state, and begins its life all over again.
-Certain newts can poke their ribs out through their skin, coating them with venom hidden there. As a good as any sci-fi special effects.
-200 species of spider fire their webs at prey, like Spider-Man. Some of the webs shrink and harden, some contain toxins. Or both.
-A hornet can kill 40 bees in a minute, but up to 500 bees can surround a hornet and generate so much heat and humidity that the hornet dies.
-Co-operative and collective ant colonies have been measured as high as 300 million ants in 45,000 connected nests.

Pagán fairly gushes over these tactics. He is as enthusiastic as anyone can be without losing credibility. But the book really doesn’t dig deep – the topic is way too broad for that. It seems to be an intro for say, high schoolers ,to get hooked in the magic of biology.

David Wineberg