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  • Shell, Beak, Tusk: Shared Traits and the Wonders of Adaptation by Bridget Heos
  • Elizabeth Bush
Heos, Bridget Shell, Beak, Tusk: Shared Traits and the Wonders of Adaptation. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017 32p illus. with photographs
Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-544-81166-9 $16.99
E-book ed. 978-0-328-80964-3 $16.99         R Gr. 2-4

"Convergent evolution" sounds like a mouthful for elementary-grade kids, but in this beautifully photo-illustrated volume the concept is clearly explained and entertainingly reinforced: "Some animals share traits but are not related. Why? Because they have adapted the same traits separately in order to survive in their environments." To demonstrate, Heos examines ten pairs of unrelated animals with a common feature. In one photograph, a spiky porcupine strolls within pouncing range of two lions, and on the opposite page an echidna scopes out its next meal, prepared to curl up into a spiny ball if threatened: "Though they share a spiky defense system, the porcupine and echidna live on opposite sides of the world and are not related." Likewise, a parrot's strong beak crushes nuts and seeds as efficiently as an octopus' beak crushes crabs and mollusks, and a duck and the monotreme platypus use their bills to scoop up their food and filter out the mud. Walruses and elephants both fight with their tusks, but "a walrus's nearest relatives are sea lions and seals. Surprisingly, an elephant's closest cousin is also a sea creature: the manatee." Heos concludes with a stunning close-up of a giraffe weevil and some parting thoughts on how new species are often named after animals they resemble; there's surely a collaborative science/art lesson plan here just waiting to happen.

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