Ten Million Aliens

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Ten Million Aliens Page 39

by Simon Barnes


  abundance 271–2

  Acanthocephala 222–3

  The Accidental Tourist 28

  acoelomorphs 260–1

  Adams, Douglas 74, 145–6, 175, 375

  Adams, Richard 132

  adders 349

  Aesop’s fables 284

  Africa 43, 86–7 see also specific countries

  African bees 424

  African eagle owl 246

  African pygmy mouse 132

  African scops owl 244

  African skimmers 226

  African spoonbill 225

  agoutis 132

  ah-ness 248–9, 321

  albatrosses 300–1

  algae 73–4, 82

  Allen, Woody 182n, 215n, 265, 419n, 434

  alphabetisation 28–9

  altruism 184, 186

  American bison 86

  American football 239

  ammonites 288–9, 290

  amniotes 335

  amoebae 31

  amphibians 370, 392–3, 399

  ancestors

  failures 459

  success 15, 78, 85, 397, 420, 453

  worm relationship 255–6

  angels 214

  anglerfish 428–9

  Anna’s sea slug 316

  annelids 142–4, 282n

  Anomaluridae 123, 126

  Anseriformes 292n

  Antarctic 79–80, 312

  antelopes 86, 87–8, 93–6, 132, 191, 205

  Anthropocene era 138

  ants 117, 129, 372–3

  anuses

  annelids 143

  entoproct 234, 235

  peanut worms 210

  phoronids 267

  symbions 242

  apes 37–8, 176, 285

  aphids 409

  Apocrita 431

  apophallation 20–1

  aposematic colouration 386

  Apus apus 258

  Arabian oryx 190n

  arachnids 329, 357–9

  Archaea 31

  archaeopteryx 207–8, 224

  Arctic tern 251–2

  Arionidae 37, 38

  arrow worms 205–6

  art and science 287

  arthropods 45, 46, 134–5, 329–32, 337–8

  artiodactyls 163

  ascariasis 128

  assassin bugs 409

  asses 85

  Attenborough, Sir David 72–3n, 104, 114, 148, 288, 377–8

  auks 298

  Australia 74, 85, 208, 402

  autozooids 160

  axolotl 394

  baboons 23, 34, 43

  bacteria

  anglerfish 428

  human gut 15

  kingdoms 31

  badgers 76

  Bagheera 76

  baiji 175, 190n

  Bali 405–6

  ballooning spiders 352, 353

  Baluchistan pygmy jerboa 132

  bamboo vipers 340

  banded demoiselles 387–8, 391

  bank voles 148

  bark beetles 455

  barn owls 148, 244–5

  barnacle geese 345n

  barnacles 345–7

  Basho 248–9, 390, 408

  basket-stars 99

  basking sharks 436–7

  bat hawks 236–7, 243

  bateleur eagle 230–2, 233n, 237, 348

  bats

  echolocation 180–1

  flight 29–30, 178, 180, 181, 182, 230

  human fear 179, 358

  migration 252

  size 321

  spiders 352

  vampire bats 184–6

  bdelloid rotifers 216–17

  beaks 208, 224–6, 270, 282, 293, 300, 409

  Beamon, Bob 48, 445n

  bears 61–3, 412

  beauty

  birds 219–20, 221, 278–9

  insects 380, 440, 450, 456

  shells 297

  beavers 131

  bedbugs 409

  bee-eaters 277–8

  bee hummingbird 264

  bees 423–6

  beetles 27, 86, 194, 205, 445–50, 455

  Belize 43

  Beowulf 90

  Best, George 135

  Bewick’s swan 291

  bilaterality 98, 105, 183, 316

  bilharzia 106

  bills see beaks

  birds

  beaks 224–6, 270, 293, 300

  beauty 219–20, 221, 278–9

  breathing 213–14

  calls and singing 26, 177, 209, 245, 325–8

  chicks 336, 369

  diversity 271, 318

  evolution 29–30

  eye contact 34

  feathers 212–13, 226, 294

  fishing 224–6

  flight 209, 212–15, 230–2, 258–9, 263–4, 292, 299

  flightlessness 305–8

  intelligence 214, 285–7

  migration 250, 251–3, 258

  nocturnal 153n

  snake-eating 239

  species discovery 25–6

  tails 220, 231, 279

  taxonomy 94n

  waterbirds 142, 292–4, 375–6

  birds of paradise 220, 319

  birds of prey 236–40, 336

  bison 86, 190n

  bivalves 302–4

  black and white colobus 43

  black bears 62–3

  black-crowned night heron 225

  black mamba 341–2

  black panther 76n

  black rat 139

  blackbirds 220, 319

  Blake, William 113, 114

  Blakeney Point, Norfolk 77–8

  Blattodea 447n

  blue morpho butterfly 380

  blue-ringed octopus 282

  blue tits 319

  blue waxbills 320

  blue whale 89, 163, 173, 273, 321, 338

  bolas spider 353

  Bond, James 70–1, 215, 273, 315n, 420, 444n

  bonobos 38

  bootlace worm 89n, 155

  Borneo 33, 450, 455

  bottoms 23 see also anuses

  bovids 86, 93

  box jellyfish 91

  brachiopods 166

  Bradfield Wood, Suffolk 145, 146–7

  Brazil 132, 263

  breasts 22

  breathing

  annelids 143

  birds 213–14

  flatworms 104

  insects 388–9

  lung evolution 412

  rays 443

  sharks 434, 443

  whales 164–5

  Breen, Chris 197, 229

  brimstone butterflies 438

  bristleworms 142, 282n

  British Columbia, Canada 61, 162, 412

  brittle stars 99

  brown greater galago 49

  brown rat 138–40

  brumbies 85

  bryozoans 160–1

  Bryson, Bill 411n

  bubonic plague 140–1

  buffalos 92–3

  Bufonidae 377

  bugs 381, 408–9

  bullfrogs 377

  bumblebee bat 321

  bumblebees 426

  Burgess, Anthony 141n

  Burgess Shale 227

  Burroughs, William 216n

  bushbabies 48–9

  bushbucks 93

  bushshrikes 333

  butterflies 252, 269, 371–2, 380, 414, 438–41

  buttocks 23

  caecilians 399–400

  Cambrian Explosion 46–7, 290

  camouflage 225n, 282, 396–7, 443

  Canada 61, 162, 412

  cannibalism 368n, 372, 397

  Captain Beefheart 65

  capybara 132

  carnivores 57, 62–4, 76–7

  carpenter bees 425

  carrion crows 285

  Carson, Rachel 382

  cartilage 442

  Carukia barnesi 91

  cassowaries 306

  cat shark 436

  caterpillars 372–3, 430, 440

  cats 455
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br />   cattle 86

  Caudata 393–4

  cell types 177

  centipedes 364–5

  cephalopods 283, 288, 302

  Ceratiidae 428

  Cerion 322–4

  Cestoda 113

  cetaceans 163, 173

  chaetognaths 205–6

  chaffinches 326

  Chagas disease 347n, 409

  champions 84–5

  chaos 84, 85

  Chaplin’s barbet 319n

  Chapman, Graham 166

  chelicerates 357

  chimeras 442

  chimpanzees 34, 37, 38

  China 389–90

  Chinese giant salamander 393

  Chironex fleckeri 91

  Chondrichthyes 442

  chordates 36

  Christmas tree tube worm 143

  The Chronicles of Narnia 122

  cicadas 408–10

  cilia 182

  cirripeds 346

  cities 401

  clams 302–4

  classes 37

  classification 1, 28–9, 36–7, 45–6, 455 see also taxonomy

  Clayton, Prof. Nicky 284–5, 286–7

  cleaner fish 418–19, 452

  climate change 339

  clitoris 69–70

  Cnidaria 73, 91, 182

  Cocker, Mark 259

  cockles 166

  cockroaches 138, 447n

  coelacanth 458, 461

  Colarado beetle 380

  Coleoptera 445

  coleopterists 27n

  colobus 43

  Colombia 168, 262, 314, 360, 379–80, 383, 384

  colonies

  bees 425

  bryozoans 160–1

  naked mole rat 101–2

  tapeworms 114

  termites 401–4

  velvet worms 136

  wasps 51–2

  colossal squid 275, 276

  colubrids 341

  colugos 126

  Columbo 266

  comb jellies 182

  commensals 139

  common crossbill 94n

  common names 365n

  common poorwill 252n

  common sea angel 316

  common sense 83

  common tern 251

  compass termites 402

  competition 169, 221

  Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur 89–90

  conches 315n

  conchiolin 297

  condors 239, 291n

  Conraua goliath 377

  conservation

  abundance 271–2

  bees 426

  birds of prey 239

  ecoservices 310n

  elephants 109

  golden poison frog 384–6

  insects 381, 382

  seals 77

  Torrey Canyon disaster 83

  William Holden 96

  continuity with evolution 18, 24, 29, 56, 177, 421, 459–60

  convergence 30, 31, 126, 243, 280, 439

  Conway Morris, Simon 227

  Cook, Peter 241

  cookiecutter shark 436

  coppicing 145n

  coral reefs 40, 72–5, 405

  corals 39–41, 45, 73–4

  Cornwall 82, 413

  cowry shells 296

  crabs 46, 194, 223, 315, 337–8

  cream-striped swordtail 440

  crested newts 393

  cricket 159, 250, 371

  crickets 178–9, 193

  crisis relocation 250

  crocodiles 34, 195–6, 333–5, 336

  crossbills 94n

  crows 284–6

  crustaceans 329, 337–8, 345

  cryptobiosis 121

  Ctenophora 182–3

  Cubozoa 91

  cuckoos 249, 259

  Curculionidae 455

  cuteness response 145n

  Cycliophora 241–2

  Dahl, Roald 352

  Damaraland mole rat 101–3

  damselflies 387–8, 391

  Darwin, Charles

  barnacles 344–5, 346–7

  beetles 447–50

  birds 219, 220–1, 362n

  Chagas disease 347n, 409

  coral reefs 74

  Disraeli’s objections 16

  diversification 46–7

  endlessness 15

  God 430, 432

  ichneumons 430

  marine iguanas 355–6

  missing links 207–9

  portrait 17

  survival 40, 167n

  swim bladders 412

  turtles 362

  worms 149, 150–1

  Darwin’s frog 378

  Dawkins, Richard 37, 86, 119n, 432n

  degeneracy 218n

  Demodex mites 15, 16

  Dendrobatidae 386

  depression 246

  deserts 375–6

  design 59n

  Dickenson, Emily 215

  digestion, external 352n, 409

  Dilong paradoxus 213

  dinosaurs 158, 207–8, 213, 273

  Diptera 415–16

  Disraeli, Benjamin 16

  diversification 46–7, 85, 86

  diversity

  abundance 271–2

  arthropods 329–30

  beetles 446–7, 455

  butterflies 441

  coral reefs 75

  fish 413

  insects 85, 381

  mammals 85, 101

  sharks 435

  snails 324

  weevils 454–6

  DNA analysis 30–1, 38

  dodo 306–7

  dogfish 436

  dogs 22, 33, 63

  dolphins 30, 163, 173–5, 285, 298

  donkeys 26

  Doris 156

  dormice 146–7, 148

  doves 319

  dragonflies 33, 388–90

  duck-billed platypus 208–9, 318n, 335

  ducks 292–4

  dunnocks 319

  Dunwich Forest, Suffolk 349

  Durrell, Gerald 125, 185n, 359, 396, 408

  dwarf lantern shark 435

  dwarf lemurs 43

  dwarf pygmy goby 413

  Dylan, Bob 410

  eagles 225, 229, 230–2, 236, 307, 348, 404

  earthworms 142, 149–52

  echidna 335

  echinoderms 98–100

  echolocation 180–1

  ecoservices 310n, 328, 380–1, 402, 423–4

  Ectoprocta 160

  Eden 419

  egrets 225

  eider ducks 222

  eland 87–8

  elapids 341

  Elasmobranchii 442–3

  electrolocation 208–9n

  electroreception 436, 443

  elegant sea slug 316

  elephant bird 306

  elephant fish 442

  elephant seal 77

  elephants 22, 34, 108–12, 195–9, 203–4, 285, 321

  elf owl 246

  Eliot, TS 36

  emperor penguins 312

  endemic species 319n

  endlessness 15, 16, 39, 41, 311, 460

  entomology 395, 415

  entroprocts 234–5

  epiphanies 202–4, 269, 330–1

  Equidae 85–6

  Euclid 155

  Eurasian eagle owl 246

  European bison 190n

  European scops owl 246

  evolution

  birds 213

  design 59n

  diversity 46–7, 85, 86, 208–9n, 324

  flight 29–30

  fossil record 207

  gradualism 151–2

  myth of perfection 16, 78–9, 453–4

  simplicity 177, 222, 223

  time 457–8

  excrement see faeces

  exoskeletons 330

  external digestion 352n, 409

  extinction

  bees 426

  butterflies 371

  counterfactual 255, 400

  flightless birds 305–7

  human impact 138
, 175, 304, 394

  thylacine 189

  eye contact 33–4, 55–6

  eyelash mites 15, 16

  eyes

  box jellyfish 91

  caecilians 399

  dragonflies 389

  night reflection 153

  ocelli 105, 260

  owls 243–4

  praying mantis 396

  sharks 436

  spiders 332n

  Fabri, Jean-Henri 395–6, 397

  faeces 43, 71, 113–14, 128, 132, 149–50, 403

  faith 227n

  family (taxonomy) 36, 37, 38

  farming 304, 403

  feather-stars 99

  feathers 212–13, 226, 294

  feet

  aardvarks 117

  birds 258, 318

  cirripeds 346

  lobopods 136

  penguins 313

  Felidae 455

  field voles 148, 244, 245

  fig wasp 129

  finches 319, 326

  Finnegans Wake 18, 36, 292–3n, 457

  firecrest 319

  fireflies 450

  fish

  cleaning 418–19

  diversity 413

  dolphin taxonomy 30

  taxonomy 407

  thorny-headed worms 223

  fish eagles 225

  fishapods 458

  fishing 224–6

  fitness 167n, 223

  Flamborough Head, Yorkshire 161

  flamingos 270–1

  flat-headed cat 455

  flatworms 104–7, 113–15, 150

  fleas 140–1, 380

  Fleming, Ian 70–1

  flies 414–17

  flight-response 55, 406

  flightlessness 305–8

  flowers 423

  flying

  bats 178, 180, 181, 182, 230

  birds 209, 212–15, 230–2, 258–9, 263–4, 292, 299

  evolution 29–30

  insects 314n, 414–15, 445

  microlights 229–30

  flying fish 311n

  flying foxes 180

  flying lemurs 126

  flying mice 123, 124, 125–6

  flying phalangers 126

  flying squirrels 123, 126

  food hygiene 113–14, 128

  fossils 207, 227, 288–9, 290, 329, 342, 458

  France 395–6

  frigate birds 299–300

  frogs 104, 126, 367–9, 376–7, 383–5

  fungi 31–2

  Galapagos 300, 312, 355–6, 362

  Ganesh 109, 141

  Ganges river dolphin 173–4

  gannets 298

  gardeners 31–2, 403

  gastropods 37, 314–16, 322

  Gastrotricha 227–8

  gaur 86

  geckos 354

  geese 293, 345n

  genus 38

  gerenuks 95–6, 97

  ghost fish 442

  giant African land-snails 106, 322, 323

  giant clam 302–4

  giant kingfisher 225

  giant Pacific octopus 283

  giant squid 90, 273–4, 276

  giant tube worm 143

  gibbons 43

  Gillard, Julia 19

  Gipp’s landworm 144

  giraffes 205

  gladiators 136n

  glass sponges 65–6, 67

  gliding 123, 125–6, 178, 238n, 300, 343

  gnathostomulids 247–8

  gnats 416

  gnu 87

  goats 22

  goblet worms 234–5

  goldcrest 318

  golden poison frog 383–4, 385, 386

  goldfish 411–12

  golf 214

  Golfingia macintoshi 210

  Goliath frog 377

  Goliath heron 225

 

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