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Rating: 
Summary: interesting and well argued
Review: answers many evolutionary questions and brings up topics you probably hadn't even thought to ask about. incorporates a lot of paleontological evidence and focuses on the evolution of different groups of animals, as well as on specific species. repeatedly refers back to basic laws of physics to explain various adaptations. readable in general, although sometimes the text is a little awkward and overly detailed and the footnotes could have been better integrated. here's a complete rundown of the topics covered:
Ch.1: covers issues with the scaling of areas to volumes, how it affects an animal's leg shape, body size, head size, hair, etc.
Ch.2: the energy costs for cold vs. warm-blood, looks more closely at issues w/ body size
Ch.3: looks at theories about the evolution of warm-bloods
Ch.4: looks at theories about whether or not dinosaurs were cold or warm-blooded
Ch.5: adaptations for animals, including in the tundra and desert
Ch.6: why there are hardly any huge cold-bloods, except in unstable, infertile areas like Australia
Ch.7: why there are hardly any large mammals in freshwater regions, although they exist on land and in the ocean. looks at the success of crocodiles.
Ch.8: why there are many species of birds in general and why there aren't many species of large birds
Ch.9: the catastrophic events that happened when there was global warming and decrease of global biodiversity in a previous era
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating. A future classic.
Review: Before reading this fabulous book I had no idea that scientists had missed so many important ideas in the field of natural history. Why Elephants Have Big Ears offers a whole new view of life on earth. Endlessly fascinating and beautifully written, this work is destined to become a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Splendid and readable
Review: Chris Lavers is a paleontologist who specializes in wildlife ecology. It is from this point of view that he presents some of the ideas and controversies of current evolutionary theory along with some of the excitement of recent discoveries and understandings in a popular and nontechnical manner. His readable text is aimed precisely at the educated nonspecialist, but without a hint of any dumbing down. In the title chapter we learn that elephants pump the warm blood from the interior of their bodies to the array of tubes in their ears to dissipate excess body heat. From this consideration Lavers is led to a discussion of whether dinosaurs were warm blooded or not. The evidence he presents makes it clear to this observer that they were, but his cautious conclusion is that the case hasn't been proven quite yet. Lavers hints that the dinosaurs may have to be put in another category, perhaps somewhere between warm blooded and cold, or maybe even somewhere beyond. How about: "I'm hot-blooded, check it and see" (to reprise a rock lyric). Lavers goes to considerable depth to demonstrate how much we can learn by combining evidence from the fossil record with what we know about the metabolism of animals and how their bodies work. Dinosaur anatomy, for example, strongly suggests a closer kinship with today's avian world than with the reptilian. Furthermore, the large size of many dinosaurs is inconsistent with cold-bloodedness. Reptiles can't get as big as a Brontosaurus because (for one thing) they would not be able to regulate their temperature. Lavers points out that all the really big animals on earth today, with the exception of the giant tortoises, Komodo dragons and some snakes--and they aren't really that big--are warm-blooded. He cites the arguments of Robert Bakker and others to conclude that T. Rex, for example, wouldn't have the metabolic power to run down prey if it were cold-blooded. I found Lavers's discussion of the difference between non-oxygen-based metabolic reactions capable of "supercharged" bursts of short-lived energy typical of reptiles, and the sustainable aerobic reactions typical of mammals like dogs and humans very interesting. The quick bursts are those of the sprinter who is wasted after at most a few hundred yards, while the aerobic engine sustains the pace of the long distance runner. Also interesting is the material in the chapter "Life on the Edge" about how birds and mammals maintain their body temperatures in the climate extremes of the deserts and the polar regions of the earth. Lavers notes that in very cold places there are no reptiles. In some of this I am reminded of the famous and splendid essay by J. B. S. Haldane, "On Being the Right Size," published many decades ago. Lavers presents the same kind of reasoned argument based on physiology and anatomy to demonstrate why animals are built the way they are and why it would be difficult for them to be constructed otherwise. One comes away from the reading with a sense of having learned something important and exciting, a sense of having acquired understanding, not merely a collection of facts.
Rating:
Summary: Splendid and readable
Review: Chris Lavers is a paleontologist who specializes in wildlife ecology. It is from this point of view that he presents some of the ideas and controversies of current evolutionary theory along with some of the excitement of recent discoveries and understandings in a popular and nontechnical manner. His readable text is aimed precisely at the educated nonspecialist, but without a hint of any dumbing down. In the title chapter we learn that elephants pump the warm blood from the interior of their bodies to the array of tubes in their ears to dissipate excess body heat. From this consideration Lavers is led to a discussion of whether dinosaurs were warm blooded or not. The evidence he presents makes it clear to this observer that they were, but his cautious conclusion is that the case hasn't been proven quite yet. Lavers hints that the dinosaurs may have to be put in another category, perhaps somewhere between warm blooded and cold, or maybe even somewhere beyond. How about: "I'm hot-blooded, check it and see" (to reprise a rock lyric). Lavers goes to considerable depth to demonstrate how much we can learn by combining evidence from the fossil record with what we know about the metabolism of animals and how their bodies work. Dinosaur anatomy, for example, strongly suggests a closer kinship with today's avian world than with the reptilian. Furthermore, the large size of many dinosaurs is inconsistent with cold-bloodedness. Reptiles can't get as big as a Brontosaurus because (for one thing) they would not be able to regulate their temperature. Lavers points out that all the really big animals on earth today, with the exception of the giant tortoises, Komodo dragons and some snakes--and they aren't really that big--are warm-blooded. He cites the arguments of Robert Bakker and others to conclude that T. Rex, for example, wouldn't have the metabolic power to run down prey if it were cold-blooded. I found Lavers's discussion of the difference between non-oxygen-based metabolic reactions capable of "supercharged" bursts of short-lived energy typical of reptiles, and the sustainable aerobic reactions typical of mammals like dogs and humans very interesting. The quick bursts are those of the sprinter who is wasted after at most a few hundred yards, while the aerobic engine sustains the pace of the long distance runner. Also interesting is the material in the chapter "Life on the Edge" about how birds and mammals maintain their body temperatures in the climate extremes of the deserts and the polar regions of the earth. Lavers notes that in very cold places there are no reptiles. In some of this I am reminded of the famous and splendid essay by J. B. S. Haldane, "On Being the Right Size," published many decades ago. Lavers presents the same kind of reasoned argument based on physiology and anatomy to demonstrate why animals are built the way they are and why it would be difficult for them to be constructed otherwise. One comes away from the reading with a sense of having learned something important and exciting, a sense of having acquired understanding, not merely a collection of facts.
Rating:
Summary: From the author
Review: Dear all. Greetings from England. Here are a few reviews of my book. If you buy a copy, I hope you enjoy it. "If you want to understand evolution, read this. A pachyderm of a book!" David Bellamy "A book which evokes a deeper fascination for nature's marvels" Richard Leakey "Perhaps no other book available explains evolution, natural selection, and the riddles of natural history as well as Chris Lavers's Why Elephants Have Big Ears" Steve Brusatte "Fascinating and illuminating" New Scientist "The title of this charming books says it all. Why Elephants have Big Ears expresses a wonderfully quirky curiosity about biology. Chris Lavers skillfully melds physiology, evolution, biomechanics, and ecology to answer questions almost too big to be asked" Pat Shipman, Rhone-Poulenc Prize-winning author of The Wisdom of Bones "Reading through this book, I was constantly marvelling at the discoveries I made...Some of the natural processes outlined are fairly complex, but Lavers writes in such an accessible way that a non-scientist like me grasped them" Paula Francis "A fine read" Colin Tudge
Rating:
Summary: Never thought paleontology could be this interesting
Review: This book is an extended essay on the continuity of evolutionary trends. In it, Lavers examines the extremes of the animal world, the very large, the very small, animals that can withstand very hot climes or very cold ones, mammals that fly and birds that run. For each of these beasts, Lavers argues that their shape and special characteristics must have been the result of adaptation to their environment or ecological niche. He investigates not only why elephants have big ears (to cool down their enormous rotund bodies in hot climates), but also why we don't have elephant-sized lizards or birds (at least these days). Throughout the book, Lavers draws on results of research in paleontology. For example, he explains the two sides of the debate about whether dinosaurs were warm blooded, and what the implications would be for giant cold-blooded lizards. I, for one, never really cultivated an interest in dinosaurs before. But after reading this book, it's much more clear to me that the animals we see around us today are just one chapter in the overall life of the planet. The book is written in an informal style, without footnotes, but key sources are identified in endnotes at the back of the book, along with a bibliography containing hundreds of references.
Rating:
Summary: Never thought paleontology could be this interesting
Review: This book is an extended essay on the continuity of evolutionary trends. In it, Lavers examines the extremes of the animal world, the very large, the very small, animals that can withstand very hot climes or very cold ones, mammals that fly and birds that run. For each of these beasts, Lavers argues that their shape and special characteristics must have been the result of adaptation to their environment or ecological niche. He investigates not only why elephants have big ears (to cool down their enormous rotund bodies in hot climates), but also why we don't have elephant-sized lizards or birds (at least these days). Throughout the book, Lavers draws on results of research in paleontology. For example, he explains the two sides of the debate about whether dinosaurs were warm blooded, and what the implications would be for giant cold-blooded lizards. I, for one, never really cultivated an interest in dinosaurs before. But after reading this book, it's much more clear to me that the animals we see around us today are just one chapter in the overall life of the planet. The book is written in an informal style, without footnotes, but key sources are identified in endnotes at the back of the book, along with a bibliography containing hundreds of references.
Rating:
Summary: Hot blooded hear essays
Review: When I needed to book to get to grips with food and endothermy, this is the best one I could find. Written in the same genre as "Why big fierce animals are rare" (better - please no sentimentality in such material) though in the footsteps of Robert Bakker and possibly Gould or Gribbin or other popular writers, this book is very informative though it could have been more critical and less informal. It is actually a somewhat original account summarising the latest news from the Mesozoic dwelling on dinosaurs, size, energetics, evolution and the author's fear of the amalgamation of biodiversity. The illustrations highlight characters from the history of vertebrate evolution and the book is a send off for elephants, flightless birds, some extinct and extant reptiles. I wish the last chapeter could have been curtailed with a more general overview of our impact on the biosphere and that the author could sound less philanthropic in his intentions. I think the work will be much cited (I will anyway) and though he leans to warm blooded dinosaurs this could be a mistake. Excellent as a macrotaxonomic survey in the vertebrates on physiologic lines, more, much more needs to be said e.g., on secondary palates, body shape, insulation, food sources, plants, past climates. This book will need sequels. A cardinal work.
Rating:
Summary: Hot blooded hear essays
Review: When I needed to book to get to grips with food and endothermy, this is the best one I could find. Written in the same genre as "Why big fierce animals are rare" (better - please no sentimentality in such material) though in the footsteps of Robert Bakker and possibly Gould or Gribbin or other popular writers, this book is very informative though it could have been more critical and less informal. It is actually a somewhat original account summarising the latest news from the Mesozoic dwelling on dinosaurs, size, energetics, evolution and the author's fear of the amalgamation of biodiversity. The illustrations highlight characters from the history of vertebrate evolution and the book is a send off for elephants, flightless birds, some extinct and extant reptiles. I wish the last chapeter could have been curtailed with a more general overview of our impact on the biosphere and that the author could sound less philanthropic in his intentions. I think the work will be much cited (I will anyway) and though he leans to warm blooded dinosaurs this could be a mistake. Excellent as a macrotaxonomic survey in the vertebrates on physiologic lines, more, much more needs to be said e.g., on secondary palates, body shape, insulation, food sources, plants, past climates. This book will need sequels. A cardinal work.
Rating:
Summary: Covers the basics of understanding life on earth
Review: Why Elephants Have Big Ears covers the basics of understanding life on earth, tackling the more obvious questions such as why elephants have evolved big ears and why there are so many birds. The answers to these and other questions take the form of explaining broad patterns of evolution in the animal world.
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