The Trials of Life
A Natural History of Animal Behaviour
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Narrated by:
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David Attenborough
About this listen
The third and final updated edition of David Attenborough’s classic Life trilogy. Life on Earth covered evolution, Living Planet , ecology, and now The Trials of Life tackles ethology, the study of how animals behave.
‘This is, quite simply, the best thing I’ve ever done.’ Sir David Attenborough on the TV series, The Trials of Life, upon which this book is based.
This is the third and last of Sir David’s great natural history books based on his TV series and competes his survey of the animal world that began with Life on Earth and continues with Living Planet.
In Life on Earth, Sir David showed how each group of animals evolved. In Living Planet he looked at the way they have adapted to the whole range of habitats in which they live. Now, in Trials of Life, he completes the story by revealing how animals behave – and why.
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- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
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Animal Weapons
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- By: Douglas J. Emlen
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As singular and strange as some of the weapons are, we learn that similar factors set their evolution in motion. He looks at everything from our armor and camouflage to the evolution of the rifle and the structures human populations have built across different regions and eras to protect their homes and communities.
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Loved it!
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What's Eating You?
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In What's Eating You? Eugene Kaplan recounts the true and harrowing tales of his adventures with parasites, and in the process introduces readers to the intimately interwoven lives of host and parasite.
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Squirm-inducing, horribly fascinating stories
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Gods, Wasps and Stranglers
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- By: Mike Shanahan
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They are trees of life and trees of knowledge. They are wish-fulfillers, rain forest royalty, more precious than gold. They are the fig trees, and they have affected humanity in profound but little-known ways. Gods, Wasps and Stranglers tells their amazing story. Fig trees fed our prehuman ancestors, influenced diverse cultures, and played key roles in the dawn of civilization.
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Incredible research in a wonderful story
- By Alonsa Guevara on 11-24-22
By: Mike Shanahan
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Through the Brazilian Wilderness
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A former American president nearly dies during an ill-planned exploration through the Brazilian Wilderness and down the River of Doubt. Theodore Roosevelt was a naturalist, explorer, author, hunter, governor, soldier and 26th President of the United States.
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narration hindrance to story
- By EBH on 09-29-20
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Feathers
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- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
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Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: Aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?
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Fantastic Science and Fun
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Becoming Wild
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Some people insist that culture is strictly a human feat. What are they afraid of? This book looks into three cultures of other-than-human beings in some of Earth's remaining wild places. It shows how if you're a sperm whale, a scarlet macaw, or a chimpanzee, you too experience your life with the understanding that you are an individual in a particular community. You too are who you are not by genes alone; your culture is a second form of inheritance. And your culture, too, changes and evolves.
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It all sinks in over the story—highly recommend
- By Knitting Fisherman on 06-13-20
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The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
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In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
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"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
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Sex in the Sea
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Forget the Kama Sutra. When it comes to inventive sex acts, just look to the sea. There we find the elaborate mating rituals of armored lobsters; giant right whales engaging in a lively threesome while holding their breath; full-moon sex parties of groupers; and daily mating blitzes by blueheaded wrasse. Deep-sea squid perform inverted 69s while hermaphrodite sea slugs link up in giant sex loops.
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How to laugh while learning/ learn while laughing
- By Miamigrrl on 07-27-16
By: Marah J. Hardt
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What listeners say about The Trials of Life
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jane E. Etter
- 10-24-23
Another winner from Sir Attenborough!
I’m a fan of David Attenborough, from his memoirs to his fantastic natural history works. The narration is absolutely top-notch - and the writing takes listeners, viewers, readers right into the action! He never lets us down!
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- Naomi Rivkis
- 02-02-23
Attenborough's Best
David Attenborough's did three major television ministries on the natural world overall. The first two largely focused on the shape and form that animals take. But the Trials of Life centers on behavior -- what animals DO in order to survive and accomplish what they must. It's very much the best of the three.
All three TV series have now been turned into books, and this is the audiobook version of the Trials of Life. It was written by Attenborough, and is read by him. Since he's spent most of his career as a television producer, he has a marvelous voice for reading aloud -- it's the same one he uses for talking on the air.
I'll always love the miniseries best, but the book is very nearly as good. I listen to it over again every couple of months or so. If for some reason you prefer your fascinating animal stories in audiobook form, this is as good as it gets.
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- Fai
- 02-28-24
Calming
This audiobook has a smooth narration with a good cadence and interesting subjects. It can keep your attention while not being jarring to listen to.
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2 people found this helpful