Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

First of all, just to be clear: this book is a real scientist explaining a complicated and complex subject to the layperson in clear terms. It doesn't talk down and it doesn't dumb down. It does, however, utilize references ranging from Clue to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to describe the journey of the class cephalopoda (the squid and octopus, the chambered nautilus, and the extinct but once dominant ammonoids) from the Cambrian to the Anthropocene.The author is in clear command of her subject, including controversies and mysteries, and of its many connections to the rest of our planet and its history---the interactions of cephalopods with our own kin, the fish and marine reptiles, and then the whales and dolphins, and the interactions in all sorts of ways that cephalopods have with modern humans. And the story is spiced up by the odd evolution, at the very end of the story (spoiler alert!), that gave both squid and octopus, the survivors of this amazing history, brains that are the very best of the invertebrate world.But the thing that drove me to write this review is: two days ago I finished reading it and gave it to my son (it was his birthday present a week ago) and, like the Harry Potters or Lord of the Rings, I miss it. I am walking around all day thinking about coleoids (i.e. squid and octopus, the ones that lost their shells). Two weeks ago I had no idea what a coleoid was: you could have told me it was a skin rash, and I would have believed you. Now I wonder why the scaphites grew shaped like paperclips, and what it would be like to swim with the belemnites in the Cretaceous oceans. I miss a nonfiction book, a book, not to put too fine a point on it, about the second and third squishiest creatures in the ocean.In case you missed it, I highly recommend "Squid Empire." And I won't spoil it by telling you whether it was Mr. Asteroid in the Cretaceous Room with the...!

There is nothing to dislike in this book if you have any interest in these engaging, strange, probably intelligent, short lived, complex creatures. Cephalopods branched off the tree of life long before vertebrates appeared, and because they live in water, a deeply strange environment we can only briefly visit, they are truly an alien intelligence. Difficult to study in the ocean, difficult to study in captivity, they offer human beings an alternate view of our much-vaunted IQ. They live short lives but develop complex behaviors. Octopuses manipulate their environment and use tools. They are cannibals. They can open jars and escape from tanks. They demonstrate play and curiosity, yet live frustratingly short lives. They evolved the camera eye (along with squid and cuttlefish). Squid Empire explores the evolution of, and differences among, the members of the Cephalopod class. The book is avowedly nerdy, but deliciously witty as well.

I got this for Christmas for my Mom, a former microbiologist -- we're the sort of family that's always watched NOVA specials, Cosmos, and had Scientific American and/or National Geo subscriptions -- and she LOVED it. She knew almost nothing about squids beforehand, but kept reading excerpts aloud all the way through the book.Her comment was that it's good science, it's in-depth, and every time the author starts to get very technical she livens it up with incredibly funny yet accurate turns of phrase that have the reader in stitches. David Attenborough with a droll sense of humor? Anyway, it was a hit, and I look forward to reading it myself next time I visit.

I really enjoyed learning about the history and evolution of cephalopods. Danna Staaf does a great job of writing for the lay public. I appreciated finally understanding the difference between nautiloids and aminoids and the likely reason why nautiloids survived and aminoids did not. It was also fun to learn more about all the coleoidea (squids, octopus, cuttlefish) that have made it to the 21st century. I truly have a new appreciation for these clever and dazzling invertebrates!

I loved squid and cephalopods as a child, and this book has everything awesome about them (fascinatingly bizarre biology! Wildly diverse adapations!) with a fun, personable writing style. I loved it, and had so much fun that my boyfriend kept asking what I was learning, so he learned a lot too!

I'm a cephalopod biologist so I was very excited to get this book. But I was even more excited to learn about all the extinct relatives of the modern cephalopods and to hear a narrative of how they may have come to be. I learned a lot! Great resource to go back to when needed!

It's palatable to the lay person, which you likely are, but won't be for too terribly long. You'll read and understand this readily, then end up reading another and another. This was my first, now I'm on my third book about cephalopods. Please, send help, I don't know how to stop.

Impressively entertaining while being equally informative on all things tentacled, this book is well worth reading. Something on this planet is doing better in the Anthropocene. Something big. Something important. The squid are doing well. From all indications, the cephalopods will make it through this mass extinction as they have every other in 500 million years.

Written in a popular journalistic style nevertheless there are plenty of references to follow up at a more academic level. I learnt a good number of new things even though I have a PhD in palaeoecology. Highly recommended

A good text with irritating and patronising asides. If it is presumably written for an interested group, not a general readership that does not need the parentheses.

An excellent treatise of the subject. Truly a enjoyable and informative read. Highly recommended

Awesome book. Recommend for anyone interested in squid.

Ein Buch, das zu lesen Spaß macht: Gut geschrieben (mit Wortwitz und lustigen Formulierungen), informativ, dabei aber immer gut erklärt. Einziges Manko: Ein paar mehr Bilder hätten dem Buch gut getan, ein paar der Erklärungen wären mit einer Skizze leichter nachzuvollziehen gewesen. Trotzdem eine klare Leseempfehlung für alle, die Bücher über Fossilien und Natur leben.