LISTIFIED! LISTIFIED!
Britannica’s Britannica’s Britannica’s thatwill willblow blow that your mind your that willmind blow your mind about sortsofof about allallsorts
300 300lists lists 300 lists things,including… including… things, about all sorts of stars stars things, including…
dinosaurs dinosaurs stars volcanoes volcanoes dinosaurs sharks sharks volcanoes bones bones sharks bicycles bicycles bones treasures treasures bicycles inventions inventions treasures rainbows rainbows inventions robots robots rainbows rainforests rainforests robots snowflakes snowflakes rainforests insects insects snowflakes planets planets insects machines machines planets andmore more and machines and more AndrewPettie Pettie Andrew
Illustrated Illustrated byby Andrew Pettie AndrésLozano Lozano Andrés Illustrated by Andrés Lozano
Space Creatures Twenty types of animals that have been to space 1. Fruit flies* 2. Monkeys and apes 3. Mice 4. Dogs 5. Rats 6. Rabbits 7. Cats 8. Tortoises 9. Spiders 10. Worms 11. Ants 12. Bees 13. Turtles 14. Newts 15. Geckos 16. Fish 17. Jellyfish 18. Frogs 19. Guinea pigs 20. Tardigrades**
*The flies reached an altitude of 108 kilometres before safely parachuting back down to Earth (in a special capsule – giving them individual parachutes would have been fiddly). **Tardigrades are microscopic invertebrates that can survive almost anywhere. In 2007, they became the first animals to survive after being fully exposed to outer space without the protection of a spaceship or spacesuit.
38 Space
Friends in High Places Five jobs that satellites do There are currently more than 2,000 working satellites* orbiting the Earth. These are the key functions they perform. 1. Observe the universe Scientific satellites such as the Hubble Space Telescope observe other planets, stars and distant parts of the universe, sending amazing photographs back to Earth. 2. Help us to navigate Satellite-based navigation systems such as GPS (which stands for Global Positioning System) use a network of satellites in Earth orbit. By bouncing a signal off several satellites, the GPS locator in your phone or other digital device can calculate exactly where you are to within a few metres.
3. Send communications Some satellites have dishes like giant mirrors that bounce signals from one place on Earth to another. This enables us to use the Internet, make phone calls to people all around the world and watch TV shows in our homes. 4. Spy on other countries Military satellites monitor activities in other countries, such as the movement of troops. 5. Monitor weather and climate By watching Earth’s cloud and other weather patterns from above, satellites can help us to predict when and where it is going to rain. They also play a part in working out how much the planet is warming due to climate change.
The Hubble Space Telescope
*There are also more than 3,000 satellites that are no longer working. These dead satellites are an example of ‘space junk’. Scientists estimate there are more than 34,000 pieces of space junk currently orbiting the Earth.
Space 39
Jaws
Jaws Junior
Ten of the biggest species of sharks
Ten of the smallest species of shark
1. Whale shark – 13.7 metres*
1. Dwarf lanternshark – 17 centimetres
2. Basking shark – 12.3 metres
2. Green lanternshark – 23 centimetres
3. Greenland shark – 7.3 metres
3. African lanternshark – 24 centimetres
4. Pacific sleeper shark – 7 metres
4. Broadnose catshark – 24 centimetres
5. Great white shark – 6.4 metres
5. Spined pygmy shark – 25 centimetres
6. Great hammerhead shark – 6.1 metres
6. Pygmy shark – 27 centimetres
7. Thresher shark – 6 metres
7. Thorny lanternshark – 27 centimetres
8. Tiger shark – 5.5 metres
8. Granular dogfish – 28 centimetres
9. Cow shark – 4.8 metres
9. Longnose pygmy shark – 28.5 centimetres
10. Bigeye thresher shark – 4.6 metres
*The whale shark is the largest shark in the world and about as long as a bus. Don’t be scared if you meet one, though. It only feeds on tiny marine animals called plankton. 192 The Animal World
10. Short-tail lanternshark – 42 centimetres
Deep Blue Blue whales in numbers 40 million The number of shrimp-like krill a blue whale can eat in a day. 160,000 The blue whale’s total weight in kilograms, which is roughly the same as 2,350 human beings or 20 African elephants. 25,000 The approximate number of blue whales living in the wild.
5,000 The amount of air in litres that blue whales can breathe into their lungs. An adult human’s lungs can hold 6 litres. 180 The weight of a blue whale’s heart in kilograms.* 90 The weight in kilograms that a baby blue whale gains each day as it grows, which is more than the weight of some adult humans. 80–90 The lifespan of a blue whale in years. 30 The length of a blue whale in metres, which is about as long as a Boeing 737 aeroplane.
Whale shark
*A blue whale’s blood vessels are so wide you could swim through them. The Animal World 193
Animal Smarts Ingenious tools that animals use in the wild Spears Chimpanzees use long sticks to hunt other primates and to collect army ants to eat. Fishing rods Galapagos finches use the spines of cactuses to fish for insects in small pools of water. Forks Crows use twigs, feathers and other pointy objects to reach and grab insect larvae. Hammers Sea otters use stones to crack open mollusc shells to get to the food inside.* Helmets Bottlenose dolphins hold sea sponges in their mouths to protect their snouts as they search for food in the sand on the ocean floor. Toothpicks Chimpanzees use twigs to clean their teeth. Dental floss Some macaque monkeys have been known to use strands of hair to floss between their teeth.
*Crows living in Japan have also learnt an amazing strategy to crack open nuts. They drop them onto pedestrian crossings and wait until passing cars have driven over them. When the traffic has stopped, the crows dive down to collect the nuts from the cracked shells and gobble them up. 174 The Animal World
Shields Octopuses pick up halved coconut shells and use them as protective shields to hide from predators. Whistles Orangutans hold bunches of leaves to their lips and blow on them to make a high-pitched squeaking sound to scare away predators. Burglar alarms Corolla spiders attach small pebbles to the entrance of their burrows, which may help alert them to vibrations made by nearby animals. Rulers Gorillas use long sticks to measure how deep a pool of water is before deciding whether to cross it. Umbrellas Orangutans cover their heads with large leaves to shelter from the rain. Toilet paper Orangutans also sometimes use leaves to wipe their bottoms. Fly swatters Elephants pull branches from trees, strip them of leaves, break them down to the right length and then use them to swat away annoying insects.
Clever Canines Ten of the brainiest breeds of dog An expert in dog psychology called Professor Stanley Coren created a series of tests to measure the intelligence of different breeds of dog. Coren’s tests investigated three kinds of doggy intelligence. First, a dog’s ability to perform tasks it was bred for, such as herding animals and fetching objects. Second, a dog’s ability to solve problems on its own, such as retrieving food placed beneath an upturned bowl. Third, a dog’s obedience in following instructions from humans. Overall, these are the dog breeds that came top of the class.*
1 Border collie 2 Poodle
3 German shepherd
4 Golden retriever
5 Dobermann pinscher 6 Shetland sheepdog
7 Labrador retriever
8 Papillon
9 Rottweiler
10 Australian cattle dog
*The three dog breeds that received the lowest scores on Coren’s tests were the English bulldog, Basenji and Afghan hound. The Animal World 175
Author: Andrew Pettie Illustrator: Andrés Lozano Ages: 8+ years Price: £18.99 Format: Hardback Extent: 416 pages Trim size: 280 x 180 mm Pub date: 1st July 2021 ISBN: 978-1-9129207-4-7
Enter the listiverse and get ready to see the world in a whole new way. Listified! takes the best and most amazing parts of the universe – erupting volcanoes, medieval machines, jumping spiders, exploding stars and everything in between – and organizes them into quirky list form for curious kids and their friends and family to enjoy. Brought to life by Andrés Lozano’s imaginative and hilarious artwork, each list presents subjects from new and unexpected angles. Ever wondered which 10 dinosaurs were the largest, and what they weighed… in cats? Or how much of your DNA you share with other animals… and bananas? Let Listified! take you on a journey with Britannica’s 300 lists that will blow your mind about everything from the human body, to prehistoric creatures, planet Earth, outer space and the mysteries beyond.
With more then 300 lists, Listified! will surprise, amaze and amuse young readers and their family and friends alike. • • • • • •
An utterly absorbing compendium of amazing facts and trivia that will keep children entertained for hours More then 300 ingenious lists to offer new perspectives on the world Satisfying list design makes information easily accessible Extra information included in the form of humorous footnotes Approximately 350 bright, stylish and hilarious illustrations from Andrés Lozano Includes a glossary, index and source notes Author Andrew Pettie is a writer, editor and journalist who has contributed to The Times, The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph, where he was Head of Culture. Andrew has also been a contributory writer for reference works by Encyclopaedia Britannica and What on Earth Books. He studied at St Peter’s College, Oxford University. Illustrator Andrés Lozano is a Madrid-born and London-based artist. He divides his time between illustration and painting. As an illustrator he has worked for a wide range of international clients including The New York Times, Google, Virgin Atlantic and McSweeney’s. His work has been shown in exhibitions in Beirut, Los Angeles, New York, London, Madrid and Brisbane. He is the co-author of several picture books that have been translated into more than 10 languages.
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