Title: The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True
Author(s): Richard Dawkins (text), Dave McKean (illustration)
Release year: 2011
Publisher: Bantam Press
Why in Database: We found turtle elements in two places in the book – in the form of very small references.
The first mention is made of the general list of animals included in the “Reptiles” group:
Station Three Hundred and Ten Million Years Ago presents us with our 170-million-greats-grandmother. She is the grand ancestor of all modern mammals, all modern reptiles – snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodiles – and all dinosaurs (including birds, because birds arose from certain kinds of dinosaur).
Second fragment is made when Galapagos Islands are discussed, the huge turtles are mentioned:
Most of the Galapagos islands have only a single large volcano, but Isabela has five. If the sea level rises (perhaps because of global warming) Isabela could become five islands separated by sea. As it is, you can think of each volcano as a kind of island within an island. That’s how it would seem to an animal like a land iguana (or a giant tortoise), which needs to feed on the vegetation found only on the slopes around the volcanoes.
Author: XYuriTT