Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Nature's best ambassadors Chapter I : All things great and tall Chapter II : All the small things Chapter III : The old dominion Chapter IV : Fast times Chapter V : Aural sects Chapter VI : The tough get going Chapter VII : Deadly serious Chapter VIII : Smarter all the time
Conclusion: The next superlative discovery is yours.

Welcome to the biggest, fastest, deadliest science book
you'll ever read. The world's largest land mammal could
help us end cancer. The fastest bird is showing us how to
solve a century-old engineering mystery. The oldest tree
is giving us insights into climate change. The loudest
whale is offering clues about the impact of solar storms.
For a long time, scientists ignored superlative life forms
as outliers. Increasingly, though, researchers are coming
to see great value in studying plants and animals that
exist on the outermost edges of the bell curve. As it
turns out, there's a lot of value in paying close
attention to the 'oddballs' nature has to offer. Go for a
swim with a ghost shark, the slowest-evolving creature
known to humankind, which is teaching us new ways to think
about immunity. Get to know the axolotl, which has the
longest-known genome and may hold the secret to cellular
regeneration. Learn about Monorhaphis Chuni, the oldest
discovered animal, which is providing insights into the
connection between our terrestrial and aquatic worlds.