BOOKS

"Schilthuizen tells his tales and explicates his concepts in jaunty, conversational language, with an occasional hip turn of phrase or a wink of humor."
- David Quammen, The New York Review of Books

“New book: How to Be an Urban Naturalist”,
to be published by MIT Press in 2025

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Darwin Comes to Town (Quercus / Picador 2018)

In Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution, I show how the world is witnessing the rapid evolution of urban ecosystems, stocked with animals and plants that adapt, much quicker than anybody thought possible, to our cities.

Editions are available in Dutch, German, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Greek, Polish, Norwegian, Japanese, Russian, French, Italian, Turkish, Persian.

Here are some highlights from the media:

CBS THIS MORNING

Biologists are challenging the idea of naturalist Charles Darwin that evolution cannot be observed in real time. They cite evidence from cities where scienti...

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Wie Wat Bewaart (Unieboek | Het Spectrum, 2020):

A book for the Dutch market on two centuries of the Netherlands' national natural history museum, written with tv-biologist Freek Vonk. The book has not yet been translated into other languages.

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Nature’s Nether Regions (Penguin / Viking 2014)

In Nature’s Nether Regions, I go down the rabbit hole of the organs that evolve the fastest in the whiole animal kingdom: genitals. They evolve so rapidly and in such a bizarre fashion, that we can use them to identify species that are otherwise on the outside identical. 

Translations are available in Dutch, Italian, Japanese, French, Chinese, Greek and Russian. There is even a manga available!

Here are some highlights from the media:

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Genitals are the fastest-evolving organs in the animal kingdom. But why is this so? And what's the point of having decorative private parts? Menno Schilthuizen explains how the evolutionary biology of nature's nether regions uncovers a hidden world of seduction, conflict, and rivalry. [Directed by Mette Ilene Holmriis, narrated by Adrian Dannatt, music by Wonder Boy Audio].

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The Loom of Life (2008)

The Loom of Life is a layman’s exploration of ecology and biodiversity, and those complex tapestries of life we call ecosystems. It features interviews with E.O. Wilson and It appeared with Springer. Ordering information:

  1. As print book via Springer, Amazon, or Bol.com

  2. As eBook also via Google Books

In translation, the book has appeared in Dutch as Waarom Zijn Er Zoveel Soorten? (latest edition by AtlasContact, 2016).

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Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions (2000)

Frogs, Flies and Dandelions; the Making of Species (Oxford University Press) is all about how and why new species come into being; the process known as speciation. Including interviews with Ernst Mayr, Nancy Knowlton, Michael Rosenzweig, and John Endler, it is a rollercoaster ride through the controversial world of research on the origin of species. Ordering information:

  1. As print book via Amazon, Oxford University Press, and BOL

  2. On Google Books

In translation, the book has appeared as Het Mysterie der Mysteriën with Uitgeverij Nieuwezijds, and in French as Genouilles, Mouches et Pissenlits with Dunod.