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book cover for Why Rats Laugh and Jellyfish Sleep

Why Rats Laugh and Jellyfish Sleep

And Other Enchanting Stories of Evolution

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Pub Date Sep 23 2025 | Archive Date Sep 23 2025

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Description

For fans of accessible and fun popular science comes an exploration of evolution’s quirkiest puzzles and most enduring mysteries. 

Why do cats live longer than dogs? Why do bees have yellow stripes? Why can we smell a skunk from a mile away? Such questions can be seen as puzzles about creatures' evolved traits. Besides triggering our curiosity, they focus our attention on beguiling designs that have been millions of years in the making. Indeed, looking at the living world through a Darwinian lens reveals its colossal depth in a way that's all too easy to miss in the age of endless distractions. You need only summon up your inner inquisitive 7-year-old to notice such puzzles, and to find yourself looking deeper while considering possible solutions.  

In this lively book, science writer David Stipp ponders Darwinian puzzles about nine familiar creatures and things—bumblebees, dogs, sparrows, caffeine, earthworms, and sleep, among others—to show how rewarding it can be to look at nature in a deeper way. By revealing hidden depths of the ordinary, Why Rats Laugh and Jellyfish Sleep shows not only that fascinating intricacies lie just beneath the natural world's familiar surfaces, but that noticing them lets us make connections we didn't realize existed. 

This is backyard biophilia at its most entertaining and enlightening. 

For fans of accessible and fun popular science comes an exploration of evolution’s quirkiest puzzles and most enduring mysteries. 

Why do cats live longer than dogs? Why do bees have yellow stripes?...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781643264875
PRICE $30.00 (USD)
PAGES 320

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Average rating from 6 members


Featured Reviews

3.75/5 rounded up!

I love learning seemingly random things, especially about animals! And I wanted to read this book because one of my all-time favorite non-fiction books is Vanishing Treasures by Katherine Rundell, another book about animals (that one is about endangered animals though, this is more random questions and facts).

This book covers a large range of questions, ranging from "why do skunks smell?" and "why are some bumblebees cannibals?" There is so much to learn from this book, I especially liked learning about how humans play such a role in the evolution of other animals (for better or for worse). I have so many fun facts saved and I cannot wait to share them with people. I love annoying friends and family with fun facts!

Stylistically, this was conversational but also a bit dense, but not too dense! I could read this without loosing track of what was being explained to me, but I do prefer a very casual and conversational non-fiction. So that is totally a personal preference thing!

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

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Why Rats Laugh and Jellyfish Sleep is like a nature documentary hosted by your super nerdy (and slightly unhinged) friend. David Stipp explains why sparrows are squatters, caffeine is plant warfare, and jellyfish somehow sleep without brains. It’s weird, fascinating, and makes you question everything—including your morning coffee. Perfect for anyone who likes their science with a side of “wait… what?!”

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I love trivia and this was right up my alley. I had no deal that most of the things in this book actually occurred in real life and I’m sure I’ll be driving hubby nuts 🌰 in no time flat sharing all I learned from this book.

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Packed full of interesting information including sleep in animals to bumblebees. Enjoyable, evidence based book, thoroughly entertaining. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

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I loved this book. It provided a great look at evolution with thorough yet plain-language explanations. I found the writing to be snappy, well-paced, and light-hearted. Each chapter started with a great illustration that helped increase my engagement with the book. I also found the writing to be poetic at times without getting bogged down with excess formality. Overall, this was a great read and I recommend it for anyone interested in biology. Thank you to Netgalley and Timber Press for the advance reader copy.

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4.5 rounded up!
Such an interesting book! As someone currently finishing a biology major, I found this book really absorbing. The writing is very good with wording and it keeps you from getting distracted or lost. I liked how each chapter focused on answering each question not only with the scientific explanation, but with the clarification and simplicity that helps anyone understand it easily.

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