Restless creatures: the story of life in ten movements.

London: Icon Books, 2016. Octavo, paperback, black and white photographs, illustrations.
Traces the 4 billion-year history of movement, from bacteria to Olympic athletes. Despite the overwhelming diversity of life on earth, one theme has dominated its evolution: the apparently simple act of moving from one place to another. Written for a general audience, this book tells the incredible story of locomotion in human and animal evolution. Evolutionary biologist Matt Wilkinson shows why our ancestors became two-legged, how movement explains why we have opposable thumbs and a backbone, how fish fins became limbs, how even trees are locomotion-obsessed, and how movement has shaped our minds as well as our bodies. He explains why there are no flying monkeys or biological wheels, how dinosaurs took to the air, how Mexican waves were the making of the animal kingdom, and why moving can make us feel good.
Restless Creatures opens up an astonishing new perspective - that little in evolution makes sense unless in the light of movement.