WTF, Evolution?!: A Theory of Unintelligible Design

<p>We all have our off days. Why should Evolution be any different? Maybe Evolution got carried away with an idea that was just a little too crazy -- like having the Regal Horned Lizard defend itself by shooting <i>three-foot streams of blood from its eyes</i>. Or maybe Evolution ran out of steam (Memo to Evolution: The Irrawaddy Dolphin looks like a prototype that should have been left on the drawing board) . Or maybe Evolution was feeling cheeky -- a fish with hands? Joke's on you, Red Handfish! Or maybe Evolution simply goofed up: How else to explain the overgrown teeth of the babirusas that curl backward over their face? Oops.<br><br> Mara Grunbaum is a very smart, very funny science writer who celebrates the best -- or, really, the worst -- of Evolution's blunders. Here are more than 100 outlandish mammals, reptiles, insects, fish, birds, and other creatures whose very existence leaves us shaking our heads and muttering<i> WTF?!</i> Ms. Grunbaum's especially brilliant stroke is to personify Evolution as a well-meaning but somewhat oblivious experimenter whose conversations with a skeptical narrator are hilarious.<br><br> For almost 4 billion years, Evolution has produced a nonstop parade of inflatable noses, bizarre genitalia, and seriously awkward necks. What a comedian!</p>