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Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods
Before there were mammals on land, there were dinosaurs. And before there were fish in the sea, there were cephalopods -- the ancestors of modern squid and Earth’s first truly substantial animals. Cephalopods became the first creatures to rise from the seafloor, essentially inventing the act of swimming. With dozens of tentacles and formidable shells, they presided over an undersea empire for millions of years. But when fish evolved jaws, the ocean’s former top predator became its most delicious snack. Cephalopods had to step up their game. Many species streamlined their shells and added defensive spines, but these enhancements only provided a brief advantage. Some cephalopods then abandoned the shell entirely, which opened the gates to a flood of evolutionary innovations: masterful camouflage, fin-supplemented jet propulsion, perhaps even dolphin-like intelligence. Squid Empire is an epic adventure spanning hundreds of millions of years, from the marine life of the primordial ocean to the calamari on tonight’s menu. Anyone who enjoys the undersea world—along with all those obsessed with things prehistoric—will be interested in the sometimes enormous, often bizarre creatures that ruled the seas long before the first dinosaurs.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published October 3, 2017
About the author
Danna Staaf
7 books86 followersWhen Danna Staaf met an octopus at the age of ten, it changed her life. She set up a saltwater aquarium to keep eight-armed pets in her bedroom, learned to scuba dive off the coast closest to her home in Southern California, and eventually earned a PhD in the biology of squid babies. Currently working as a science writer, she also wields words in the world of fiction, and helps her husband raise two story-hungry children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews
July 8, 2018
To believe in the octopus, as Victor Hugo said, one must have seen it. Octopuses and squid, with their shapeless bodies, their writhing arms, have always felt like alien beings. Their eyes – and their intelligence – have evolved independently of our own eyes, our own intelligence. They seem entirely other.
This is a charming and fascinating book about exactly how the cephalopods did evolve. It's basically like the first third of Peter Godfrey-Smith's Other Minds (which is the bit I was most interested in) expanded to book size. Since I am someone who always loved palaeontology but was not so obsessed with dinosaurs, this is a very welcome dinosaur-free exploration of prehistoric fauna.
Cephalopods (literally ‘head-footed’ creatures) emerged five hundred million years ago, give or take, and there were three main branches of them. The ammonoids were the ones whose shells you can buy in every museum gift shop – these pretty spirals originally held squiddy little animals, probably with facefuls of tentacles (strictly, ‘arms’). They did astonishingly well, surviving many major die-offs through the eons, until finally buying the farm at the end of the Cretaceous, apparently in the same extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs.
Ammonites, a nautilus, and a squid
Alongside the ammonoids were the nautiloids, a few species of which have survived to the present day almost unchanged – they're one of those animals that often get referred to as living fossils. And the third branch of the cephalopods is the coleoids, which includes octopuses, squid and cuttlefish. Reading about their evolution brings a lot of their similarities into focus in ways that I found fascinating. All cephalopods originally had shells, for instance, but squid and octopuses have internalised theirs. In squid, it survives in the bony interior shaft called a pen, or gladius, while in octopuses it has almost entirely disappeared (although you can still see it during embryonic development).
Danna Staaf writes with a kind of geeky exuberance that is very endearing – she seems very excited to tell others about the awesomeness of her specialist subject and I, for one, was completely won over. My only regret is that she was so hesitant about introducing all the new vocabulary – lots of weird and wonderful terms like phragmocone, aptychus and statolith – and did her best to avoid them where possible, while I was like ‘Noooo, give me more!’ But in general, this is an excellent book for anyone wanting to get a head start on welcoming our new squid overlords.
This is a charming and fascinating book about exactly how the cephalopods did evolve. It's basically like the first third of Peter Godfrey-Smith's Other Minds (which is the bit I was most interested in) expanded to book size. Since I am someone who always loved palaeontology but was not so obsessed with dinosaurs, this is a very welcome dinosaur-free exploration of prehistoric fauna.
Cephalopods (literally ‘head-footed’ creatures) emerged five hundred million years ago, give or take, and there were three main branches of them. The ammonoids were the ones whose shells you can buy in every museum gift shop – these pretty spirals originally held squiddy little animals, probably with facefuls of tentacles (strictly, ‘arms’). They did astonishingly well, surviving many major die-offs through the eons, until finally buying the farm at the end of the Cretaceous, apparently in the same extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs.
Ammonites, a nautilus, and a squid
Alongside the ammonoids were the nautiloids, a few species of which have survived to the present day almost unchanged – they're one of those animals that often get referred to as living fossils. And the third branch of the cephalopods is the coleoids, which includes octopuses, squid and cuttlefish. Reading about their evolution brings a lot of their similarities into focus in ways that I found fascinating. All cephalopods originally had shells, for instance, but squid and octopuses have internalised theirs. In squid, it survives in the bony interior shaft called a pen, or gladius, while in octopuses it has almost entirely disappeared (although you can still see it during embryonic development).
Danna Staaf writes with a kind of geeky exuberance that is very endearing – she seems very excited to tell others about the awesomeness of her specialist subject and I, for one, was completely won over. My only regret is that she was so hesitant about introducing all the new vocabulary – lots of weird and wonderful terms like phragmocone, aptychus and statolith – and did her best to avoid them where possible, while I was like ‘Noooo, give me more!’ But in general, this is an excellent book for anyone wanting to get a head start on welcoming our new squid overlords.
March 22, 2018
Reading Squid Empire is like having a nerdily awesome scientist friend who’s willing to comb through 100+ years of research papers for you and distill them into a pithy, entertaining, and cohesive narrative. Evolution’s the game; we have our cast of three cephalopod lineages (ammonoids, coleoids, and nautiloids), we have sworn enemies (fish and later sea mammals), we have strokes of good luck, near misses, weird sex, cannibalism, and at least for one lineage, a final bow off the stage. Who says non-fiction doesn’t make for good stories?
Squid Empire is fundamentally different from the more memoir-oriented recent crop of octopus/squid books. Now, I admit to weeping at a pivotal moment in Sy Montgomery’s Soul of an Octopus and love anecdotes about clever, mischievous octopuses (they’re like cats, only squishier and with more appendages), but here is a tale as old as time (almost) of how these remarkable creatures evolved, a science story previously inaccessible to non-paleontologists.
Maybe it sounds a little dry, but you’ll find plenty of fascinating stuff in here, including the mechanics of jet propulsion, the perils of having a stomach that passes through your brain, the trade-offs of being squishy (echolocation doesn’t work well on you) vs. having a shell (harder for stuff to eat you), why octopus eyes are better than ours, and how modern squid have erased themselves from the fossil record.
Staaf writes like a reformed academic - all citations are present and the endnotes are exhaustive, but there’s a pervasive, geeky sense of humor and palpable love for her subject. I laughed out loud a few times:
For the record, mammal species number only in the mid 5000s while insect species are estimated to be well over a million. We definitely don't need that, either! And this casually dropped snippet:
Squid Empire was never unputdownable, but I was always happy to come back to it. I am fascinated by octopuses but have no training in marine biology or paleontology. None is needed to enjoy this book. The final section on the future of cephalopods facing warming, acidifying oceans - and the insatiable human appetite - could have been a total downer, but ends instead on a hopeful note that these resilient, resourceful animals may just be able to roll with the punches one more time. (But please, don’t buy nautilus shells on vacation. These are rare, slow-growing, non-fecund animals, and if you want something pretty and spiraly, may I recommend the safely extinct ammonoid?)
I also love that Dana Staaf is local to me and mentions the denizens (pajama squid, flamboyant cuttlefish) of the Tentacles exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. On my most recent visit, the giant Pacific octopus floated over level with my head, and of all the animals I looked at that day, it was the only one that looked back at me.
A couple of minor quibbles: I agree with previous reviewer Nicholas that Squid Empire is occasionally pedantic about in-text references (“Writing about aptychus function in 2014, Horacio Parent of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Argentina, along with Westermann and the American paleontologist John Chamberlain, rattled off this list of previous proposals…”). I also got a little lost in the terminology (already highly reduced for a general readership) at a few points because I was reading over several days and couldn’t remember what a term referred to.
But overall - good science presented appealingly, smart writing, and great fun.
Squid Empire is fundamentally different from the more memoir-oriented recent crop of octopus/squid books. Now, I admit to weeping at a pivotal moment in Sy Montgomery’s Soul of an Octopus and love anecdotes about clever, mischievous octopuses (they’re like cats, only squishier and with more appendages), but here is a tale as old as time (almost) of how these remarkable creatures evolved, a science story previously inaccessible to non-paleontologists.
Maybe it sounds a little dry, but you’ll find plenty of fascinating stuff in here, including the mechanics of jet propulsion, the perils of having a stomach that passes through your brain, the trade-offs of being squishy (echolocation doesn’t work well on you) vs. having a shell (harder for stuff to eat you), why octopus eyes are better than ours, and how modern squid have erased themselves from the fossil record.
Staaf writes like a reformed academic - all citations are present and the endnotes are exhaustive, but there’s a pervasive, geeky sense of humor and palpable love for her subject. I laughed out loud a few times:
At only around eight hundred living species, cephalopods are among the less species-rich mollusks. (Let’s not make them feel bad by comparing them with the insectoid wealth of arthropods. Nobody needs that.)
For the record, mammal species number only in the mid 5000s while insect species are estimated to be well over a million. We definitely don't need that, either! And this casually dropped snippet:
Slugs, for instance, are hermaphroditic, and in the course of impregnating each other their penises sometimes get tangled, so they chew them off. Nothing in the rest of this chapter will make you nearly that uncomfortable.
Squid Empire was never unputdownable, but I was always happy to come back to it. I am fascinated by octopuses but have no training in marine biology or paleontology. None is needed to enjoy this book. The final section on the future of cephalopods facing warming, acidifying oceans - and the insatiable human appetite - could have been a total downer, but ends instead on a hopeful note that these resilient, resourceful animals may just be able to roll with the punches one more time. (But please, don’t buy nautilus shells on vacation. These are rare, slow-growing, non-fecund animals, and if you want something pretty and spiraly, may I recommend the safely extinct ammonoid?)
I also love that Dana Staaf is local to me and mentions the denizens (pajama squid, flamboyant cuttlefish) of the Tentacles exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. On my most recent visit, the giant Pacific octopus floated over level with my head, and of all the animals I looked at that day, it was the only one that looked back at me.
A couple of minor quibbles: I agree with previous reviewer Nicholas that Squid Empire is occasionally pedantic about in-text references (“Writing about aptychus function in 2014, Horacio Parent of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Argentina, along with Westermann and the American paleontologist John Chamberlain, rattled off this list of previous proposals…”). I also got a little lost in the terminology (already highly reduced for a general readership) at a few points because I was reading over several days and couldn’t remember what a term referred to.
But overall - good science presented appealingly, smart writing, and great fun.
March 28, 2020
From fossils like amenoids to today's stars of animated movies like Finding Dory, cephalopods are rock stars. For the longest time, though, they were considered just another variety of "dumb animal". Well, here are some of the things those "dumb animals" can do without any form of training:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTJbd...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgIeh...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQwJX...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cV4y...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKWss...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGHGQ...
And don't get me started on the countless "prison breaks" from private and public aquariums.
Coleoids, nautiloids, … the squid empire has many subjects and rulers. They also have a long history. Ever seen one of these?
(Yes, this is from my private collection.)
Same family, just a few million years older. ;)
The author is very good in writing about this diverse family of animals that have been on this planet for so very long and in many different forms. Of course, the animals themselves keep people interested simply because they are so funny and quirky. Nevertheless, it takes the right kind of writing style in order to bring any non-fiction topic across and the author had a great way to show her own enthusiasm simultaneously.
So the book takes us on a journey through time, introducing us to these creatures’ ancestors and today’s representatives. It talks about the different classes within the squid family and what their presence might or might not have meant (and might or might not will mean) to other sea creatures. We learn what the invention of beaks and teeth has done to transform animal live on Earth etc.
Some facts I already knew but I didn’t have an entire book about squids alone and it gave me the excuse to search for lots of funny gifs and videos. ;P
Seriously cool and informative book with an amicable writing style. Go read it, you won’t regret it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTJbd...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgIeh...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQwJX...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cV4y...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKWss...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGHGQ...
And don't get me started on the countless "prison breaks" from private and public aquariums.
Coleoids, nautiloids, … the squid empire has many subjects and rulers. They also have a long history. Ever seen one of these?
(Yes, this is from my private collection.)
Same family, just a few million years older. ;)
The author is very good in writing about this diverse family of animals that have been on this planet for so very long and in many different forms. Of course, the animals themselves keep people interested simply because they are so funny and quirky. Nevertheless, it takes the right kind of writing style in order to bring any non-fiction topic across and the author had a great way to show her own enthusiasm simultaneously.
So the book takes us on a journey through time, introducing us to these creatures’ ancestors and today’s representatives. It talks about the different classes within the squid family and what their presence might or might not have meant (and might or might not will mean) to other sea creatures. We learn what the invention of beaks and teeth has done to transform animal live on Earth etc.
Some facts I already knew but I didn’t have an entire book about squids alone and it gave me the excuse to search for lots of funny gifs and videos. ;P
Seriously cool and informative book with an amicable writing style. Go read it, you won’t regret it.
October 9, 2019
This was a rather interesting overview of our favorite squishy tentacular friends in the ocean. It's not cutesy, however. It's basically a best-guess rundown of what we know about squids from the earliest instances in the ocean to the limited modern variety that remain today.
It is SCIENCE, or at least a popular reporting of it. :)
I particularly liked the instances describing their brains, cognition, and long-term memory. The odd juxtaposition of (possibly) being colorblind despite the fantastic ability to blend in with so many colors was a close second. And the accounting of escape attempts and octopod wrestlers. :)
The ecological problems that might wipe these fascinating creatures out is similar to ALL the same problems the ocean is facing. Scary, sad, and enraging. The previous die-offs went on for long periods of time, long enough to acclimatize. The current cycle is rather rough.
I'm glad I read this. It's not sensationalist. Just factual. :)
It is SCIENCE, or at least a popular reporting of it. :)
I particularly liked the instances describing their brains, cognition, and long-term memory. The odd juxtaposition of (possibly) being colorblind despite the fantastic ability to blend in with so many colors was a close second. And the accounting of escape attempts and octopod wrestlers. :)
The ecological problems that might wipe these fascinating creatures out is similar to ALL the same problems the ocean is facing. Scary, sad, and enraging. The previous die-offs went on for long periods of time, long enough to acclimatize. The current cycle is rather rough.
I'm glad I read this. It's not sensationalist. Just factual. :)
April 11, 2020
I was fascinated by cephalopods after reading a book by Peter Ward several years ago. These creatures, even while I feel a little put off by their many arms and movement, are bloody amazing, and have been on this planet in some form or the other for way longer than us silly monkeys have been.
The author gives all sorts of great information, albeit at a layperson level, on the development of these beings over millions of years. And though the big lizards who usually get the better press than these tentacled beasties, I see why these invertebrates are so interesting.
For a good and often humorous introduction to the long history and development of these beings, I’d definitely recommend this book, and give it 4 squishy and tentacular stars.
The author gives all sorts of great information, albeit at a layperson level, on the development of these beings over millions of years. And though the big lizards who usually get the better press than these tentacled beasties, I see why these invertebrates are so interesting.
For a good and often humorous introduction to the long history and development of these beings, I’d definitely recommend this book, and give it 4 squishy and tentacular stars.
August 18, 2019
An excellent popular science book that overlays an engaging narrative over an otherwise dry topic, that of the evolutionary history of the cephalopods and their three main evolutionary lineages, the ammonoids (now extinct), the nautiloids (still extant, but only a few species) and the coleoids (squid, octopuses and cuttlefish).
It goes into the ages of the Earth from the point of view of the cephalopods, how we know what we know about them given that their soft parts don't fossilize, and the uses of the fossils that are there beyond just our understanding of this lineage.
Recommended for anyone interested in these fascinating creatures or paleontology in general.
It goes into the ages of the Earth from the point of view of the cephalopods, how we know what we know about them given that their soft parts don't fossilize, and the uses of the fossils that are there beyond just our understanding of this lineage.
Recommended for anyone interested in these fascinating creatures or paleontology in general.
November 14, 2017
Disclaimer: I won a copy via Librarything.
Unlike Staaf, it took me quite a while to warm up to squid, octopuses and the like. It wasn’t until I read “The Vampie Squid from Hell” by Richard Ellis that I took an interest. Staaf’s book isn’t about one specific squid, octopus, or whatnot; instead it is about the history of cephalopods as a whole, in particular the evolution.
Which you think would make it a rather dull science book, but it is not.
In part, this is because of all the cool and interesting facts that Staaf shares. For instance, did you know that a sperm whale eats 700-800 squid every day and that isn’t that unusual because apparently everything eats squid, including squid. And then there is the squid’s brain and that is really strange. Not to mention the whole thing about gas. So, all that is pretty awesome.
Then there are all the Clue references. Quite honestly, I mean that should have to be all I need to say.
But if that is not enough for you, there is this. Staaf’s love for her subject comes through with every single word. She’s not trying to talk down to the reader, to be smart, to be funny, to be cool. She is simply, lovingly, wonderfully writing about a family of animals she loves. This is a love poem. She will make you love cephalopods and give you reasons why you should - like the whole thing about shells.
Unlike Staaf, it took me quite a while to warm up to squid, octopuses and the like. It wasn’t until I read “The Vampie Squid from Hell” by Richard Ellis that I took an interest. Staaf’s book isn’t about one specific squid, octopus, or whatnot; instead it is about the history of cephalopods as a whole, in particular the evolution.
Which you think would make it a rather dull science book, but it is not.
In part, this is because of all the cool and interesting facts that Staaf shares. For instance, did you know that a sperm whale eats 700-800 squid every day and that isn’t that unusual because apparently everything eats squid, including squid. And then there is the squid’s brain and that is really strange. Not to mention the whole thing about gas. So, all that is pretty awesome.
Then there are all the Clue references. Quite honestly, I mean that should have to be all I need to say.
But if that is not enough for you, there is this. Staaf’s love for her subject comes through with every single word. She’s not trying to talk down to the reader, to be smart, to be funny, to be cool. She is simply, lovingly, wonderfully writing about a family of animals she loves. This is a love poem. She will make you love cephalopods and give you reasons why you should - like the whole thing about shells.
February 10, 2024
Monarchs of the Sea: The Extraordinary 500-Million-Year History of Cephalopods [2017/2020] – ★★★★
This book is about the magnificent, enigmatic and elusive cephalopods (a class of molluscs to which octopuses and squid belong), their origin and 500-million-year history. Danna Staaf, a marine biologist, traces their evolution from the very origins of life on Earth in the sea, to the demise of some cephalopods in the Cretaceous period and our modern age. From the causes of the “Great Dying” that happened in the Permian period (when up to ninety-six percent of all marine species perished) to our present day threat of global warming and dangers that face nautiluses, Staaf explains clearly the many issues that concern cephalopods, as well as introduces a whole variety of weird and fascinating sea creatures: from the first sponges and worms, to now extinct ammonoids and a variety of curious present-day octopuses and squid (for example, the pygmy squid and the mimic octopus). This well-illustrated book, which is written with surprising humour and succinctness, will completely delight all those who are interested in marine evolution and curious about the history of present-day cephalopods.
Monarchs of the Sea was published as Squid Empire in 2017, and it has now been revised and reissued as Monarchs of the Sea. This relatively short book is a very good one in terms of explaining the evolution of many sea creatures, making the point that it is not such a straightforward concept: “evolution is not a single thread – it’s the interweaving of many, many threads, some cut short, others so quickly changed you can hardly follow them through the cloth” [2020: 47], explains Staaf in her book. Driven by the desire to survive at any costs, many creatures were forced to adapt quickly in the past to either the changing environment or the changing creatures around them (or both). This means that, in time, fish got their teeth and, while some sea animals got their shells, others abandoned them (or substituted them for internal shells). Monarchs of the Sea then explains the quirks of the cephalopod’s jet propulsion, and elaborates on that exciting time when cephalopods were the super-predators of the sea.
One of the great elements of the book is that the author talks much about the scientific debates and contentious issues that concern cephalopods, presenting both the “crazy” arguments (including their rebuttals) and more or less “sound” arguments. Staaf definitely does not shy away from mysteries, and goes to the very crux of current debates. It was indeed very surprising to find out that there is so much speculation about much information that concerns cephalopods in the current scientific community. While Staaf debates in her book how big the giant squid actually was, the reasons why ammonoids disappeared and why nautiluses have survived for so long and against all odds, we are also introduced to the works of such undoubtedly great marine biologists/palaeontologists as Alexander Arkhipkin, Margaret Yacobucci, Neale Monks and Kenneth De Baets.
Near the end of her book, Staaf talks about our present time and how hard it is to find fossils of cephalopods because many of them were jelly-like and did not leave behind much by way of evidence that can shed light on their composition/structure. She also talks about the human dangers that many marine animals face today. This is largely as a result of the speed in which these changes are introduced and are happening in the marine environment, meaning that many sea animals cannot adapt sufficiently quickly to survive: “changes wrought by humanity are now being felt on every level, from the deepest ocean trench to the most remote mountain glacier” [Staaf, 2020: 164].
The only downside of the book is that its approach may be considered as too “relaxed”. Everyone wants to read a non-fiction book that is entertaining and engaging, but surely we do not want to read too much slang, street talk, informalities, etc. I am also sure that today’s readers are capable of maintaining their attention without the author mentioning such unrelated people as J. K. Rowling and M. C. Escher, and other trivialities. Thus, we find such phrases in Staaf’s book as “rough luck for the squid”, “now that that’s taken care of…”, ”it sounds a bit goofy”, “shell trade is…a real doozy”, etc.
The good thing, though, is that Monarchs of the Sea finishes on a very uplifting, positive note. It is true that we face losing nautiluses and humans continue to endanger the planet’s fragile ecosystem, says Danna Staaf, but the cephalopods’ population is also on the rise, and there are plenty of young people around who are curious and interested in studying, and promoting the interests and history of cephalopods in future.
🦑 Overall, Monarchs of the Sea is a wonderful book that filled the gap that needed to be filled in this genre of popular non-fiction books; the unique creatures that many cephalopods were deserve to be better known since their history goes much further than that of the dinosaurs, and their diversity and resilience to survive still astound many.
This book is about the magnificent, enigmatic and elusive cephalopods (a class of molluscs to which octopuses and squid belong), their origin and 500-million-year history. Danna Staaf, a marine biologist, traces their evolution from the very origins of life on Earth in the sea, to the demise of some cephalopods in the Cretaceous period and our modern age. From the causes of the “Great Dying” that happened in the Permian period (when up to ninety-six percent of all marine species perished) to our present day threat of global warming and dangers that face nautiluses, Staaf explains clearly the many issues that concern cephalopods, as well as introduces a whole variety of weird and fascinating sea creatures: from the first sponges and worms, to now extinct ammonoids and a variety of curious present-day octopuses and squid (for example, the pygmy squid and the mimic octopus). This well-illustrated book, which is written with surprising humour and succinctness, will completely delight all those who are interested in marine evolution and curious about the history of present-day cephalopods.
Monarchs of the Sea was published as Squid Empire in 2017, and it has now been revised and reissued as Monarchs of the Sea. This relatively short book is a very good one in terms of explaining the evolution of many sea creatures, making the point that it is not such a straightforward concept: “evolution is not a single thread – it’s the interweaving of many, many threads, some cut short, others so quickly changed you can hardly follow them through the cloth” [2020: 47], explains Staaf in her book. Driven by the desire to survive at any costs, many creatures were forced to adapt quickly in the past to either the changing environment or the changing creatures around them (or both). This means that, in time, fish got their teeth and, while some sea animals got their shells, others abandoned them (or substituted them for internal shells). Monarchs of the Sea then explains the quirks of the cephalopod’s jet propulsion, and elaborates on that exciting time when cephalopods were the super-predators of the sea.
One of the great elements of the book is that the author talks much about the scientific debates and contentious issues that concern cephalopods, presenting both the “crazy” arguments (including their rebuttals) and more or less “sound” arguments. Staaf definitely does not shy away from mysteries, and goes to the very crux of current debates. It was indeed very surprising to find out that there is so much speculation about much information that concerns cephalopods in the current scientific community. While Staaf debates in her book how big the giant squid actually was, the reasons why ammonoids disappeared and why nautiluses have survived for so long and against all odds, we are also introduced to the works of such undoubtedly great marine biologists/palaeontologists as Alexander Arkhipkin, Margaret Yacobucci, Neale Monks and Kenneth De Baets.
Near the end of her book, Staaf talks about our present time and how hard it is to find fossils of cephalopods because many of them were jelly-like and did not leave behind much by way of evidence that can shed light on their composition/structure. She also talks about the human dangers that many marine animals face today. This is largely as a result of the speed in which these changes are introduced and are happening in the marine environment, meaning that many sea animals cannot adapt sufficiently quickly to survive: “changes wrought by humanity are now being felt on every level, from the deepest ocean trench to the most remote mountain glacier” [Staaf, 2020: 164].
The only downside of the book is that its approach may be considered as too “relaxed”. Everyone wants to read a non-fiction book that is entertaining and engaging, but surely we do not want to read too much slang, street talk, informalities, etc. I am also sure that today’s readers are capable of maintaining their attention without the author mentioning such unrelated people as J. K. Rowling and M. C. Escher, and other trivialities. Thus, we find such phrases in Staaf’s book as “rough luck for the squid”, “now that that’s taken care of…”, ”it sounds a bit goofy”, “shell trade is…a real doozy”, etc.
The good thing, though, is that Monarchs of the Sea finishes on a very uplifting, positive note. It is true that we face losing nautiluses and humans continue to endanger the planet’s fragile ecosystem, says Danna Staaf, but the cephalopods’ population is also on the rise, and there are plenty of young people around who are curious and interested in studying, and promoting the interests and history of cephalopods in future.
🦑 Overall, Monarchs of the Sea is a wonderful book that filled the gap that needed to be filled in this genre of popular non-fiction books; the unique creatures that many cephalopods were deserve to be better known since their history goes much further than that of the dinosaurs, and their diversity and resilience to survive still astound many.
February 10, 2018
Had to return to the library when I was about 1/3 of the way through and won't be getting it back. If you want to read a book about cephalopod evolution, this is the one! Well-written, good storytelling, and engaging... for what it is. Turns out I didn't really want to read a book about cephalopod evolution.
May 21, 2020
This is a thoroughly charming book about animals who have been around (as a group) pretty much longer than any others. Cephalopods include squid, octopuses, cuttlefish, nautiluses, and a bunch of other mostly squishy sea creatures. Dinosaurs? Cephalopods came before them and outlasted them. Fish? They even have them beat. But how can you read the fossil record of an animal that doesn't have any bones?
Staaf has done an excellent job of narrating what we know about these creatures and their ancestry - and she does it all with a nice sense of humor and a whole lot of enthusiasm. It might be more than you ever wanted to know about the history of squid and their family, but the book isn't overly long and reads easily.
Staaf has done an excellent job of narrating what we know about these creatures and their ancestry - and she does it all with a nice sense of humor and a whole lot of enthusiasm. It might be more than you ever wanted to know about the history of squid and their family, but the book isn't overly long and reads easily.
March 19, 2018
Absolutely a delight from start to finish. I've read quite a few books about modern cephalopods, but popular science books about extinct species are harder to come by - perhaps partially because they are rather squishy and so don't fossilize very well. Even so, it was a shock to learn that "modern" squid have evolved in such a way that they basically can't become fossils. And that was just one of the outlandish but true facts presented in this breezy tale of aquatic life through the ages. Pick this up if you have any interest in octopi, squid, or cuttlefish at all, and thank me later.
December 4, 2018
Squid Empire is an extremely honest book – it says on the jacket that it will tell you about the “Rise and Fall of the Cephalopod Empire” and that is precisely what it does, tracing the squishies from their earliest appearances in the fossil record right up to present day and possibly into a tenuous but apparently near future. I now know a lot about squid, octopuses and nautiluses, which was my initial goal.
Staaf’s writing is clear and, hm, joyful, and the narrator is delightful and sounds extremely enthusiastic, able to draw you deep into the subject matter with little effort. The only problem I’ve had listening to the audiobook – and this is more an issue with the format than the book itself – is that many of the descriptions are very visual, and sometimes I would forget what a specific bit of cephalopod anatomy was between two listening sessions, so I often had to skip over to an online image search to refresh just which squishy or crackly bit does “radula”, “phragmocone” or “gladius” refer to.
Staaf’s writing is clear and, hm, joyful, and the narrator is delightful and sounds extremely enthusiastic, able to draw you deep into the subject matter with little effort. The only problem I’ve had listening to the audiobook – and this is more an issue with the format than the book itself – is that many of the descriptions are very visual, and sometimes I would forget what a specific bit of cephalopod anatomy was between two listening sessions, so I often had to skip over to an online image search to refresh just which squishy or crackly bit does “radula”, “phragmocone” or “gladius” refer to.
December 21, 2020
I hate to give this book just an okay rating -- especially since the author is CLEARLY enthusiastic about her subject matter -- but for me, this book was much too heavy in the prehistoric part of the story. (Case in point: There are 8 Chapters plus an Introduction & Epilogue. Only the 8th Chapter discusses modern-day Cephalopods, and just a few of those at that.) If the book was more balanced with the past & present, it would've been a solid 4 for me. As it stands, this is more of a technical book written with a passionate vibe. It's hard to get excited about fossils, when there are living, breathing, color-changing, shapeshifting creatures to discuss in all their glory. Ah well, to each their own.....
January 26, 2018
It's worth saying that I am literally the target audience for this book. Your mileage may vary, particularly if you are not the kind of person who loves paleontology, cephalopods, and odd scientific humor. But my favorite aunt sent me this book for Christmas because she knows I love cephalopods and she remembers me being obsessed with dinosaurs as a kid, and, sure enough, it hit all my happy buttons.
Also, it is a ridiculously beautiful book design. I mean, just look at that cover. GORGEOUS. I freely admit to just staring lovingly at it and petting it sometimes, because I love good cover design.
Also, it is a ridiculously beautiful book design. I mean, just look at that cover. GORGEOUS. I freely admit to just staring lovingly at it and petting it sometimes, because I love good cover design.
September 16, 2018
Seguindo a linha de livros sobre paleontologia, adorei ler este. Staaf reconta como cefalópodes se tornaram um dos grupos mais diversos e dominantes no mar, antes do surgimento dos peixes e outros vertebrados. É uma história recontada através dos fósseis, dos grupos e o que sabemos que eles podem ter feito. Como surgiram e sumiram as conchas nos cefalópodes e como os grupos de lulas, sépias e polvos voltaram a aparecer e se diversificar depois de quase serem extintos. Ótimo para aprender sobre grupos que não são muito tratados nem na graduação de biologia :)
November 6, 2017
Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods is a book that does exactly as "described on the tin". This is the fascinating tale of the evolutionary rise and fall (and possible rise again) of Cephalopods - everything from ammonites, nautiloids, squid, octopuses, cuttlefish and the other odd prehistoric creatures that get lumped in the "head-foot" category.
The author takes an evolutionary approach starting off with the first Cephalopods in the Cambrian, and ties in several threads of anatomy, biology, ecology and other aspects of marine life. She covers such topics are the swimming revolution, the invention of jet propulsion, shell development and abandonment, their co-evolution with fish, development of ink, paleontology, intelligence, how they deal with extinction events, how they deal with the current anthropocentric age, the ecology of these "swimming protein bars", and why modern squid don't fossilize.
Danna Staaf has a lovely, clear writing style that is fun, while at the same time maintaining the science of the topic. She also includes numerous helpful diagrams, illustrations and photographs.
This is a superbly written, entertaining and informative book about the evolution of certain mobile, tentacled, squishy creatures that live in the ocean.
The author takes an evolutionary approach starting off with the first Cephalopods in the Cambrian, and ties in several threads of anatomy, biology, ecology and other aspects of marine life. She covers such topics are the swimming revolution, the invention of jet propulsion, shell development and abandonment, their co-evolution with fish, development of ink, paleontology, intelligence, how they deal with extinction events, how they deal with the current anthropocentric age, the ecology of these "swimming protein bars", and why modern squid don't fossilize.
Danna Staaf has a lovely, clear writing style that is fun, while at the same time maintaining the science of the topic. She also includes numerous helpful diagrams, illustrations and photographs.
This is a superbly written, entertaining and informative book about the evolution of certain mobile, tentacled, squishy creatures that live in the ocean.
March 27, 2020
While there was nothing really wrong with this book, I didn't really enjoy it. It is a somewhat typical example of a science book written by a scientist. The author is a self-professed cephalopod nerd. While I admire her enthusiasm for her research, it unfortunately didn't transfer over to an enjoyable read.
This book reads like one long Encyclopedia entry: Fact, discussion. Next esoteric fact, history, discussion, repeat. UGH.
Not really my cup of tea...
I'm sure other people will enjoy this book. I did not, however. I found the reading to be overly dry, long-winded and arduous. I was glad it was not longer than it was...
2.5 stars.
This book reads like one long Encyclopedia entry: Fact, discussion. Next esoteric fact, history, discussion, repeat. UGH.
Not really my cup of tea...
I'm sure other people will enjoy this book. I did not, however. I found the reading to be overly dry, long-winded and arduous. I was glad it was not longer than it was...
2.5 stars.
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August 4, 2021На другой стороне спектра от всех моих областей специализации; вроде производит полное впечатление прилично скомпонованного научпопа без каких-то особенно вызывающих авторских тезисов, жанр "излагаем положение вещей в сформировавшейся области знания словами попроще" (шутки про хуй — присутствуют).
September 6, 2023
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. There is a lot of interesting information, but for some reason, reading it felt like a total slog and I struggled to finish it. Perhaps part of the problem is that the topic is so unbelievably broad for the size of the book. The entire evolution of all of the cephalopods—an extremely diverse group with a long and storied history? Very ambitious. The ammonoids alone could overwhelm a book this size—adding in the coleoids and nautiloids resulted in something that became entirely too much for this slim little paperback.
The writing style was delightful and fun, although it did sometimes skirt the border of being a bit too goofy at the expense of readability. The best parts are probably the interviews with cephalopod scientists. Danna Staaf includes memorable quotes that convey the passion that these researchers have for their work (and the frustration that they inevitably encounter during their research). Some examples:
The approach to in-text citations was often wordy and awkward, with researchers’ names, universities, specialties, and personal characteristics lobbed onto the end of sentences, weighing them down. An example: “…according to evidence amassed by in 2016 by Zoë Doubleday of the University of Adelaide and a roster of colleagues, including the irrepressible Sasha Arkhipkin” (pg. 191). I think it makes sense to focus on introducing specific researchers like this in cases where they are being interviewed or their discoveries are being explored in detail, but in many cases, this information could have been relegated to footnotes.
I’m not sure who the intended audience is here. At times, it is too dense and detailed for a casual enthusiast; at other times, it is too hand-holdy and overly-simplified for a paleontologist or biologist. Detailed descriptions of research collaborations and rivalries make it feel catered towards members of academia, while frequent interjections of the author’s personal experiences (including Staaf using her own height as a scale for describing the size of Humboldt squid, pg. 195) make it feel partly like a memoir.
This book fills a certain niche, as I don’t know whether there’s a better pop-science introduction to the evolution of cephalopods. I do recommend it if you are interested in ammonoids, as they are featured heavily. I also recommend this book to anyone interested in peering into the world of academia, with all of its drama, as there are some amusing stories about rivalries between scientists.
The writing style was delightful and fun, although it did sometimes skirt the border of being a bit too goofy at the expense of readability. The best parts are probably the interviews with cephalopod scientists. Danna Staaf includes memorable quotes that convey the passion that these researchers have for their work (and the frustration that they inevitably encounter during their research). Some examples:
“Just as premium golf balls are constantly tested for speed and spin, Ritterbush’s goal is to plop ammonoids of every shape into a water tank for testing. Her succinct description of the project is ‘to look at the shell as just a pain in the ass.’” (pg. 86)
“‘A really good question is why Nautilus still exists,’ says Jakob Vinther bluntly. ‘I have no answer to that. That thing, when you look at it, it’s swimming around banging into stuff; it hardly has an ability to see what’s around it – I have no idea how that thing can still exist.’” (pg. 157
The approach to in-text citations was often wordy and awkward, with researchers’ names, universities, specialties, and personal characteristics lobbed onto the end of sentences, weighing them down. An example: “…according to evidence amassed by in 2016 by Zoë Doubleday of the University of Adelaide and a roster of colleagues, including the irrepressible Sasha Arkhipkin” (pg. 191). I think it makes sense to focus on introducing specific researchers like this in cases where they are being interviewed or their discoveries are being explored in detail, but in many cases, this information could have been relegated to footnotes.
I’m not sure who the intended audience is here. At times, it is too dense and detailed for a casual enthusiast; at other times, it is too hand-holdy and overly-simplified for a paleontologist or biologist. Detailed descriptions of research collaborations and rivalries make it feel catered towards members of academia, while frequent interjections of the author’s personal experiences (including Staaf using her own height as a scale for describing the size of Humboldt squid, pg. 195) make it feel partly like a memoir.
This book fills a certain niche, as I don’t know whether there’s a better pop-science introduction to the evolution of cephalopods. I do recommend it if you are interested in ammonoids, as they are featured heavily. I also recommend this book to anyone interested in peering into the world of academia, with all of its drama, as there are some amusing stories about rivalries between scientists.
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December 16, 2018No rating as I obviously did not understand much of it. However, the audiobook was so soothing that I wanted to finish it nevertheless. There are bits and pieces throughout the book, especially about conservation at the end that I could enjoy as well, but as I've pretty much never even eaten squid, let alone thought about them or their "relatives", and most of my information on octopuses comes from Finding Dory, I'm obviously not the target audience here. Still, after some Googling, I think I can recognize a cuttlefish and nautilus now.
In the end, the pure LOVE that has been put into the book by Danna Staaf shines through every single second. This is what I like in my science / popular science writing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwK2p... (her speaking on the same subject)
In the end, the pure LOVE that has been put into the book by Danna Staaf shines through every single second. This is what I like in my science / popular science writing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwK2p... (her speaking on the same subject)
September 12, 2024
4.5 stars. I don’t have a whole lot to say other than I really enjoyed learning about cephalopods in this book.
March 14, 2022
You might also enjoy:
✱ Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid
✱ Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate
✱ The Soul of an Octopus
✱ The Sea Around Us
✱ Under the Sea Wind
✱ Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution
✱ Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth
✱ At the Water's Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea
✱ Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid
✱ Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate
✱ The Soul of an Octopus
✱ The Sea Around Us
✱ Under the Sea Wind
✱ Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution
✱ Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth
✱ At the Water's Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea
January 1, 2024
An absolutely mind blowing journey from the earliest ammonoids up to the modern elusive cephalopods like the colossal squid. Danna Staaf writes with enthusiasm and humour by the bucket load:
“The first coleoid was a far cry from today’s duplicitous cuttlefish or jailbreaking octopus. It probably looked just like an externally shelled cephalopod that woke up groggy one morning and accidentally put on its skin over its shell.”
“The study of modern cephalopods falls under the purview of marine biology, a field aspired to by many a dewy-eyed dolphin lover but eventually pursued in earnest only by those with a high tolerance for dirt—not just actual dirt, but fish guts too—and frustration.”
“Certainly the animal can jet more strongly if it’s not worried about blowing its body apart.”
Well worth a read for marine conservationists, fossil fans and cephalopod lovers alike.
“The first coleoid was a far cry from today’s duplicitous cuttlefish or jailbreaking octopus. It probably looked just like an externally shelled cephalopod that woke up groggy one morning and accidentally put on its skin over its shell.”
“The study of modern cephalopods falls under the purview of marine biology, a field aspired to by many a dewy-eyed dolphin lover but eventually pursued in earnest only by those with a high tolerance for dirt—not just actual dirt, but fish guts too—and frustration.”
“Certainly the animal can jet more strongly if it’s not worried about blowing its body apart.”
Well worth a read for marine conservationists, fossil fans and cephalopod lovers alike.
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April 6, 2021Wow! Ok so my favourite cephalopods are definitely cuttlefish, very closely followed by octopus, probably because they’re so showy and personable. This book, though, spent a lot of time on the shelled ancestors of modern day cephalopods, and on nautiloids, the living fossil. Would I have thought to be curious about these less exciting creatures? Probably not, but they’re fantastic and interesting nevertheless. I also loved the focus on the evolution of cephalopod lineages throughout various extinction events! Who survived, who didn’t, why some survived and some didn’t! Loove it 💓🌸💘
November 25, 2021
Squid Empire tells the story of the evolution of modern squids. The book is replete with facts about Mollusc and Cephalopod evolution and yet it simply failed to tell a compelling story. Danna Staaf is a PhD marine biologist turned science communicator. While she certainly has an excellent background with regards to the subject matter, I didn't feel like she had the writing chops to describe it in a way that is engaging for the general public (of which I am a member).
September 22, 2023
the audiobook narrator was robotic-sounding most of the time unfortunately, but the content here is so interesting and presented in a very accessible way. i would definitely recommend the physical copy over the audiobook or in addition to, because there are images included throughout the book. danna has a perfect tone, at times conversational, at times educational, and avoids being dense in any of the more technical sections. this is a great overview, and perfect for someone like me who's no expert on cephalopods and just enjoys learning about new things. i appreciated getting a window into modern species and research and conservation efforts along with all the historical information, and the section on fossil collection and native people interactions was interesting, valuable, and unexpected. danna also touched on concepts of ocean temperature rise and human impacts on the environment in a way that kept it from being too depressing or overwhelming, and actually presented ways that people have made positive change by interacting with national governments and nonprofits to promote protection and study of cephalopod species
April 5, 2019
Blazed through this in one session while I was a work and it was so delightful! When I got home I spent the evening telling my husband all the cool squid facts I could remember. It's a really fascinating look at the evolution of Cephalopods, which I knew absolutely nothing about. The author's language was really conversational and the science was completely digestible, even to someone like me whose foundational science knowledge is patchy at best - especially when it comes to evolution (thanks a bunch, religious education!).
She goes into all sorts of details about how these squishy swimmers even work (like, physcially), as well as discussing how they survived so many extinction events, how they were once kings of the ocean, and what kinds of cephalopods still share our world. It was so, so interesting and really well presented. Also, I learned that there's a thing called a penis worm and also red vampire squids from hell, so what more could you ask for, really?
She goes into all sorts of details about how these squishy swimmers even work (like, physcially), as well as discussing how they survived so many extinction events, how they were once kings of the ocean, and what kinds of cephalopods still share our world. It was so, so interesting and really well presented. Also, I learned that there's a thing called a penis worm and also red vampire squids from hell, so what more could you ask for, really?
September 18, 2022
This is one of my all-time favorite science books. I was always fascinated by cephalopods, and already aware that Octopus were the smartest marine invertebrates on earth, where you can even watch them on YouTube disassembling and playing with children’s toys. In captivity, they frequently unlock and open their own tanks to escape!
I also love reading about natural history, and was surprised that squids, octopus, and cuttlefish belong to a family that appeared on earth during the Cambrian period 530 million years ago BEFORE the first fish arrived. Fish didn’t dominate the ocean until the Devonian 110 million years later where the scariest looking ones, the armored placoderms, appeared.
This books also describes the evolutionary history of the chambered nautilus and the once dominant, enormous ammonoids who perished with the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous. Yet the cephalopod family itself was tough enough to survive earth’s five mass extinction events!
I also love reading about natural history, and was surprised that squids, octopus, and cuttlefish belong to a family that appeared on earth during the Cambrian period 530 million years ago BEFORE the first fish arrived. Fish didn’t dominate the ocean until the Devonian 110 million years later where the scariest looking ones, the armored placoderms, appeared.
This books also describes the evolutionary history of the chambered nautilus and the once dominant, enormous ammonoids who perished with the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous. Yet the cephalopod family itself was tough enough to survive earth’s five mass extinction events!
April 24, 2020
I rocketed through this book in just a few evenings. I found Staaf's writing to be engaging, fun, and never dull. I think of it as mentally fattening: it's well-enough written to be easily accessible, and well-enough written that the information sticks with you. I remember many fascinating factoids and big principles that I learned in these pages.
The greatest part of the book is a long historical trek through cephalopod evolution, but it's not a sequence of dates and events; it's more like a story of a few pals, their quirky buddy, and their adventures along the way. Like that old parlor game, now I want to have dinner in the Dining Car with an old nautilus, an octopus, and a squid. I feel like I know them well enough to know that i want to know them better.
The greatest part of the book is a long historical trek through cephalopod evolution, but it's not a sequence of dates and events; it's more like a story of a few pals, their quirky buddy, and their adventures along the way. Like that old parlor game, now I want to have dinner in the Dining Car with an old nautilus, an octopus, and a squid. I feel like I know them well enough to know that i want to know them better.
October 27, 2020
This was a pretty great squid book. The enthusiasm is pretty stellar and I was never once bored - or, how to say? If my mind trailed off, it did so pleasantly. I enjoyed the mix of evolution and anecdote and detective work that comes with digging through fossils to tell the earliest parts of animal history on earth. So, cool.
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