Danté Fenolio

N THE DARKlluminating Biodiversity in the Shadowy Haunts of Planet Earth

Stunning, never-before-seenphotographs of creaturesthat live in complete darkness.

Illuminating Biodiversity in the Shadowy Hauntsof Planet Earth

Danté FenolioDeep inside caves, at the bottoms of oceans and lakes, beneath the ground:these concealed habitats are absent of sunlight. This strange and fascinatingworld of complete darkness is not a solitary place—it is inhabited bymillions of life forms. Yet most humans—creatures of daylight—have neverseen any of them. Until now.

In this fascinating—sometimes eerie—book, extreme wildlife photographerand scientist Danté Fenolio brings the denizens of these shadowy hauntsinto focus. Life in the Dark shows us the many ways in which life forms haveadapted to lightless environments, including refinements of senses, evolutionof unique body parts, and illumination using “biological flashlights.”

With more than 200 mesmerizing color photographs, Life in the Dark unveilsbizarre creatures like the firefly squid, the giant Amazonian catfish, theChinese cavefish, and even the human bot fly, which lives in the darknessbeneath its host’s skin. Fenolio’s rich and vibrant images shed new light onthe world’s fascinating creatures of darkness.

Danté Fenolio, a zoologist, biologist, and wildlife photographer, is thedirector of conservation and research at the San Antonio Zoo.

“With brilliant photography and illuminatingwords, this book truly opens the dark worlds of lifefor all to reflect upon and enjoy.”—George Raab,president emeritus, Chicago Zoological Society,and former director, Brookfield Zoo

“It is through masterful works such as Life in the Dark that Ican step back and take in the sheer beauty of the formsof life so ubiquitous, yet so unknown, on our planet. DantéFenolio’s eye for pictorial composition is not just amongthe best there is, it is among the best that ever was. Life inthe Dark is destined to be a classic.”—Tracey T. Sutton, NovaSoutheastern University

“Delightful, amazing, and inspiring. Danté Fenolio’s stunningphotography and crisp, authoritative text bring to life theintriguing and bizarre creatures that live in the darkest ofplaces. This book is an extraordinary gift.”—Marty Crump,author of In Search of the Golden Frog

“A fascinating and visually stunning glimpse into akaleidoscopic array of weird and wonderful creaturesthat inhabit a world beyond the reach oflight.”—Robin Moore, author ofIn Search of Lost Frogs: The Questto Find the World’s RarestAmphibians

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“That infernal Danté has done it again. He has created a series of photographs so beautifulthat it is impossible for us to imagine these creatures otherwise.”

—Michael J. Lannoo, editor of Amphibian Declines:The Conservation Status of United States Species

“In these pages, Danté Fenolio gives a rare glimpse inside a hidden world of strangeadaptation and the sometimes bizarre answers evolution comes up with to meet the demandsof life in the dark.” —David Bickford, National University of Singapore

9 x 11, 312 pages 222 color photographsPublication date: April 2016 978-1-4214-1863-6 $39.95 / £26.00 hardcover Also available as an e-book

Sales queries: Kerry CahillSales Director410-516-6936kpc@press.jhu.edu

Media queries: Kathryn MarguyPublicist410-516-6930krm@press.jhu.edu

L I F E I N T H E DARKIlluminating Biodiversity in the Shadowy Haunts of Planet Earth

Danté Fenolio