Predators

How Nature’s Killers Shape Life on Earth

By: Tim Coulson

Join Tim Coulson on an awe-inspiring journey into the world of predators and learn how these extraordinary creatures impact our planet and life itself

For more than a billion years, predators have played a pivotal role in shaping our world. From dwarf orb-weaver spiders smaller than a grain of sand to enormous beasts such as the giant-squid eating sperm whale, nature's hunters come in all shapes and sizes and have produced an astonishing diversity of life around us.

But predators do more than hunt. They shape our ecosystems, transform our landscapes and maintain the delicate balance of the animal kingdom. Without them our world would not survive. Yet despite their vital role, they remain among the most feared and misunderstood creatures on Earth.

With world-leading zoologist Tim Coulson as your guide, you'll see predators as you never have before. Full of wonder and surprise, Predators will transform the way you think about the natural world and our place within it.©2027 Coulson Productions Limited (P)2027 Headline Publishing Group Limited

Critic reviews

Ingenious and original, this book makes you rethink the nature of predators: gripped by lions, snakes and spiders, you'll be released in a world where the things that can kill, might just save us. Ultimately Coulson's toothsome array of predators, past and present, shows how they are essential for our future. (Chris Thorogood, author of The Pathless Forest and Natural Intelligence)

From the wolves of Yellowstone to gigantic dinosaurs, megatooth sharks, orb-weaver spiders, jaguars, spotted hyenas, and the sparkling tropical fish of Trinidad's streams, Coulson takes us on a thrilling journey into the hidden world of predators. With vivid storytelling, charming anecdotes, and sweeping scientific insight, he shows how these formidable hunters have shaped the history of life on Earth through evolutionary arms races that forged today's intricate ecosystems and astonishing biological innovations. Moving from the Okavango Delta and Serengeti to Oxfordshire woodlands and the buzzing, esoteric insects of the Amazon, Predators reveals why these animals remain central to the health and resilience of our planet. Elegant, engaging, and ultimately hopeful, Coulson's book is both a celebration of nature's most extraordinary creatures and a powerful reminder that, as we confront human-driven wilderness destruction and even the prospect of civilizational collapse, the fate of predators - and of biodiversity itself - is inseparable from our own

Predators - sharks, crocodiles, snakes, spiders, wolves and T rex - tend to get a bad press. Read Tim Coulson's brilliant new book and you'll be compelled to re-think. He shows how predators shape natural ecosystems and drive evolutionary change. He also has wise words of advice for the most damaging predator of all - Homo sapiens

A fascinating and important book about why predators matter

An enlightening read that really opened my eyes to the pivotal role these creatures have in our ecosystems. From the tiniest spider to the majestic sperm whale, the book illustrates how predators drive evolution and maintain the balance of life on our planet ... it'll definitely change how you view the world around you

A piercingly relevant and definitive account of how to feed the predator inside all of us without destroying the planet. Deeply rooted in a personal experience of nature, this fascinating book reveals how predators have shaped evolution and the nature around us. It shines a spotlight on importance of who eats who and why

Sweeping through half a billion years, from the Cambrian through to the conservation crises of our own age, Predators makes a compelling, urgent case that the animals we fear most are also the ones our planet - and our civilisation - cannot afford to lose. With captivating insights ranging from sea scorpions to spiders, and from trilobites to tiger salamanders, this is a true celebration of a wide diversity of species that have enthralled people for millennia... Essential reading