In Sentient, Jackie Higgins assembles a menagerie of zoological creatures – from land, air, sea and all four corners of the globe – to understand what it means to be human.

'Spellbinding . . . More than any other book, [Sentient] has made me think differently about the world this year.' – Financial Times Best Books of the Year

The peacock mantis shrimp can throw a punch that can fracture aquarium walls.

The great grey owl can hear many decibels lower than the human ear.

The star-nosed mole’s miraculous nose allows it to catch worms in as little as 120 milliseconds.

In Sentient we also meet the four-eyed spookfish and its dark vision, the vampire bat and its remarkable powers of touch, as well as the common octopus, the Goliath catfish and the duck-billed platypus. Each zoological marvel illustrates the surprising sensory powers that lie within us and enables us to engage with the world in ways we never knew possible.

'Lyrical and lucid . . . Higgins makes popular science accessible.' – Observer