The story of the world in 100 species / Christopher Lloyd ; illustrations by Andy Forshaw.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this epic book, Christopher Lloyd leads us on an extraordinary journey, from the birth of life to the present day, as he attempts to explain, in a jargon-free way, the phenomena that we call 'life on Earth'. Lloyd starts off on the early Earth, 'before man', when loose strands of genetic code swarmed over the planet, and moves on to explore the creatures that evolved in the murky deep and crept up on the shore to become pioneers of life on land. He then investigates the world 'after man' and how the co-evolution of humans and a range of other key species has transformed the planet over the last 12,000 years. In the process, he identifies the hundred most influential species that have ever lived, with candidates as diverse as slime, sea scorpions, dragonflies, potatoes, ants, tulips, sheep and grapes. Finally, the species are ranked into a table of influence to reveal those that have most changed life on Earth. This beautifully illustrated, wide-ranging book provides an entertaining and eye-opening insight into the story of our world, mankind's place in nature, and our pivotal relationship with the Earth itself: past, present and future.