This colorful survey...explores the myriad ways animals, plants, and microorganisms survive, and even thrive, in environments previously assumed to be uninhabitable....Filled with striking stories, vivid descriptions, and meaningful science, this is a fascinating account of resilience.-- "Publishers Weekly"

A celebration of the most extreme, extraordinary, and eccentric things that life is capable of. Alex Riley writes with joy and passion, and each page brings a new revelation about the resiliency of life.--Steve Brusatte, best-selling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

A thrilling and original way to explore nature?the science is fascinating.--Tristan Gooley, best-selling author of How to Read a Tree

Riley spotlights [how]...the adaptability, physiology, and resiliency of these remarkable, super-hardy creatures may provide ideas for dealing with our climate-changing world and lessons for our efforts at space exploration.--Tony Miksanek "Booklist"

A book filled with nature's wonders...[Super Natural is] about resilience, endurance, and ingenuity...[I]t's a combination that gives hope in our troubled times.--Andrea Wulf, best-selling author of The Invention of Nature

A mind-expanding romp...With awe and curiosity, Alex Riley plumbs the abyssal plains, the polar ice caps, and every habitat in between to reveal the tenacity, diversity, and flat-out weirdness of life on our harsh, hospitable planet.--Ben Goldfarb, award-winning author of Eager

Deeply researched and wide-ranging...Alex Riley is an eagle-eyed, golden-hearted, and entertaining guide...attuned to both the humor and awe of the natural world, and never failing to provide his each and every subject with the loving attention it deserves.--Ferris Jabr, author of Becoming Earth

Super Natural will leave you awed by the extraordinary feats of seemingly humble creatures--and by the resilience, head-spinning variety, and enduring mysteries of life on Earth.--Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts

[A] fascinating portrait of how life survives despite radiation, desiccation, the heat of the Sahara, freezing polar temperatures, total darkness, extended famine, lack of oxygen and the oceans' abyssal depths....Riley writes with levity and self-deprecating humor.--Josie Glausiusz "Guardian"

A lively and fascinating exploration of how life not only persists, but thrives at the extremes...[W]e come to see the whole of life, ourselves included, more clearly.--David George Haskell, Pulitzer-finalist author of Sounds Wild and Broken

Alex Riley's superb Super Natural is a testament to just how beautiful and wonderful life on Earth is.--Anne Magurran "Times Literary Supplement"

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pub date: 2025-09-23

Length: 368 pages