From the pages of Scientific American comes the latest information and explorations into the bizarre realm of the natural world, including: -Our oldest relatives and the discovery of missing links -Strange predators, from flesh-eating chimps to the lethal Komodo dragon -Strange plant life, such as the carnivorous Venus's flytrap and the Voodoo lily -Extinct monsters, and giant, flightless, flesh-eating birds -Mysterious denizens of the deep, such as the giant squid and the slime hag -Insect oddities: fire ants, singing caterpillars, and Africanized bees