Originally published under the title: Hung like an Argentine Duck: a journey back in time to the origins of sexual intimacy

“[A] deliciously written account of the evolution of sex, in all of its bizarre manifestations” by a noted paleontologist—"Read, blush, and enjoy!” (Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel). We all know about the birds and the bees, but what about the ancient placoderm fishes and the dinosaurs? In 2008, paleontologist John A. Long and a team of researchers announced their discovery of a 380-million-year-old placoderm fish fossil, known as “the mother fish,” which revealed the earliest known example of internal fertilization. As a result, placoderms are now considered to be the first species to have had intimate sexual reproduction, or sex as we know it—sort of. Inspired by this incredible find, Long began a quest to uncover the evolutionary history of copulation and insemination. In The Dawn of the Deed, he takes readers on a lively tour through the sex lives of ancient fish and the unusual mating habits of arthropods, tortoises, and even a well-endowed Argentine Duck. Long discusses these discoveries alongside what we know about reproductive biology and evolutionary theory, using the fossil record to provide a provocative account of prehistoric sex. The Dawn of the Deed also explores fascinating revelations about animal reproduction, from homosexual penguins to monogamous seahorses to the difficulties of dinosaur romance.

"[A] clever girl-power take on the Robin Hood legend."-The Buffalo News Fans of Meagan Spooner's Hunted and CJ Redwine will love this reimagining of the legend of Robin Hood. Girl power rules supreme when a modern girl finds herself in the middle of a medieval mess with only her smart mouth and her Olympic-archer aim to get her home. Ellie Hudson is the front-runner on the road to gold for the U.S. Olympic archery team. All she has to do is qualify at the trials in jolly old England. When Ellie makes some kind of crazy wrong turn in the caverns under Nottingham Castle—yes, that Nottingham—she ends up in medieval England. Ellie doesn’t care how she got to the Middle Ages; she just wants to go home before she gets the plague. But people are suffering in Nottingham, and Ellie has the skills to make it better. What’s an ace archer to do while she’s stuck in Sherwood Forest but make like Robin Hood? Pulled into a past life as an outlaw, Ellie feels her present fading away next to daring do-gooding and a devilishly handsome knight. Only, Ellie is on the brink of rewriting history, and when she picks up her bow and arrow, her next shot could save her past—or doom civilization’s future. "A rollicking time travel adventure that will sweep you away to the forest of Nottingham. Be prepared for surprises around every corner and a stubborn, strong-willed heroine you'll root for from the moment she picks up her bow!”-Colleen Houck, New York Times bestselling author of the Reawakened series and the Tiger’s Curse series "This cheeky take on the Robin Hood legend is pure fun. Connolly’s swashbuckling debut will satisfy any adventure fans."-Booklist "This fresh take on the Robin Hood mythology...is well worth it."-Publishers Weekly "Fans will enjoy Ellie’s escapades as she runs around Sherwood Forest, bumping into bad guys, and teens interested in historical fiction with a generous mix of action/adventure will appreciate this page-turner....[Hand to readers of] Renée Ahdieh’s The Wrath & the Dawn series, David Almond’s A Song for Ella Grey, and Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora."-SLJ "An appealing mix of tough and vulnerable...humor and complexity...make this absorbing time travel tale a refreshing change of pace."-Bulletin

Manda Scott has written a powerful thriller debut, the terrifying tale of a lone woman pitted against an enigmatic killer—a man who deals out death without a second thought... For Detective Inspector Orla McLeod, violence is a way of life. As a child, her own world was ripped apart by a brutal, unforgettable moment of terror. So when the Special Branch operation she is spearheading goes disastrously wrong, she will do everything she can to protect the nine-year-old boy caught in the cross fire. For Jamie Buchanan was the sole witness to an act of savagery committed in cold blood by a man rapidly becoming one of the most feared criminals in Europe. Orla and her partner, Luke Tyler, had risked their lives to infiltrate Tord Svensen’s criminal world. Together they had gone deep undercover in a Glasgow tenement to get close enough to bring him down. Then in a series of harrowing events, everything in Orla’s life would change forever. Now Orla finds herself haunted by the memory of what happened—and tormented by the guilt she feels over her own survival. What keeps her going are the promises she made to her partner Luke and to orphaned Jamie Buchanan. Jamie is the only person who’s seen Tord Svensen’s face, the only one able to ID him. Officially pulled off the Svensen case, Orla spirits Jamie away to the only place she feels safe, a lonely cottage under the shadow of a snowcapped Scottish mountain. But there will be no sanctuary for them in the Highlands. For, like Orla, the hunter who pursues them knows exactly what to do to survive. And that means putting both Orla and her vulnerable young charge in the grave.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The human penis is between 5 and 9 inches long on average, with the largest ever recorded being 13. 5 inches long by 6. 2 inches in circumference. The corkscrew-shaped penis of the Argentine duck is the largest known, relative to an animal’s body size, in the entire vertebrate world. #2 The human penis is between 5 and 9 inches long on average, with the largest ever recorded being 13. 5 inches long by 6. 2 inches in circumference. The corkscrew-shaped penis of the Argentine duck is the largest known, relative to an animal’s body size, in the entire vertebrate world. #3 The human penis is between 5 and 9 inches long on average, with the largest ever recorded being 13. 5 inches long by 6. 2 inches in circumference. The Muscovy duck experiment highlights one of the fundamental differences between mammal and bird penises and asks when, where, and why the practice of mating by copulation first evolved. #4 In 1983 I was studying the armor-plated placoderms, a group of fish-like animals, and I discovered a new genus of the group that I named Austrophyllolepis. In 1986, I led an expedition to the Gogo fossil sites in Western Australia, and the first big discoveries that would impact on the origin of vertebrate reproduction were made.

The idea of making a deal with a handshake—what we generally call an incomplete contract—makes most of us uncomfortable. While complete contracts are inevitably imperfect; electronic signatures represent legal trickery, which produces incomplete contracts. The legal system via electronic signatures has conjured up a set of unknowables, technical inept, and incomplete set of legal experimentation, which seeks to produce incomplete and legally reputable contracts and agreements. Signatures don’t work very well in a vacuum, and only have meaning when existing alongside something else, the faith we have in the meaning of signatures stems from the mechanisms involved in the use of paper. Electronic signatures are a question of understanding an unknowable technology. Bruce Schneier - a renowned cryptologist - once wrote that “electronic signature” probably is the greatest terminological mistake in the history of cryptology. THROUGHOUT HUMAN HISTORY A SEAL APPLIED TO A PIECE OF PAPER AND LATTER A WET SIGNATURE REMAINS THE GOLD STANDARD OF INTENT AND NON-REPUDIATION.