Review: Does it Fart? by Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti

Does It Fart? The Definitive Guide to Animal Flatulence
by Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti, with art by Ethan Cocak [591.5 Car] 

I’ll have to admit, I first checked this one out because I was amused by the title. But it turned out to be a fascinating little book, filled with intriguing facts about the animal world. The concept behind the book started with a question of legitimate scientific curiosity that zoologist Dani Rabaiotti was asked and didn’t personally know the answer to: “Do snakes fart?” She turned to a scientific expert, and their correspondence on Twitter led fellow researcher Nick Caruso to create the hashtag #doesitfart, which soon revealed that a lot of scientists get asked that type of question for the animals in their areas of expertise.

This book is the result of a huge collaboration across various fields of animal biologists. It answers the question “Does It Fart?” about 80 different animals, ranging from tiny insects like the beaded lacewing and millipede to the monstrously huge whales, with plenty of stops along the way at quirky critters like sloths, bearded dragons, honey badgers, sea cucumbers, the woodlouse and hamsters. Not to mention humans (you already know the answer to that one!) Each animal gets a page of text — first the answer to the titular question, then some scientific background about how that species’ biology works and why it does or doesn’t generate flatulence that is both audible and/or smell-able.
Approximately 1/3 of the entries in this book are accompanied by cartoonish illustrations of various animals “tooting their own horn”, shall we say. The back of the book includes a 9-page glossary explaining many of the scientific terms used elsewhere in the main content, as well as an acknowledgments page listing all the various animal specialists whose research contributed to the book.

You may laugh at the title, but if you give this book a chance, you’ll actually learn some very interesting things about the animals you share this planet with. For instance, I had no idea that one of my favorite animals, the sloth, did not fart. Their digestive system processes food so slowly that it does not produce intestinal gasses, unless it is malfunctioning, in which case the gasses are absorbed into their blood stream and bodily tissues. They may, in fact, be the only mammal that does not fart — although not enough studies on all animals species have been conducted to verify that.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try What Shat That? A Pocket Guide to Poop Identity, by Matt Paget (not in the libraries’ collection).]

[ publisher’s official Does It Fart? web site ] | [ official Nick Caruso Twitter Feed | official Dani Rabaiotti Twitter Feed ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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