A fully updated edition of one of the most original accounts of evolution ever written featuring new fractal diagrams six new 'tales' & the latest scientific developments THE ANCESTOR'S TALE is a dazzling four-billion-year pilgrimage to the origins of life Richard Dawkins & Yan Wong take us on an exhilarating reverse journey through evolution from present-day humans back to the microbial beginnings of life It is a journey happily interrupted by meetings of fellow modern animals (as well as plants fungi & bacteria) similarly tracing their evolutionary path back through history As each evolutionary pilgrim tells their tale Dawkins & Wong shed light on topics such as speciation sexual selection & extinction Written with unparalleled wit clarity & intelligence; taking in new scientific discoveries of the past decade; & including new 'tales' illustrations & fractal diagrams THE ANCESTOR'S TALE shows us how remarkable we are how astonishing our history & how intimate our relationship with the rest of the living world