SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

Six animals compete to show off useful ideas for improving human transportation.

Donnelly and Saburi once more return to the premise established in their first series outing: Contestants taking part in a Shark Tank–esque game show wind up imparting information to eager readers. The ingenious way that human engineers theoretically might or actually do model technological advances on animal fins, feathers, and other features gives this latest installment a special spark. But the dazzle is less dazzling this time around, as too many of the nature-tech connections seem minor or more speculative than practical. It’s hard to get excited, for example, over a tiny refinement based on an owl wing edge that makes the electrical connector atop a high-speed train quieter, or a vague suggestion that software for driverless cars could replicate the ways swarming ants avoid bumping into each other. For laughs, Donnelly does introduce a comically aggressive bombardier beetle; she also adds a loud and witless megamouth shark to the tank of shark judges, but Saburi strains for visual gags in flurries of wordless, sometimes inscrutable nonsequential panels that interrupt the story’s flow. At last a winner is declared, and the author does provide fuller explanations of each contestant’s pitch, with a lead to further resources, at the end.

A step back from previous outings, though not without a few glimmers of wit and insight.