My Uncle Is a Banana: The Secrets of Evolution Revealed by Genes

Remember the school biology textbooks that divided all living things into animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria? As Ilya Udalov explains, that familiar picture has long since been replaced. While generations of students were learning about "algae" and "protozoa," advances in molecular biology were revealing surprising new relationships across the tree of life. The decoding of DNA has transformed our understanding of how living organisms evolved and how they are related to one another.
The discoveries are often startling. Whales are the closest living relatives of hippopotamuses. Insects, despite appearances, are in fact a branch of the crustacean lineage. Small African mammals that resemble moles are more closely related to elephants and manatees than to other burrowing animals. Such findings have fundamentally reshaped the way scientists classify life on Earth.
Combining evolutionary biology, genetics, and engaging storytelling, My Uncle Is a Banana introduces readers to the revolution that DNA has brought to biological science. It shows how genetic evidence has overturned long-held assumptions and offers a fresh perspective on the shared ancestry of all living organisms—including ourselves.

Ilya Udalov. My Uncle Is a Banana: The Secrets of Evolution Revealed by Genes. — St. Petersburg: Piter, 2026.
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