Sami Bayly's latest book, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals, will be released on Tuesday, September 29

Her first book, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals, was a big success.

"It took me a while to think of the follow-up book. I had a lot of pressure and people from different angles saying do this, do that," she said.

Some were urging her to do the opposite of her first book. That is, beautiful animals.

"The whole thing behind ugly animals was they were mistreated and overlooked. Obviously beautiful animals, in a lot of ways, aren't," the natural history illustrator said.

She decided to continue the theme of animals that were "treated a little unfairly because of the way they looked or their ability".

"That's why I landed on dangerous animals. They're more so dangerous animals with a difference. I didn't want to do your typical tiger and crocodile, the ones you kind of know.

"I really wanted to make it more about unusual animals that you might not think are dangerous and deadly. And maybe they're dangerous and deadly in unusual ways or to certain types of animals, not necessarily to humans.

"I really wanted to shine a light on the more misunderstood species in the animal kingdom once again, and really explore these amazing traits."

And so, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals will be released on Tuesday. The book includes more than 60 of the most deadly and dangerous animals from across the world.

The book reflects Ms Bayly's tendency to like things that others don't like.

"I like being different and going against the grain a bit. I started to notice there were many people like me who really enjoyed looking at things that were not always seen in the newspaper or on TV.

"I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to bring more awareness to children and teach them about animals they might not have heard of."

She said most dangerous animals evolved their traits to ward off predators and "stop from being eaten".

One of the animals to feature in the book is the golden poison frog.

"Its vibrant colour acts as a warning to predators, letting them know that this 5-centimetre long animal is very dangerous," the book states.

Ms Bayly found it interesting to observe whether there was a correlation between dangerous animals and their vibrant colours.

"Which there certainly was," she said.

However, some dangerous animals had "very bland and very dark tones - a lot of muddy colours and dark browns".

"They were very dark to help them blend in with the environment, so they wouldn't stand out. And the other ones were extremely striking. There didn't seem to be many in between.

"I found that really interesting to be honest."

The book leaves a strong impression of life in the wild and the diversity of nature.

Ms Bayly likes to ensure the animals she selects come from different species and locations, so they're "not all too similar".

"I really wanted to make sure it was a diverse book."

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