15. Human Evolution and its Impact. 1. The Female Hyena's Penis -- 2. The Giraffe's Long Neck -- 3. The Random Flight of the Gazelle -- 4. How the Zebra Got its Stripes -- pt. II The Mysteries of Animal Behaviour -- 5. The Air-Conditioning of the Termite Mound -- 6. The Impala's Mexican Waves -- 7. Elephant Dictatorship vs Buffalo Democracy -- 8. The Antelope Art of Sexual Manipulation -- pt. III Extraordinary Creatures -- 9. Dung Beetle Navigation -- 10. Seismic Signalling in the Elephants' Sound-World -- 11. Honey Badger -- Weapon of Mass Destruction -- 12. The Truth about the Lion King -- pt. IV The Human Factor -- 13. How to Turn a Lion into a Cub-Killer -- 14. Catastrophic Change -- 15. Human Evolution and its Impact.
Summary:
Why do giraffes have such long necks? Why are zebras striped? Why are buffalo herds broadly democratic while elephants prefer dictatorships? What explains the architectural brilliance of the termite mound or the complications of the hyena's sex life? And why have honey-badgers evolved to be one of nature's most efficient agents of mass destruction? Deploying the latest scientific research and his own extensive observations on the African savannah, Leo Grasset offers some answers to these and many other intriguing questions. Having shown that natural phenomena are rarely simple and that often they get more complex the more you look at them, he brings to bear a mix of evolutionary biology and lateral thinking to explain the mysteries of animal behaviour in terms that are simple but never simplifying. He ends by considering how our origins in the savannah and evolution as the hybrid of several species can shapes our habits. Leo Grasset is one of France's brightest young natural scientists. Prepare to be fascinated, delighted, surprised, shocked and, above all, entertained by his brilliantly original Darwinian Just So stories.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.