The Social Lives of Animals : How Co-operation Conquered the Natural World

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‘Any writer who can evoke the existential sadness of a lonely cockroach, or make krill thrilling, or describe a snorkelling colleague being engulfed in a ‘gargantuan cetacean bum detonation’ is a real gift to science communication … thought-provoking’ GuardianEverything you ever wanted to know about how animals live together, and what that means for usSome animal societies hold a mirror up to the human world: elephants hold funerals for departed family members. Pinyon jays run collective creches. Rats will go out of their way to help a cold, wet stranger. Other lifestyles can seem intensely alien. Take locusts, surging over the land in their millions, unable to slow down for a moment because the hungry ranks behind will literally bite their legs off if they don’t stay one step ahead (actually, you might know a few people like that).

But no matter how offputting an animal might be, behavioural scientist Ashley Ward can usually find something worth celebrating. Travelling the world from the Serengeti to the frozen Antarctic ocean, with stops in the muddy fields and streams of his native northern Yorkshire, he brings his curious eye and infectious humour right down to their level. The result is a world-expanding, myth-busting tour of some of nature’s greatest marvels, in delightfully broad-minded company.