Scientists have long counseled against interpreting animal behavior in terms of human emotions, warning that such anthropomorphizing limits our ability to understand animals as they really are. Yet what are we to make of a female gorilla in a German zoo who spent days mourning the death of her baby? Or a wild female elephant who cared for a younger one after she was injured by a rambunctious teenage male? Or a rat who refused to push a lever for

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"Why do we do the things we do? Over a decade in the making, this game-changing book is Robert Sapolsky's genre-shattering attempt to answer that question as fully as perhaps only he could, looking at it from every angle. Sapolsky's storytelling concept is delightful but it also has a powerful intrinsic logic: he starts by looking at the factors that bear on a person's reaction in the precise moment a behavior occurs, and then hops back in time from...

"For centuries, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented over 30,000 years ago, in the Chauvet cave paintings in southern France, and our enduring awareness and curiosity of their forward gaze and nearly silent flight has cemented the owl as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, foresight and intuition. But what, really, does an owl know? Though our infatuation goes back centuries, scientists...

Explains how animals protect themselves from attack--from physical traits, such as spines and poison, to behavioral strategies, such as living in groups and playing dead.

Explains how carnivores and herbivores find food, and describes hunting, scavenging, grazing, browsing, and filter feeding.

Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan and animal behaviorists join forces to explore stories of animal lives 'told' by the animals themselves. The series explores the secret side of the animal kingdom where human cameramen can't go, and camera-wearing animals film their own stories. Meerkats, penguins, a chimp, cheetahs, seals, baboons, devil rays, brown bears, and sheepdogs are the subjects of this series.

Lily learns that kitties can be almost as much trouble as dogs--but they can also be very comforting.

"Tamed and Untamed -- a collection of essays penned by two of the world's most celebrated animal writers, Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas -- explores the minds, lives, and mysteries of animals as diverse as snails, house cats, hawks, sharks, dogs, lions, and even octopuses. Drawing on stories of animals both wild and domestic, the two authors, also best friends, created this book to put humans back into the animal world. The more we learn...