Description
Book SynopsisThis “delightful…compelling” (Scientific American) and revelatory look at the science behind why animals play “will fill you with joy and wonder” (Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus).Acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in the Kalahari Desert to brown bears on Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, we follow adventurous researchers as they design and conduct experiments seeking answers to new, intriguing questions: When did play first appear in animals? How does play develop the brain, and how did it evolve? Are the songs and aerial acrobatics of birds the beginning of avian culture? Is fairness in dog play the foundation of canine ethics? And does play direct and possibly accelerate evolution?
Monkeys belly flop, dolphins tail-walk, elep
