The Evolution of Culture in Animals

by John Tyler Bonner

Overview

Animals do have culture, maintains this delightfully illustrated and provocative book, which cites a number of fascinating instances of animal communication and learning. John Bonner traces the origins of culture back to the early biological evolution of animals and provides examples of five categories of behavior leading to nonhuman culture: physical dexterity, relations with other species, auditory communication within a species, geographic locations, and inventions or innovations. Defining culture as the transmission of information by behavioral rather than genetical means, he demonstrates the continuum between the traits we find in animals and those we often consider uniquely human.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691186986
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	06/05/2018
Series:	Princeton Science Library , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The great virtue of the book is the re-creation of culture and culture-mimicking behaviors throughout the animal kingdom, an essential step in understanding the probable origins and unique qualities of human sociality. Professor Bonner's style is, as always, witty, and wholly lucid."—E. O. Wilson, Harvard University

Wilson

The great virtue of the book is the re-creation of culture and culture-mimicking behaviors throughout the animal kingdom, an essential step in understanding the probable origins and unique qualities of human sociality. Professor Bonner's style is, as always, witty, and wholly lucid.
— E. O. Wilson, Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

**** A classic study of social behavior in animals. This is a reprint of the 1980 edition--which is endorsed by BCL3. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"[Bonner] structures his fascinating book as a survey of culture in the animal kingdom, marching up the venerable chain of being toward bigger brains, increasing behavioral complexity, and freedom from rigid genetic programs."—-Stephen Jay Gould, New York Review of Books

"John Tyler Bonner is a biologist who not only knows a great deal about plants and animals but has thought long and carefully about problems of evolution. . . . The pleasure of the book is in the wealth of examples of communication and teaching, many effectively illustrated with drawings or photographs."—-J. Z. Young, London Review of Books

From the Publisher

[Bonner] structures his fascinating book as a survey of culture in the animal kingdom, marching up the venerable chain of being toward bigger brains, increasing behavioral complexity, and freedom from rigid genetic programs.

The New York Review of Books - Stephen Jay Gould

John Tyler Bonner is a biologist who not only knows a great deal about plants and animals but has thought long and carefully about problems of evolution. . . . The pleasure of the book is in the wealth of examples of communication and teaching, many effectively illustrated with drawings or photographs.

The London Review of Books - J. Z. Young

John Tyler Bonner is a biologist who not only knows a great deal about plants and animals but has thought long and carefully about problems of evolution. . . . The pleasure of the book is in the wealth of examples of communication and teaching, many effectively illustrated with drawings or photographs.

The London Review of Books - J.Z. Young

[Bonner] structures his fascinating book as a survey of culture in the animal kingdom, marching up the venerable chain of being toward bigger brains, increasing behavioral complexity, and freedom from rigid genetic programs.
— Stephen Jay Gould

The New York Review of Books

John Tyler Bonner is a biologist who not only knows a great deal about plants and animals but has thought long and carefully about problems of evolution. . . . The pleasure of the book is in the wealth of examples of communication and teaching, many effectively illustrated with drawings or photographs.
— J. Z. Young

The London Review of Books