Toomey David - Kingdom Of Play What Ball - Bouncing Octopuses Belly - Flopping Monkeys And Mud - Sliding Elephants Reveal About Life Itself - Hardcover

Binding: Hardcover
Description: This 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 elephants mud - slide crows dive - bomb and octopuses bounce balls. These activities are various but all are play and as Toomey explains animal play can be defined as a distinct behavior that is ongoing and open - ended purposeless and provisional rather like natural selection. Through a close examination of both natural selection and play Toomey argues that life itself is fundamentally playful. A lively informative and scientifically entertaining animal behavior study (Kirkus Reviews) Kingdom of Play is an illuminating and yes playful look at a little - known aspect of the animal kingdom.
Title: Kingdom Of Play What Ball - Bouncing Octopuses Belly - Flopping Monkeys And Mud - Sliding Elephants Reveal About Life Itself
Author(s): Toomey David
Publisher: Scribner
Barcode: 9781982154462
Pages: 304 Pages
Language: English
Publication Date: 3/19/2024
Category: Wildlife: General Interest