Built by Animals - BookWyrm

hard cover, 274 pages

English language

Published Dec. 9, 2007 by Oxford University Press, USA.

ISBN:: 978-0-19-920556-1

(1 review)

From termite mounds and caterpillar cocoons to the elaborate nests of social birds and the deadly traps of spiders, the constructions of the animal world can amaze and at times even rival our own feats of engineering. But how do creatures with such small brains build these complex structures? What drives them to do it?

In this fascinating volume, Mike Hansell looks at the extraordinary structures that animals build—whether homes, traps, or courtship displays—and reveals what science can tell us about this incredible behavior. We look at wasp's nests, leaf-cutting ants, caddis flies and amoebae, and even the extraordinary bower bird, who seduces his mate with a decorated pile of twigs, baubles, feathers, and berries. We discover how some animals produce their own building materials, such as the silk secreted by spiders to weave an array of different web and traps, or the glue some insects produce to hold their …

From termite mounds and caterpillar cocoons to the elaborate nests of social birds and the deadly traps of spiders, the constructions of the animal world can amaze and at times even rival our own feats of engineering. But how do creatures with such small brains build these complex structures? What drives them to do it?

In this fascinating volume, Mike Hansell looks at the extraordinary structures that animals build—whether homes, traps, or courtship displays—and reveals what science can tell us about this incredible behavior. We look at wasp's nests, leaf-cutting ants, caddis flies and amoebae, and even the extraordinary bower bird, who seduces his mate with a decorated pile of twigs, baubles, feathers, and berries. We discover how some animals produce their own building materials, such as the silk secreted by spiders to weave an array of different web and traps, or the glue some insects produce to hold their buildings together. And we learn how a vast colony of social insects can create nests which may penetrate up to twenty feet into the ground and house millions of individuals—all built by tiny-brained animals repeating many simple actions as they roam randomly around the structure. Hansell also sheds light on how animal buildings have evolved over time, how insect societies emerged, how animals can alter their wider habitat, and even whether some animals have an aesthetic sense. Finally, he shows how animal structures may reveal clues to the origins of our own tool use and appreciation of beauty.

Built by Animals offers a colorful account of a facet of animal behavior that will delight anyone interested in the natural world.

2 editions

Fionnáin reviewed Built by Animals by Mike Hansell

Well constructed but lacking style

3 stars

This book does essentially exactly what its title promises: It maps a litany of different methods of building by creatures, from microscopic bacteria to primates to termites to beavers to crows. As an overview of the methods employed, it is thorough and enjoyable, if a little dry.

An easy complaint with the book is that, while it regularly advises against human-centric thinking (such as comparing the building methods of animals to that of humans), often in the same paragraph, Hansell uses humanist ideas to confirm his own biases about nonhuman construction. He creates comparisons between primate 'intelligence' and human, but never acknowledges other possible forms of intelligence. This comes to a fore in a chapter on the use of tools, where there is little quarter given to experimental or non-western theories on non-human behaviours, instead insisting on traditional western thought about how brain size affects behaviour. This positioning is a …

This book does essentially exactly what its title promises: It maps a litany of different methods of building by creatures, from microscopic bacteria to primates to termites to beavers to crows. As an overview of the methods employed, it is thorough and enjoyable, if a little dry.

An easy complaint with the book is that, while it regularly advises against human-centric thinking (such as comparing the building methods of animals to that of humans), often in the same paragraph, Hansell uses humanist ideas to confirm his own biases about nonhuman construction. He creates comparisons between primate 'intelligence' and human, but never acknowledges other possible forms of intelligence. This comes to a fore in a chapter on the use of tools, where there is little quarter given to experimental or non-western theories on non-human behaviours, instead insisting on traditional western thought about how brain size affects behaviour. This positioning is a small bugbear, however, in a book that is otherwise an adequate, broad and interesting dive into the many homes that are built by the countless critters that share this planet with us.