When we think of animals that provide the greatest insights into animal cognition and behavior, primates and honeybees come to mind, or perhaps whales or octopus. What about the raccoons that plunder our rubbish at night, or the coyotes that threaten pets and livestock, or the gulls that divebomb for snacks at the beach? Outsider Animals challenges everything you thought you knew about the overlooked animals that live in proximity to humans, sharing the stories that each has to tell about adaptation and cohabitation on our increasingly crowded planet.
Marlene Zuk gives us a new appreciation for the animals we often shun, explaining why these unpopular creatures have something special to teach us not only about the ways we deal with other species but about our own place in nature and what it means for an animal to belong somewhere. You will discover how coyotes and snakes shed light on our coevolution with predators, what cockroaches tell us about the evolution of pregnancy, how butterflies make us reconsider the effects of roadside pollution, how cowbirds and mynas are forcing ecologists to think differently about invasive species, and much more.
Writing with an infectious blend of humor and curiosity, Zuk invites us to reflect on our relationships with these close-to-home creatures and the ways our lives encroach on theirs, and to draw lessons from their behavior in all its fascinating complexity.
Marlene Zuk is Regents Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She has written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and New Scientist. Her books include Dancing Cockatoos and the Dead Man Test: How Behavior Evolves and Why It Matters and Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us About Sex, Diet, and How We Live.
"Written with wit and charm, this book might change minds about unpopular creatures."鈥�Kirkus Reviews
"Marlene Zuk has written an entertaining and easily readable book defending the creatures we most like to hate. . . . She combines her scientific expertise with her avowed respect for the creatures we have come to despise, without undue sentimentality, and urges us to examine the entire life style of the organism and not react only to certain behaviours we find detestable."鈥擠avid Gascoigne, Travels with Birds
"Charming. . . . Zuk describes how looking at [animals] in a new light can help us understand beings we sometimes think of as vermin."鈥擟hris Hewitt, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“This is a truly compelling book, rich with scientific expertise and humor. Marlene Zuk shows how the animals we tend to overlook have remarkable stories to tell, inviting us to rethink nature and our place in it. You’ll never see these creatures the same way again.”—Isabella Rossellini, actress and author of Green Porno and My Chickens and I
“A delightful, eye-opening exploration of the talents and skills of animals that live close to us—animals we often refuse to accept. Zuk engages with each species on its own terms, peeling away human interpretations to show their true natures, talents, and adaptations. Her clear-eyed, joyful scientific curiosity will leave you captivated by cowbirds and charmed by cockroaches. An engaging and heartening read that will make you smile even as you store away another science fact to share.”—Bethany Brookshire, author of Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains
“Raccoons and cowbirds and gulls, oh my! Marlene Zuk has written a fascinating book about the creatures we know all too well but haven’t welcomed into our lives. And yet, she convinces us, maybe we should.”—Jonathan B. Losos, author of The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa
“Marlene Zuk’s smart, clever, and charmingly written Outsider Animals shows how widely unpopular creatures offer special lessons about our attitudes toward other species more generally. She does this through essays on some of the most widely detested species on Earth, in ways that are caring yet critical, devoid of excessive sentimentalism, and backed up by an impressive knowledge of science and the humanities.”—Harry W. Greene, author of Tracks and Shadows: Field Biology as Art
