Catalog Search Results
1) Owls aren't wise and bats aren't blind: a naturalist debunks our favorite fallacies about wildlife
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In this fascinating book, wildlife expert and enthusiast Warner Shedd refutes popular animal myths like squirrels remembering where they bury nuts, wolves howling at the moon, and oppossums "playing dead."
Have you ever seen a flying squirrel flapping through the air, watched a beaver carrying a load of mud on its tail, or ducked when a porcupine started throwing its quills? Probably not, says Shedd, former regional executive for the...
Have you ever seen a flying squirrel flapping through the air, watched a beaver carrying a load of mud on its tail, or ducked when a porcupine started throwing its quills? Probably not, says Shedd, former regional executive for the...
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"Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores the newly discovered brilliance...
3) Mammal
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Reveals the most amazing facts and folklore about our favorite furry animals. Towering or tiny, ferocious or friendly, mammals trot, hop, swim, and soar. Meet the creatures that make up this huge and varied family.
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If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal overturns everything we thought we knew about human intelligence, and asks the question: would humans be better off as narwhals? Or some other, less brainy species? There's a good argument to be made that humans might be a less successful animal species precisely because of our amazing, complex intelligence. All our unique gifts like language, math, and science do not make us happier or more "successful" (evolutionarily...
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Birds have long been considered the archetypal featherheads, beautiful but dumb. But one group of birds - the corvids, or members of the crow family - appears to have powers of abstraction, memory, creativity, and insight that put them on a par with many mammals, including, in some instances, higher primates. In an original and scrupulously researched text, Candace Savage describes the life and behavior of 16 representative species of corvids that...
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An underwater exploration that overturns myths about fishes and reveals their complex lives, from tool use to social behavior There are more than thirty thousand species of fish--more than all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians combined. But for all their breathtaking diversity and beauty, we rarely consider how fish think, feel, and behave. In What a Fish Knows, the ethologist Jonathan Balcombe takes us under the sea and to the other side of...
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What separates your mind from that of an animal? Is it the ability to design tools; a sense of self; or the grasp of past and future? In recent decades these claims have eroded, or even been disproven outright, by a revolution in the study of animal cognition. Waal explores both the scope and the depth of animal intelligence, offering a firsthand account of how science has stood traditional behaviorism on its head by revealing how smart animals really...
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DNA does not make us who we are. Journalist David Shenk debunks the long-standing notion of genetic "giftedness, " and presents new scientific research showing how greatness is in the reach of every individual. Integrating cutting-edge research from a wide swath of disciplines, Shenk maintains the problem isn't our inadequate genetic assets, but our inability, so far, to tap into what we already have. IQ testing and widespread acceptance of "innate"...
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"Dogs have been mankind's faithful companions for tens of thousands of years, yet today they are regularly treated as either pack-following wolves or furry humans. The truth is, dogs are neither--and our misunderstanding has put them in serious crisis. What dogs really need is a spokesperson, someone who will assert their specific needs. Renowned anthrozoologist Dr. John Bradshaw has made a career of studying human-animal interactions, and in Dog...
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Nova scienceNOW volume 2011, episode 4
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Host Neil deGrasse Tyson will tackle one of science's major challenges in each video, framed as a simple question that ordinary people wonder and worry about. Neil will guide us as he explores dramatic discoveries and the frontiers of research that connect each central, provocative mystery. Episode includes: 1) How Smart Are Dogs? - Meet an extraordinary boarder collie and other dogs changing our view of canine intelligence. 2) How Smart Are Dolphins?...
11) Dogs
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Go inside the mind of one of the most intelligent animals on Earth. Learn more about dogs, how they use their cleverness to survive, and how they are astonishing scientists with their surprising smarts. Complete with well-researched, clearly written informational text, primary sources with accompanying questions, charts, graphs, diagrams, timelines, and maps, multiple prompts, and more. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards....
12) The inner life of animals: love, grief, and compassion : surprising observations of a hidden world
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"Through vivid stories of devoted pigs, two-timing magpies, and scheming roosters, The Inner Life of Animals weaves Peter Wohlleben's wealth of personal experience observing nature in forests and fields with the latest scientific research into how animals interact with the world. Horses feel shame, deer grieve, and goats discipline their kids. Ravens call their friends by name, rats regret bad choices, and butterflies choose the very best places for...
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"Following a mysterious murder on an island off the coast of Vietnam, a research team convenes to study an octopus community that seems to be developing its own language and culture. Humans, AIs, and animals are swept up in the machinations of governments and corporations in this near-future thriller about the nature of intelligence"--
Rumors begin to spread of a species of hyperintelligent, dangerous octopus that may have developed its own language...
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"In the newest addition to the ever-popular and authoritative nonfiction Scientists in the Field series, the team behindThe Frog Scientist take you on a research trip to New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean to follow crows in aviaries and in the wild while answering many thought-provoking questions like: "Can a crow outsmart a scientist?" Remarkably engaging narrative nonfiction coupled with beautiful photographs, this is a trip you won't regret booking!"--...
17) Pigs
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When Megan's father asks her to feed the pigs, he also tells her to be careful not to leave the gate open.
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"In this fascinating nonfiction account, author Nancy F. Castaldo reveals just what's going on inside the minds of animals, and through understanding animal intelligence we discover more about ourselves, including far more similarities than one might expect. Humans may have the biggest brains, but intelligence is not a quality exclusive to only us!"--