Best mammal zoology books according to redditors

There's a book which argues that tracking gave us the cognitive skills to later do science.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Tracking-Origin-Science/dp/0864861311

I've done a bit of tracking here and there, and it really is a hard thing where you have to observe very closely and piece together a lot of diverse information to figure out what went on.

You have to not only figure out what print is from what animal, but what the gait patterns mean (which is a seriously complex skill to decipher gait), how new or old the track is, contextualize it within the larger ecosystem and figure out what the animal may have been doing, piece together other incidental clues like scat, nibbled leaves or grass, urine, hair, etc.

It really is quite a feat to develop many of these skills.

We used to do it all the time, it was a key facet of our survival strategy as a species.

We also are the only animal that can throw so accurately, and that was a big part of our survival strategy too.

Edit: There's also a good book which argues that tracking (as in tracking animals) was the origin of science in the human species, or at least was what put in place our capacity for very sharp discernment that eventually led into science and technology.

The fact of the matter is, humans where VERY good at what we did as hunter gatherers. You don't see other apes that are able to take down a wolly mammoth.

>personally I believe that the more educated you are about the world and the people in it, the more moral you will naturally choose to be as you will fully comprehend the consequences of your actions. this is far from a definitive proof, and I suppose I'm taking this on as much faith as the religious folk take theirs...

Read The Science of Good and Evil by Michael Shermer and The Age of Empathy by Franz De Waal.

We had boer goats and man were they the epitome of annoyance described in this thread. There is an interesting book on hiking with goats (you read that right) which said a good rule for choosing a breed to hike with is that anything with floppy ears will never listen to you.

It’s not post modern at all :) it’s incredibly relevant and contemporary primatology, as well as some philosophy especially in the realm of ethics. There’s some wonderful books on the this and I’ll list the links for them if you ever want to check them out

In the Shadow of Man (1971) this one is a bit old but incredible considering it was one of the first accounts of primate behaviour so accurate.

Sapiens (2014) now this book is an incredible read if you want a brief , easy and wonderful account of humans over our evolution. And what makes us “different.”

Primates and Philosophers (2006)

A personal favourite of mine, an excellent account at how something as “human” as morality is something perhaps shared amongst at least some great apes


The Metaphysics of Apes: Negotiating the Animal-Human Boundary(2005)

And a rather analytical text, tracing the interpretation of the human-like great apes and ape-like earliest ancestors of present-day humans, this study demonstrates how from the days of Linnaeus to the present, the sacred and taboo-ridden animal-human boundary was constantly tested. The unique dignity of humans, a central value in the West, was, and to some extent still is, on the minds of taxonomists, ethnologists, primatologists, and archaeologists. This book thus offers an anthropological analysis of the burgeoning anthropological disciplines in terms of their own cultural taboos and philosophical preconceptions.

Not to stir the pot but, all these must then be bots? https://www.amazon.com/Polar-Bear-Catastrophe-Never-Happened-ebook/dp/B07PT7SCZ8/#customerReviews

This book convincingly, in clear language, and with robust science demonstrates that the polar bear population has most likely risen from 10,000 to 40,000 in recent decades. The discussions of the polar bear role as a now-failed symbol of impending extinction from climate change, of biased press coverage and fake news, of the use of invalid climate models, of the hostility and dishonesty of some polar bear experts getting a new lease on life from the flow of money to climate alarmists, and of the fraudulent listing of the polar bear as a "threatened" species through the machinations of a top government scientist are additional reasons to buy the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Polar-Bear-Catastrophe-Never-Happened/dp/0993119085
> The Polar Bear Catastrophe That Never Happened explains why the catastrophic decline in polar bear numbers we were promised in 2007 failed to materialize. It’s the story of how and why the polar bear came to be considered 'Threatened' with extinction, and tracks its rise and fall as an icon of the global warming movement. The book also tells the story of Crockford’s role in bringing that failure to public attention and the backlash against her that ensued – and why, among all others who have attempted to do so previously, she was uniquely positioned to do so. In general, this is a cautionary tale of scientific hubris and of scientific failure, of researchers staking their careers on untested computer simulations and later obfuscating inconvenient facts.For the first time, you'll see a frank and detailed account of attempts by scientists to conceal population growth as numbers rose from an historical low in the 1960s to the astonishing highs that surely must exist after almost 50 years of protection from overhunting. There is also a blunt account of what truly abundant populations of bears mean for the millions of people who live and work in areas of the Arctic inhabited by polar bears.

University dumps professor who found polar bears thriving despite climate change This summer Dr. Susan Crockford is a zoologist with more than 35 years experience, including published work on the Holocene history of Arctic animals. This summer she lost her status as Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada (UVic), a position she had held for 15 years. This action followed her expulsion from the roster of the university’s volunteer Speakers Bureau in May 2017. Having undergone hip surgery in the interim, only now is she going public about it. However, until April 2017 the university and the Anthropology department proudly promoted her work, including her critical polar bear commentary, which suggests someone with influence (and perhaps political clout) intervened to silence her scientific criticism.

An adjunct professorship is an unpaid position with a few responsibilities that in return allow a scholar to operate as a qualified member of the academic community, such as making applications for research funding. See also:

• Dr. Susan Crockford: UVic bows to outside pressure and rescinds my adjunct professor status
  
• Bioscience article is academic rape: an assertion of power and intimidation: “The purpose of these papers is not to communicate. It is to excommunicate.”
  
• Of the 19 recognized polar bear subpopulations, one is in decline, two are increasing, seven are stable, and nine have insufficient data, as of 2017. This is example of the replication crisis gripping so many areas of science.
  
• Polar bear attack paper invalidated by non-independent analysis
  
• Climate Change Denialists Say Polar Bears Are Fine. Scientists Are Pushing Back
  
• Trump has announced that he's signing a new executive order that will force colleges to either start supporting free speech, or lose all federal funding, including grant and research funding.
  
  You can also support Dr. Crockford by buying her books:
  
  
• The Polar Bear Catastrophe That Never Happened (a review)
  
• Polar Bear Facts & Myths: A science summary for all ages
  
• Polar Bears Have Big Feet
  
• Polar Bears: Outstanding Survivors of Climate Change
  
• Eaten: A novel

You need to do some reading before you claim we need religion to reach us morals. Even chimps are a lot more than just killing and throwing poo...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Age-Empathy-Natures-Lessons/dp/0307407764

http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20120626%2FNEWS0107%2F206260346%2F0%2FSEARCH

Well Ive heard some good things about this book.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Age-Empathy-Natures-Lessons/dp/0307407764