Hoch, J. Matthew

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Nova Southeastern UniversityNSUWorksOceanography Faculty Articles Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences12-1-2014Book Review - Wild Connection: What AnimalCourtship and Mating Tell Us About HumanRelationshipsJ. Matthew HochNova Southeastern University, jhoch@nova.eduFind out more information about Nova Southeastern University and the Oceanographic Center.Follow this and additional works at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticlesPart of the Marine Biology Commons, and the Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences andMeteorology CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at NSUWorks. It has been acceptedfor inclusion in Oceanography Faculty Articles by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contactnsuworks@nova.edu.NSUWorks CitationJ. Matthew Hoch. 2014. Book Review - Wild Connection: What Animal Courtship and Mating Tell Us About Human Relationships.Quarterly Review of Biology , (4) : 393 -394. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/771.Although some may find discomforting the re-sults of such an approach to the analysis of thesocial-learning literature, the method is compel-ling. Further, if as this volume suggests, both fieldand laboratory studies of social learning and tra-dition in animals are going to become far moremodel-driven, mathematically based enterprisesthan they have been in the past, then the final fivechapters of Hoppitt and Laland’s monograph willprove invaluable to graduate students interested inundertaking future research in the area.In sum, Social Learning provides the first compel-ling synthesis of the social-learning literature andis of value not only to newcomers seeking an in-troduction to a complex, multidisciplinary field,but also to established researchers looking forchallenging views on familiar topics. A copy shouldnot only be on the bookshelf of but also read byanyone interested in the study of social learning.Bennett G. Galef, Psychology, Neuroscience &Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario,CanadaNoble Savages: My Life Among Two Danger-ous Tribes—The Yanomamö and the Anthro-pologists.By Napoleon A. Chagnon. New York: Simon & Schus-ter. $32.50. ix 531 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-684-85510-3 (hc); 978-1-4516-1147-2 (eb). 2013.This volume hits readers viscerally. Dirty tricks.First contact. Underhanded monks. I could notput the book down. Chagnon’s gritty writing styletakes readers out of their chairs and puts theminto the rainforest. Readers share the author’s awewhen he finally understands the geography ofYanomamöland, which contradicts maps of thetime. Readers feel his joy when he realizes he hasmade true friends, people who help him at costs tothemselves, among the Yanomamö. Readers feelhis sorrow when Yanomamö die, especially whenthey die because of outside machinations.Students considering fieldwork should read thisvolume. Chagnon shows the challenges: danger-ous rivers, tricky adversaries and, sometimes,green snot. But he also shows the rewards of field-work: lasting friendships, a profound understand-ing of the physical and biological world, and ahealthy respect for political enemies and friends.Nobel Savages hits readers intellectually, too. Itreviews the author’s vast body of work on socialorganization, the underlying causes of violence,and the politics of fighting. For scientists familiarwith his publications, the overview offers remark-able details. For instance, his 1988 Science paperhas a bar graph showing a man who had unokaied(killed) 16 times. Nobel Savages puts a face to thatman. Anthropologists who want to understand hu-man behavior using an evolutionary frameworkshould read this book.Chagnon uses his last three chapters to addressthe dark rumors swirling around him. You can hisfeel anger simmering beneath his words, but this isnot a vitriolic diatribe. Instead, he gives a clinicalassessment of the players and their motives, muchas he did for the Yanomamö.If you have heard rumors of bad science, ques-tionable ethics, and fraudulent data—and wantmore knowledge before judging—this volume isfor you. If you want to better understand academiaas a blood sport, this book is for you. If you are aSalesian monk or a proponent of Marvin Harris,you probably will not enjoy this work.Nobel Savages provides an in-depth review of Cha-gnon’s career. His data and interpretation repre-sent foundational work in biology and anthropologythat will stand the test of time.Sharon Pochron, Sustainability Studies Program,Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New YorkWild Connection: What Animal Courtshipand Mating Tell Us about Human Relation-ships.By Jennifer L. Verdolin. New York: Prometheus Books.$18.95 (paper). 302 p.; index. ISBN: 978-1-61614-946-8 (pb); 978-1-61614-947-5 (eb). 2014.Wild Connection is both a popular science work writ-ten for a general audience about animal reproduc-tion and a collection of information, anecdotes, andpersonal reflections on human romance. The bookis organized into 10 chapters, each exploring differ-ent questions of reproductive behavior such as: FirstImpressions (Chapter 2); Sorry Guys—Size Matters(Chapter 4); or Getting Cuckolded (Chapter 9).These chapters open with a humorous account ofthe author’s (or one of her friends) experienceson the dating scene, followed by comparisons ofthe observed behaviors with those from the animalkingdom. Verdolin builds upon a foundation ofzoological and psychological scientific literature aswell as pop-culture references and tales of ro-mance gone wrong. For example, the author tellsa story of a dinner date forgetting his wallet (pp.56-57) and compares it to the deceptive croak of atree frog trying to disguise his quality. In additionto the goal of educating readers, the book alsoserves as a memoir, documenting the author’ssearch for love. The volume is interspersed withfun facts such as that the first engagement ring wasgiven in 1477 (p. 118) and the difference between“friends with benefits” and “booty calls” (p. 176).Verdolin carefully straddles a tone of irreverenceand scientific seriousness, such that young readersmight be titillated, but their parents will be unableto object to the content.December 2014 393NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKSThe book uses many ad hoc comparisons be-tween animal behaviors and humans. Many areexplained with statements such as: “there must bea reason for it” (p. 64); “[i]f you think about it, itmakes perfect sense” (p. 131); and “[t]his meansthat there is actually a biological reason” (p. 119).These statements may be criticized as “just-so sto-ries” or “evolutionary spandrels,” however, theirpurpose is to inspire thought about why we behavethe way we do, not to dogmatically state the literaltruth.The book invites comparisons to Olivia Judson’sDr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation (2002. NewYork: Metropolitan Books), another volume thatuses animal courtship and mating to educate ageneral audience about reproduction, sex, andbehavior. Judson’s volume is slightly more techni-cal from a biological standpoint, but relies a greatdeal on trying to evoke emotional reactions. WildConnection, on the other hand, is more relatable, asthe author writes as a partner in conversationrather than as an all-knowing, unimpeachable ex-pert. The current book would probably work bet-ter as a point from which to start classroomdiscussions.The main conclusion that one draws from thevolume is that humans are animals, but by beingaware of our animalistic proclivities we can betterunderstand ourselves. The format, switching be-tween facts and observations of animals and hu-morous accounts of romantic misadventures workswell to maintain the interest of readers. It alsochallenges misconceptions of human mating andromantic behavior, like the “Cinderella Myth” orthat men are wired to be more promiscuous thanwomen. I found the book to be enjoyable and arelatively quick read.J. Matthew Hoch, Math, Science & Technology,Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Flor-idaAnimal Communication Theory: Informationand Influence.Edited by Ulrich E. Stegmann. Cambridge and NewYork: Cambridge University Press. $99.00. xviii 452 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-1-107-01310-0. 2013.Do animal signals contain information and havemeaning, like words in a language, or are theypotent stimuli that influence the sensory systemsand behaviors of intended recipients? This bookdebates the role of information in animal com-munication by presenting opinion and evidencefrom diverse disciplines, such as evolutionarybiology, ethology, linguistics, and neurophysiol-ogy. It also includes valuable philosophical contri-butions about the nature of information andmeaning, although these are overused and conse-quently somewhat distracting.The volume includes an introduction and 18contributed chapters organized into five parts:information-based communication; communica-tion based on influence and manipulation; casestudies; evolutionary perspectives on animal com-munication; and the relationship between animalsignals and human language. The core of the de-bate is in the first two parts, which, in my opinion,should appear in reverse order, since most chap-ters in the first section are in part responses toarguments presented in the second. Regardless oftheir order, the chapters throughout this book areengaging, and are made even more so by theirappended commentaries. These are critique-and-defend-style exchanges between other authorsfrom the volume and those of the focal chapter.They reveal the passion of the authors and thetension among them, but they also highlightpoints of contention that were not apparent fol-lowing the book’s general introduction.The volume includes many excellent chaptersadvocating an information-based approach. Whenconsidered collectively, however, multiple notionsof information emerge, which seems to diminishits utility for the scientific study of animal commu-nication. At the same time, opponents of theinformation-based approach provide a compellingalternative based on influence and manipulation.The outstanding chapter by Drew Rendall andMichael J. Owren articulates the problems inher-ent in the information-based approach. It showshow pervasive these problems are in the literature,and provides an alternative framework for howresearchers can proceed. Michael J. Ryan’s chap-ter, which in my opinion was the highlight of thebook, implements this new framework by applyingit to a classic biological system, the tu´ngara frog(Engystomops pustulosus). In doing so, he provides acomprehensive understanding of a wonderfullycomplex communication system that is groundedin sensory biology, ecology, and evolutionary his-tory.The book’s value for animal communication re-searchers might have been greater if there hadbeen a general conclusion that summarized thestate of the debate and provided future direction.For example, on which issues do the authors gen-erally agree and disagree? How prevalent are theinformation and influence views within the field ofanimal communication? Are there unique predic-tions for information- and noninformation-basedcommunication that could help distinguish betweenthese alternatives? Even without such a conclusion,the volume has value because it will encourage re-searchers to describe animal communication more394 Volume 89THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGYCopyright of Quarterly Review of Biology is the property of University of Chicago Press andits content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without thecopyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or emailarticles for individual use.

Book Review - Wild Connection:  What Animal Courtship and Mating Tell Us About Human Relationships

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Book Review - Wild Connection: What Animal Courtship and Mating Tell Us About Human Relationships

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