The Animal Connection A New Perspective on What Makes Us Human

by Shipman, Pat

• ISBN13: 9780393070545
• ISBN10: 0393070549
• Edition: 00
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-13
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

Why do humans all over the world take in and nurture other animals? This behavior might seem maladaptive'”after all, every mouthful given to another species is one that you cannot eat'”but in this heartening new study, acclaimed anthropologist Pat Shipman reveals that our propensity to domesticate and care for other animals is in fact among our species' greatest strengths. For the last 2.6 million years, Shipman explains, humans who coexisted with animals enjoyed definite adaptive and cultural advantages. To illustrate this point, Shipman gives us a tour of the milestones in human civilization-from agriculture to art and even language'”and describes how we reached each stage through our unique relationship with other animals. The Animal Connection reaffirms our love of animals as something both innate and distinctly human, revealing that the process of domestication not only changed animals but had a resounding impact on us as well.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 9
Begin at the Beginning	p. 19
Evolve Without Evolving	p. 32
Attention Must Be Paid	p. 56
Is a Tool a Tool a Tool?	p. 72
Uniquely Human?	p. 87
The Bonobo Solution	p. 97
A Brief Stop in the Levant	p. 111
Say What?	p. 118
Tell Me All About It	p. 138
Spreading the Word	p. 156
My Cat Wants You to Open the Door	p. 174
Living Together	p. 190
The Wolf at the Door	p. 204
Signs of Domestication	p. 221
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, Have You Any Wool?	p. 247
Riding into the Sunset	p. 260
The Animal Connection in the Modern World	p. 270
Acknowledgments	p. 281
Notes	p. 283
Illustration credits	p. 315
Index	p. 319
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