Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle

by Douglas J. Emlen, David J. Tuss (Illustrator)

The story behind the stunning, extreme weapons we see in the animal world--teeth and horns and claws--and what they can tell us about the way humans develop and use arms and other weapons

In Animal Weapons, Doug Emlen takes us outside the lab and deep into the forests and jungles where he’s been studying animal weapons in nature for years, to explain the processes behind the most intriguing and curious examples of extreme animal weapons—fish with mouths larger than their bodies and bugs whose heads are so packed with muscle they don’t have room for eyes. As singular and strange as some of the weapons we encounter on these pages are, we learn that similar factors set their evolution in motion. Emlen uses these patterns to draw parallels to the way we humans develop and employ our own weapons, and have since battle began. He looks at everything from our armor and camouflage to the evolution of the rifle and the structures human populations have built across different regions and eras to protect their homes and communities. With stunning black and white drawings and gorgeous color illustrations of these concepts at work, Animal Weapons brings us the complete story of how weapons reach their most outsized, dramatic potential, and what the results we witness in the animal world can tell us about our own relationship with weapons of all kinds.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Animals, Biology, Evolution, History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 2014

About the author

Douglas J. Emlen is a professor at the University of Montana. He is the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering from the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House, multiple research awards from the National Science Foundation, including their five-year CAREER award, and a Young Investigator Prize and the E. O. Wilson Naturalist Award from the American Society of Naturalists. His research has been featured in outlets including the New York Times and National Public Radio’s Fresh Air.

Reviews

[Tom Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing I can say about this book is that when I took it home my two-year-old went wild for the cover art, so we sat down to look at the photo insert and the high quality sketches included throughout then rushed to our local library so he could check out a million books on bugs, which was his first big trip there for more than a quick pop-in or a kids' story circle. So, Animal Weapons, welcome to our father/son memories!

4 stars out of 5. If you enjoy your Biology trivia delivered by a fun, sprightly personality then look no further. Emlen's writing is lively and accessible, with a hefty dose of captivating personal anecdotes from his time in the field. Give this guy a Discovery Channel show, already!

P.S. I understand Emlen adapted his work into a children's book about beetles. We'll be on the lookout for that!

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always wondered at some of the extreme weapons that some animals mounted & this popular science book answered the question admirably. Sexual selection can be confusing since it doesn't always make sense. Emlen not only explains it well, but sorts out just how it leads to extremes both through ivory tower science & extensive anecdotes of his field research. He then draws parallels to human weapon evolution. As he points out, he's a beetle scientist, not a historian, but his somewhat facile explorations into this area were really good. His simplicity made the point far better than a more detailed narrative would.

Emlen maintains that there are 3 conditions needed to trigger an arms race:
1 - Competition: winning the prize
2 - Economic defensibility: a clear goal such as the exclusive ability to breed & other factors that narrow the focus.
3 - Duels: individual combat between relative equals, not free for alls

He shows how these conditions play out in animal populations from beetles & crabs to elk & human societies. The examples were fascinating & the parallels staggering. Bigger is often better simply because it reduces the need for combat. Weaker opponents fight others in their class & don't bother fighting those that are much better armed. Still, changing circumstances can also doom an entire species as his example of the Irish elk makes clear. Their antlers were too expensive to support when the climate changed. His data on the antlers of elk & the toll they take on the males is fascinating. They rob their own bones of material just when they need them as strong as possible for fights & only have a few weeks to recover before winter descends. This leads to a high mortality rate, but a very few victorious males father all the following year's calves. Something like 90% of the males never mate in their lifetimes.

The last part of the book looks at how we're now at a very dangerous point because of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) which have changed this age old equation. We almost ended life on the planet a couple of times due to nuclear WMDs, but limited our duels with the USSR & never actually came to direct blows. Now the landscape has changed with nuclear proliferation. Too many states have the ability to cause wide spread destruction with WMDs. The weapons are hidden & even a small state can cause unprecedented damage to a much larger one.

I read Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity (My 4 star review.) just before this book & both authors came to the conclusion that genetics is our new greatest threat. Emlen points out just how inexpensive & easy genetic engineering has become; it's literally now the realm of a garage inventor. Both authors show how inevitable it is that we'll start genetically engineering our children & Emlen's ideas on weaponizing this are just scary. It's not just countries creating super soldiers, but parents wanting to give their kids an advantage. Every parent wants the best for their kid & we already weed out some defects at IVF clinics. It's a very small step to fixing single gene diseases such as Huntington's. If we allow that (Can we really argue against it?) another small step takes us to 'fixing' multi-gene complexes which could be intelligence or strength.

Local laws against such practices won't be able to curtail more extreme practices, especially among the rich. They'll just go to another country that does allow it (or doesn't stop it) & we have no way to tell. We're already complaining about the unfair allocation of wealth. What chance do we have of maintaining any sort of 'fair' competition when the 1% can insure their progeny are stronger, faster, more disease resistant, & have higher IQs? Science fiction? Not really. We're not all the way there yet, but we're closing in rapidly. It's a scary new arms race, one where the weapons aren't clearly displayed. Indeed, they're hidden & almost anyone can wield them.

Highly recommended. It was great in audio format, but do find a text copy to see the pictures. One reviewer even mentioned it turning their kid on to more books. I can't think of higher praise.

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free from the GoodReads first reads program in exchange for an honest review.

Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle by Douglas J. Emlen is a delightful enlightening read. Douglas J. Emlen focuses on many unusual animals, rather than focusing upon the typical big cats, wild dogs, and dinosaurs. The main thrust of his book is the insects - beetles, flies, and other such forgotten creatures litter the pages with their bizarre adaptations and startlingly complex behavior. The times when the author is writing about these are the best part of the book - he thrives in descriptions of the unusual, and the pages fly by.

The book never became boring, but the transitions were largely bizarre to me, which in turn affected some of my enjoyment. While I agree that there are rather clear parallels between human weapon development and animal evolution - and that the case presented was a good one - I think it was clumsily written. Transitions could have been handled better, but overall that wasn't so jarring as to heavily impact my rating of the book.

In spite of the small gripe in terms of transitions, the book was wonderful. The contents were fascinating, the arguments presented well thought out, and the illustrations provided by David J. Tuss truly stunning. The illustrations, two of which adorn the cover, are fantastic and playfully done without sacrificing detail or scientific accuracy.

A good pop-sci read on an unusual topic.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer I received this ARC from the Goodreads Firstreads program. This in no way colors my thoughts, feeling and review. The following is all me and all honest. :)

Ok, confession time. I'm a frustrated, thwarted biologist. I had to choose between English and biology in school, as the biology labs clashed with the English classes. I chose the easier A. (You mean I get to READ and write my thoughts about what I just read and I get GRADED on it? Where do I sign up?)

So I LOOOOOOVE to read books about biology by actual biologists. I get to live vicariously through their writing. And since the author included snippets about his travels and studies, I got to read about nasty and vicious rain forests without having to actually go there and experience it myself. Bonus!

So I was pre-disposed to really like this book and BOY did I. The science part was awesome and I could follow it easily, but it wasn't dumbed down to an annoying level. The parallels between the animal weaponry and human weaponry was done very well.

My favorite part of the book? The fact that the last page of the writing was 220, but the last page of the book due to notes and citation was 280. (sigh) I love a well cited book. That would be the English major in me I guess, but I love it.

The ending was a bit of a downer, but it was realistic I'm afraid.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is into science, either/and biology evolution and mankind's weaponry evolution. 4.5 stars, rounded up due to those amazing notes and citations.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an engaging pop sci look at the evolution of morphologies and behaviors that influence conflict in animals. Why can animals display such starting traits of aggression? Why do some species have such stunning features like the teeth of sharks, the tusks of an elephant, or the elaborate, varied horns of beatles? These features seem to often defy logic. Sucking an exceptional amount of precious energy from the animal, conflict and the ornamentations associated with it (defensive and offensive) seem to evolve in some species to absurd extremes that shorten an animal's life span.

Emlen explains how such traits and behaviors evolve, and why. The simple answer for the latter is what drives evolution of any characteristic. Those with the genes to produce the characteristic have better reproductive success - of passing on those genes to the next generation.

Chapter by chapter Emlen describes particular cases observed in animals where evolution of defensive or offensive traits is evident. Tying these to a human metaphor of war and technology, Emlen draws parallels between what is seen in biology and what is seen in human history in terms of weapon and armor development.

In terms of the science I am a little disappointed in the focus on animals alone. The weapon metaphor could certainly extend through all of life, with more interesting and varied examples. Moreover, the evolution of battle long predates animals; he really is only covering a tiny recent set of biological developments in this realm. But Emlen's expertise is in animals and that is the group of organisms that everyone is most familiar with, so okay.

I did appreciate the basic history of human developments in battle that Emlen used to compare with the biological examples. The battle metaphor begins to stretch a little though with the close of the book which begins to postulate on how the future of human developments in weapons could lead to unavoidable catastrophe. This is certainly true. I am not convinced that biological systems of evolution are good proof of this however. Biological evolution is not the same as the 'evolution' of technology. The selection for weapon-like traits or battle-related behaviors in animals is not the same as in human war. While it makes for a catchy close to the book, it isn't accurate or particularly meaningful, beyond a play on emotions.

Though I feel there are some issues with this book in taking very precise scientific concepts and trying to popularize them to a general audience, for the most part I think Emlen does well and would recommend this to anyone with an interest in biology or nature.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this from the publisher via the Goodreads First-Reads program in exchange for an honest review.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took half the book for this author to find his voice. His editor should have said, "You know half way through the book when you began talking about how Ted Turner could afford a boat and you could not? Go back to the beginning and write like that."

There is some real value to reading this book because the author does an amazing job relating general arms races seen in the animal kingdom to the arms races we humans have been engaging in for centuries. However, he tries to be so careful about building up his argument that he practically obscures it until it hits you in the face in the end and it feels too abrupt. He has a great argument, and so he should have just been confident about it and presented it as such from page one.

Animals evolve armor and strategy to outcompete others in their species. Humans have done the same. The second half of the book is totally worth it.

This book examines natural selection as well as sexual selection and the author includes all the usual great studies that have uncovered some of the best examples of various arms races.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it could use a bit more organization, this is overall a wonderful and fun book going into the evolutionary biology animal weaponry. The science is very good, and a great deal of interesting tidbits, both about the weapons and tactics of the animal world, and those of the human world. It is remarkable how close a fit there is between the dynamics that govern combat, weapon, and defensive evolution in both realms. Doug Emlen is a scientific luminary, and it is so very nice to see that he did his part in popularizing the fascinating subset of evolutionary biology in which he works. It is also nice to see that he is as engaging in presenting to the public as he is to professional audiences.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting points and examples of the circumstances favouring selection for weapons in different animal lineages, but overall fairly basic. And I found the constant comparisons with advances in human weaponry and warfare unnecessary.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, Douglas Emlen explores the different weapons and competitions that exist in the animal kingdom. Emlen lays out the conditions that lead to the evolution of weapons and arms-races in a species, examines their effects and consequences on that populations, and then draws parallels to the evolution of weapons and warfare among humans.

This book is good fun. It's a nice overview of evolutionary biology with a focus on physical competition and its costs and benefits to a species. It is full of interesting and informative stories and examples, and Emlen's excitement over his subject matter is palpable throughout. Some of the history is a bit over-simplified (as, I imagine, the biology is), but that's kinda the point here, I think.

Nothing life-changing here, but worth a read.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why don't all animals evolve fearsome weapons like saber tooth tigers? Why do some beetles have horns at 30% of their body weight? Why do elk grow antlers so big each year that they have to leech calcium from their bones to do so, giving themselves "seasonal osteoporis?"

This is a remarkably clear read about how much more we know that I learned in high school. It's primarily about evolution, and secondarily about the joys of biologist doing field work with dung beetles and howling monkey feces. (I kid; of course there are multiple types of fecal matter during the author's career.)

The outlier in my examples above is the tiger, whose teeth evolved for use in hunting. They came at a cost of mobility, which was acceptable because the tiger became an ambush predator, jumping on larger animals and chomping down. Put the teeth on a lynx or a house cat named Timmy and their hunting skills would plummet. That trade off makes massive weapons rare--thousands of species have them, but it's a relative drop in the bucket of life.

Most animals evolve massive weapons for intraspecies fighting. If you are fighting something with a big horn, it makes sense for yours to be just a little bigger--and the next generation the logic still holds. Once the arms race starts it becomes self-perpetuating, even if the cost is high in resource needs and mobility. Sometimes fights are mostly posturing (which is what I believed was the default starting the book)--fiddler crabs wave their claws and the smaller one backs down. Other times though it's brutal, as elks and deer seem to fight literally round the clock, wearing themselves our, during mating season.

Which raises the question of why fight in the first place? That high school answer was "over females"** and it's correct, but the book covers more specific requirements such as a gender imbalance in breeding-ready animals and geographical restrictions on resources that make defending them worthwhile.

Reading about many of the examples leads to the thought that males really should have something better to do. Think about the way non-breeding ant drones work for the success of their kin; this is the opposite, a species wasting massive resources and energy fighting itself almost entirely for individual benefit. It sounds like some beetles have females digging tunnels, carrying in tastydung, and laying the eggs while the males just fight each other to control the tunnel entrance; this can't be a net positive. But it makes evolutionary in certain situations, at least for a while.

There are asides into human battle, which I admit was part of the gimmick that got me to buy the book but I found almost uniformly lacking in insightful or interesting comments. The author is a biologist, not a historian. Fortunately these sections are quite brief.

*Well, figuratively, but I like the image of male elk staking out mating territory around clocks.

**Or in rare cases, such as the jacana bird, over the males.

[Doug Kirkland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book from the Goodreads FirstReads program.

I found this book to a be a very enjoyable, quick, and informative read.

Odd and intriguing animal facts. Animals using their particular weapons in a constant struggle for survival. Intense battles between animals of the same species fighting for mating privileges. Devastating and revolutionary military innovations. What more could you possibly want from a book titled Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle!?

As a biology enthusiast, I absolutely LOVE books like this, and I am particularly fond of books on evolution. This is no exception, although this book does approach evolution in a slightly different way than most of the books that I've read. The author uses a real world cost vs benefit concept to describe the evolution of animal weapons and explain why some animals invest in weapons and others do not and also why some of these weapons are more elaborate than others. The beauty of presenting the process of evolution in this manner is that it accurately describes the fundamentals of the underlying principles that govern evolution without bogging down the reader with in-depth discussions of DNA and genetics that might lose some readers. More importantly, however, presenting evolution in this fashion works well with the military tie-ins.

The author uses fascinating examples of animal species' that have developed extreme weapons to explain several factors that contribute to weapon genesis as well as leading to the arms races that lead to the extremity of said weapons. He then includes an analogous military example that is both relevant and riveting in its own way. Many of the examples come from the author's first hand experiments and observations, which helps to conclusively portray the author as one of the leading authorities on the subject. Also the illustrations were extremely helpful and beautifully drawn.

In the end, both aspects of this book culminate into one final profound idea.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 1 out of 5]

This could have been a fascinating book. It should have been an interesting book. How evolution works? Why all sorts and sizes of animals have the armament they have and it's effectiveness in and out of combat or predation.
Emlen likes to draw corollaries between animal weaponry and the development of human weaponry. I'd be happy with that, too.
Except the tone of the book gets in the way. I kept feeling I was reading something from the old Sunday morning Discovery shows (think they were on ABC) that brought science into homes. The tone reminds me of any of those "science for the kids" shows.
Emlen's views on human weapon development also come through and put me off. Human weapon bad, animal weapon good. He's got some good science when he sticks to evolutionary biology, he's got lots of science when describing how human designed weapons work, but he's got too much opinion when he hints at the anthropology, psychology, and sociology of human weapons development.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I'd had this guy as a professor when I was still in school. What a fascinating read. Simple and clear about when, where and why animals get into arms races. Also included are terrific drawings and pictures that make his key points even stronger. Plus fun stories of good times in the jungle as a graduate student. Who knew you could use army ants to suture wounds?
And the significant added bonus comes when he compares what happens in the animal kingdom to what happens with countries and weapons; whether it was sailing ships or nuclear bombs. Finally a pretty sobering conclusion about where we stand today as a species on this planet.
Well worth the time!

[Scott Lupo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a fun, informative book comparing the evolution of weapons in a number of different animals and insects to human weaponry. The illustrations are excellent as are the photos. I truly enjoyed the author's own personal stories of camping in the rainforests to study dung beetles and other creatures. It was written a little haphazardly, just jumping from one animal or insect to the next but it works. There are some crazy things happening in nature!

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads a lot like a random trivia intellectual conversation with a like-minded friend that goes on late into the night. Really interesting and goes off on side spurs from natural history into comparisons with and analyses of human behavior and warfare.

[Steven Yenzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting at times but a bit wandering overall. It read more as a scientist's ponderings than a researched work.

[BlurryBug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could've been my new favourite book as I love evolution theories and such.
However at a certain point this book starts focusing exclusively on warfare and human weapons and I can see the connection between the two topics as much modern warfare has been inspired by animals and insects. That side of it was really not my cup of tea.
I'm rating it 4 stars because what I liked about this book I really liked and it wasn't so much that I hated the chapters mentioned above as they left me bored.

Would recommend for people more interested in warfare.

[Rabin Rai · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that compares the similarities between animal and human arms races. Thankfully, the writer who is a dung beetle researcher, writes in an interesting fashion with good sentence structures and word choices. Plus, I have learnt more about the world of dung beetles!

[Mark Gunnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling and interesting narrative on the evolution of extreme weapons in various animal species. Emlen also includes just enough personal experiences to keep the story interesting. The correlation to the "evolution" of human weapons is far from air-tight, but still presents some food for thought. Only 4 stars because it got repetitive, but otherwise well done.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

We humans fight and sometimes kill each other. While we sometimes kill other animals for food or for sport, we don't kill them with the same vengeance that we have for our fellow human beings.

The same is true for other species - they fight and sometimes kill each other. Carnivores will kill other species for food, but sometimes they fight each other. Even herbivores often fight and sometimes kill each other. Why is that?

Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen, provides an evolutionary explanation for the existence of intra-species battles. He uses animal species ranging from dung beetles to antlered elk to exemplify the circumstances that precipitate battle between members of a species. While I don't think Emlen is intending to do an exhaustive examination of human motivations, he does draw parallels to the animal world that are enlightening.

As part of his thesis Emlen spends many pages explaining the social structures of a number of different species. But the most interesting aspect of his book is the implications for us humans.

For example, one of the conclusions that Emlen seems to draw is that fighting is inevitable - it is in our nature. And, as such, nuclear weapons are a really bad idea. Emlen isn't the first to suggest this, but it may be just a matter of time until someone with powerful weapons sets off a cataclysm that everyone regrets.

One of the points of the book is that none of this is driven by logic. It doesn't make any sense. Why do people kill each other when it seems so pointless? Well, why do bighorn sheep bang their heads together when it seems so pointless? It doesn't make any sense, but it is in our nature nonetheless.

Perhaps the most dramatic example in the book was of two pronghorn sheep that had jabbed each other with their horns, became entangled, couldn't get separated, and died with their horns locked together. Whatever purpose they had for fighting was certainly not served by that engagement.

I think this is an interesting metaphor for human conflict. We, as humans, sometimes have no choice but to fight. But, we are also sometimes like the pronghorn sheep, choosing to fight in situations that ultimately benefit no one. If only we had the wisdom to discern the difference.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book that looks at the history of weapons evolved by animals and weapons developed by humans and shows just how evolution and economics determines not just what weapons are deployed but also their size and even why have some animals have weapons and others don't. The author includes his own entertaining research into beetles to put a personal perspective into why he is interested in weapons in animals.

He starts by showing how animal weapons develop via evolution and sexual selection. He shows that there are three requirements for weapons to be developed by animals: competition for mates, a limited resource that can be defended and individuals that duel for dominance. Without all three, weapons wouldn't evolve as they would be a useless hindrance.

Once a weapon has evolved, an arms race then takes place for as his research shows, it is usually the male with the largest weapon that wins, either by winning battles or by deterring other males. But it comes at a price: resources that might be used for other purposes for survival gets used for weapons development. Tip the balance too much into weapons and a sudden change in the environment could spell doom for the male or the entire species. Sudden changes may also occur if a new way to win the mating game, by cheating or trickery or change in mating behaviour, suddenly becomes too successful. When this occurs, weapons are of no use and would quickly be evolved away.

Weapons for defense also develop in the same way and are subject to the same evolutionary and economic pressures. Castles and termite mounds were impregnable; until explosives and anteaters come along and change the equation.

Throughout the book, the author also compares the evolution of weapons in animals with those by man and show that man-made weapons are subject to the same evolutionary and economic pressures.

In closing, the author shows that in one way human weapons have gone beyond what animals are capable of. For while we have weapons of mass destruction, animals don't. And here, the author notes that we may not survive such an arms race.

The book also contains nice illustrations of various weapons, both animals and man-made by the artist David J. Tuss.

[G. Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

stirring, fascinating, and surprisingly chilling, Douglas Emlen manages to present a work that says much about the animal kingdom we live in as it does about ourselves. Guiding us through chapters of content about the armaments of the animal kingdom, Douglas effortlessly shows us not only the process by which these weapons evolve but the ingredients that need to come together to breath antlers, stag beetle horns, and crab claws to life in our world.

Most surprising though is how he marries this to the discussion of our own arm's races and humanities history with war, deftly transferring his biological mathematics from beetles to ballistic missiles with a trained hand with a writing style that feels at once scientific and easily approachable. This format allows this book to sing its ideas throughout like some great piece of fiction while at the same time meticulously noting the scores of sources Emlen pulls from to make his point, a great that was in large part what kept me pouring through this book from start to finish when so many other books in this genre leave me behind.

Finally, I want to throw special praise to the last chapter of this book. I had set this down for a while and returned to this last section and I have to applaud what you have written here, the discussion of the Cold War and the arms races we currently find ourselves in was at once gripping and bone chilling in ways I have not felt in a long time. Like reading scripture from some lost Cthulian tome, the last bit on nuclear weapons left me feeling like I had seen my world as one like that in The Call of Cthulhu, unimpressed, ephemeral, and ready to be swept clean by uncaring hands but in this tale the beast waiting for the stars to come right was ourselves and that might be more horrifying than any fiction I have ever penned or read myself.

That is a powerful thing Emlen, and you should be proud for it. To everyone else, if the evolution of weapons throughout the life on this earth fascinates you along with how it relates to our own lives and histories I wholeheartedly recommend this book, it is well worth your time and trouble to find it.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very readable book and one that I received as a Goodreads Giveaway. The text is illustrated not only by large, well-drawn and detailed B&W drawings, but also by a number of colored photographs. Though I have read a number of books on evolution, Emlen's approach is so far, in my experience, unique, in that he compares animal "weaponry" to the historical evolution of military weapons. While human cultures of the past have always engaged in arms races, so too, Emlen, argues pill bugs and pangolins have "armor plates" that are analogous to the armor of knights. Any number of beetle species develop ever larger mandibles to conquer their rivals just as armies developed larger guns and navies every larger battle ships. Termite castles grow larger and with more defensive barriers just as medieval castles did. Emlen argues persuasively that there are these parallels between "military" developments in animals and human military developments. He also explains that there are some very important differences: one of which is that our arms race currently can lead to mass destruction and even elimination of the human race through nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons of mass destruction. His thesis is well-argued, clearly stated, and sobering. I highly recommend this book.

[Geoff Walling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought this would be pretty straightforward, but it surprisingly teaches you things you didn't know and wouldn't have thought about.

[B. Rule · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some really interesting and engaging descriptions of animal adaptations, and sets forth a clear and convincing thesis statement on when arms races develop in animal populations (limited resources that are unevenly distributed and geographical defensible, where battles are decided on a one-on-one, dueling basis rather than in a scramble/free-for-all). Less successful are the comparisons to human arms races and technology, where the author strains to make connections that are occasionally tenuous or overstated. The writing is also a little uneven, as the segues are awkward and the flowery introductions to chapters give way to much flatter writing in the body of the text. That said, this is a very quick read and gave me a lot of food for thought in areas far beyond the evolutionary adaptations of animal traits. Worth picking up.

[heptagrammaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Douglas Emlen takes us through a journey through animal warfare and its continuation among H. sapiens, sketching out the broad principles of its course, its catalysts - genes or memes, the pressure of evolution on competing information sets (to very broadly generalise both inheritance and culture with a clumsy technical metaphor)... all the while sprinkling details of his suicidal tendencies in tropical - or, rather, every - climate (Doug, next time maybe don't run in front of leopards, kay?)

Midway I was beginning to feel his examples redundant, not much contributing to the essence of the idea... Nevertheless I grew enraptured with the detail - ultimately, however I like high informational density, there's much value to be gained understanding-wise from having a solid data set to go with any broad principle

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the book.
You don't have to have a lot of prior biological knowledge to dive into this book.
The author knows how to capture the reader in his stories, and use them to tell about the factors affecting animal weapons, making it easy to understand and imagine.
The way he shows the similarities between human war developement and the developement of animal weapons, give a valuable insight into both worlds.

Ending with explaining how humanity is on the edge of yet another shift in weapons type, signaling the start of a new arms race, but this time it's a race that humanity can't afford. This makes room for thought.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

***I got this book as a Firstreads giveaway***

I loved not only the project of this book, but it's execution. The writing is vivid, lucid, and engaging. The examples are fantastic. I could go on, but I'll leave you with this analogy instead:

This is the "make complex biology so palatable people don't realize they're learning" book form of the classic mom-trick of hiding kids' vegetables in other food.

You will learn a lot about evolutionary biology, covergent evolution, and how plants and animals really aren't as docile as the zoo would have you believe.

[Bradley Nissen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful read for everyone - not just ecologists!

Books written by scientists are not always page turners, but this book is an exception. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's mixture of stories and data to illustrate fascinating conclusions about why animals have weapons. The parallels drawn between the military history of humans and the animal kingdom are very enlightening. I highly recommend this book!

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

VOTO: 4,8
Saggio appassionante sull'organizzazione sociale e sugli strumenti di difesa/offesa degli animali più insoliti e/o rappresentativi del mondo animale, nonchè sulle strategie di sopravvivenza adottati da essi, da cui l'uomo ha tratto spunto per sviluppare il proprio arsenale bellico e la strategia militare nel corso della storia: interessante i parallelismi tra essi che vengono continuamente proposti.
Consigliatissimo.