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Desert Navigator
The Journey of an Ant
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Desert Navigator
$13399
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This book is ideal for readers interested in animal behaviour, entomology, biological sciences, and natural history. It appeals to both academics and general readers fascinated by animal navigation, cognition, and desert ecology.
Cataglyphis ants can set out across vast expanses of desert terrain in search of prey, and then find the shortest way home. Rüdiger Wehner has devised elegant experiments to unmask how they do it. Through a lively and lucid narrative, he offers a firsthand look at the extraordinary navigational skills of these charismatic creatures.
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Description
Winner of the Association of American Publishers PROSE Award for Excellence in Biological and Life Sciences
A world-renowned researcher of animal behaviour reveals the extraordinary orienteering skills of desert ants, offering a thrilling account of the sophisticated ways insects function in their natural environments.
Cataglyphis desert ants are agile ultrarunners who can tolerate near-lethal temperatures when they forage in the hot midday sun. However, it is their remarkable navigational abilities that make these ants so fascinating to study. Whether in the Sahara or its ecological equivalents in the Namib Desert and Australian Outback, the Cataglyphis navigators can set out foraging across vast expanses of desert terrain in search of prey, and then find the shortest way home. For almost half a century, Rüdiger Wehner and his collaborators have devised elegant experiments to unmask how they do it.
Through a lively and lucid narrative, Desert Navigator offers a firsthand look at the extraordinary navigational skills of these charismatic desert dwellers and the experiments that revealed how they strategise and solve complex problems. Wehner and his team discovered that these insect navigators use visual cues in the sky that humans are unable to see, the Earth's magnetic field, wind direction, a step counter, and panoramic "snapshots" of landmarks, among other resources. The ants combine all of this information to steer an optimal course. At any given time during their long journey, they know exactly where to go. It is no wonder these nimble and versatile creatures have become models in the study of animal navigation.
Desert Navigator brings to light the marvellous capacity and complexity found in these remarkable insects and shows us how mini brains can solve mega tasks.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Endorsed by notable scientists such as Edward O. Wilson and Steven Pinker, Desert Navigator is praised as a classic in entomology and behavioural biology. Reviewers highlight its rich, fascinating insights into ant cognition, superb scientific quality, engaging narrative, and beautiful illustrations. The book is acclaimed as a triumph of natural history and science that reveals the remarkable feats of navigation achieved by eusocial insects.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780674045880
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 04 February 2020
Country: United States
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Illustration: 18 color photos, 153 color illus.
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 28.0mm
Width: 191.0mm
Height: 232.0mm
Weight: 1179g
Pages: 400
About the Author
Rüdiger Wehner is Professor and Director Emeritus of the Institute of Zoology, University of Zürich. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Marcel Benoist Prize, the Carus Medal of the Leopoldina, the Karl von Frisch Prize, and the Humboldt Research Award. He is an Honorary Member of the German Zoological Society, an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, Permanent Fellow Emeritus of the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin, and principal author of the well-known textbook Zoologie.
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