Life depends on energy, and the majority of animal activity centers around finding energy in the form of food. Energy for Animal Life, the first book in the innovative new Oxford Animal Biology Series, gives a thorough yet precise description of how animals get and use energy -- a central topic in understanding animal biology. From solar radiation and photosynthesis to food sources for herbivores and carnivores, this book encompasses the food chain. It compares the merits of different designs of the digestive system as well as of different strategies for finding and choosing food. Several...

This monograph on the biology of animal building embraces all groups, from simple invertebrates to primate toolmakers. It looks at the behavioral and anatomical equipment animals have in order to build, as well as the materials available to them. It examines how architects are able, singly or collectively, to produce complex structures often much larger than themselves. It also looks at the costs of building, the properties of completed structures, the ecological impact of them, and their effects on the evolution of animal builders.