American Bison combines the latest scientific information and one man's personal experience in an homage to one of the most magnificent animals to have roamed America's vast, vanished grasslands. Dale F. Lott, a distinguished behavioral ecologist who was born on the National Bison Range and has studied the buffalo for many years, relates what is known about this iconic animal's life in the wild and its troubled history with humans. Written with unusual grace and verve, American Bison takes us on a journey into the bison's past and shares a compelling vision for its future,...

It has often been assumed by those studying animal behaviour that the social system adopted by a species is a fixed product of natural selection. There is now an interesting body of evidence that this is not always the case and that alternative forms of social organisation may be adopted according to circumstance. In this book, first published in 1991, Professor Lott presents an overview of the understanding of this phenomenon and its implications for animal conservation and management. Those interested in social systems and more generally in animal behaviour and ecology will find this book...