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Good Reads  Evolutionary Biology  Evolution

Great Adaptations Star-Nosed Moles, Electric Eels and Other Tales of Evolution’s Mysteries Solved

Popular Science
By: Kenneth Catania(Author)
207 pages, 8 plates with 11 colour photos; b/w photos, b/w illustrations
NHBS
The excellent Great Adaptations features unusual animals and entertaining science experiments that anyone can understand.
Great Adaptations
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  • Great Adaptations ISBN: 9780691228471 Paperback Jan 2022 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 6 days
    £12.99
    #253031
  • Great Adaptations ISBN: 9780691195254 Hardback Oct 2020 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 6 days
    £21.99
    #250205
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About this book

From star-nosed moles that have super-sensing snouts to electric eels that paralyze their prey, animals possess unique and extraordinary abilities. In Great Adaptations, Kenneth Catania presents an entertaining and engaging look at some of nature's most remarkable creatures. Telling the story of his biological detective work, Catania sheds light on the mysteries behind the behaviours of tentacled snakes, tiny shrews, zombie-making wasps, and more. He not only shows how studying these animals provide deep insights into how life evolved, but also how scientific discovery can be filled with adventure and fun.

Beginning with the star-nosed mole, Catania reveals what the creature's nasal star is actually for, and what this tells us about how brains work. He explores how the deceptive hunting strategy of tentacled snakes leads prey straight to their mouths, how eels use electricity to control other animals, and why emerald jewel wasps make zombies out of cockroaches. He also solves the enigma of worm grunting by teaming up with professional worm grunters. Catania demonstrates the merits of approaching science with an open mind, considers the role played by citizen scientists, and illustrates that most animals have incredible, hidden abilities that defy our imagination.

Examining some strange and spectacular creatures, Great Adaptations offers a wondrous journey into nature's grand designs.

Customer Reviews (1)

  • A gateway drug to biology
    By Leon (NHBS Catalogue Editor) 1 Feb 2022 Written for Paperback


    One has to wonder whether the horror writer H.P. Lovecraft had the star-nosed mole in mind when he created the Cthulhu Mythos. Fortunately for us mortals, this little mammal is harmless – though it is not without some extraordinary powers of its own. I first came across the work of biologist Kenneth Catania in the recently reviewed Sentient and had to dig deeper. Great Adaptations is a personal and entertaining account of his almost-five decades career investigating the biological mysteries of the star-nosed mole and other creatures.

    Why does the star-nosed mole have a crown of tentacles front-and-centre of its face? A young and enthusiastic Catania got the chance to delve into their world when the head curator of the National Zoo in Washington, DC told Catania's father he was looking for a volunteer to care for them, and maybe do some research. Starting with the idea that it might be for electroreception (it is not), Catania takes you down the research rabbit hole. He examines noses under the electron microscope to reveal Eimer's organs and other specialised touch sensors. He enlists the help of a neurobiologist to show how the neocortex contains a literal sensory map of the nose. Curiously, the smallest pair of the 22 tentacles takes up most neocortical real estate. Examining embryos reveals not only that this pair of tentacles develops first and is the most sensitive, but also that the crown forms quite unlike any other appendage. Not by extrusion of tissue, nor by trimming excess tissue via programmed cell death, but as backwards-facing tubes that detach and bend forward during development. But what is this curious organ for? The use of high-speed video cameras shows the mole to be extremely fast at detecting, recognizing, and consuming invertebrate prey, taking on average just 230 milliseconds to do so.

    There are some nice biology lessons hidden in this whirlwind of observations and remarkable experiments. Why is so much of the neocortex devoted to the smallest pair of tentacles? Catania draws a comparison to our eyes where we focus the image on a small, well-innervated area of the retina called the fovea. The smallest pair of tentacles act as a touch fovea: "instead of making the sensor [...] high-resolution throughout, requiring vast neocortical territory for all the sensory processing, a single small area is analyzed in detail, and moved around a bit like a sensory flashlight" (p. 40). Why does the mole's nose develop in such an odd fashion? He reminds the reader that the process of evolution has to tinker with what is available and cannot start from scratch, a recurrent theme in evolutionary biology. There is good reason to think that the mole's ancestor had a nose with a proto-star. And why such a sensitive nose? Catania draws on foraging theory to argue that the mole is exploiting an unlikely niche space: by minimising prey handling time it can eat small prey that would normally not be energetically profitable for a warm-blooded mammal of its size.

    Catania brings in an interesting idea, the "rare enemy effect", when discussing the next two animals he has studied: the tentacled snake and human worm grunters. The snake hunts fish underwater and sports two tentacles on its snout that, as Catania shows through careful observation, are motion sensors. By exploiting the fish's hard-wired escape response, the snake tricks fish to swim into its gaping mouth. Worm grunting is an old practice that humans use to collect earthworms for fish bait. By sticking a wooden rod into the ground and rubbing it with a piece of metal, the grunter creates subterranean vibrations that cause earthworms to emerge on the surface. Charles Darwin already suggested that earthworms might be fleeing the vibrations caused by their usual nemesis: moles burrowing in the soil. With the help of an experienced grunter, Catania confirms this idea and mentions other observations on animals such as gulls that also exploit this trick to bring food to the surface. In both cases, the question is why the fish and worms have not evolved a response. He invokes what Richard Dawkins calls the rare enemy effect: "A rare predator may have such a small impact on the large prey population that no counteradaptation ever evolves" (p. 75). The predators are getting away with trickery.

    Similarly fascinating is Catania's work on electric eels and predatory wasps. The former have an important place in the history of scientific discovery of electricity, inspiring no less than Alessandro Volta when he designed his batteries. Using ingenious experimental setups, Catania figures out how eels stun their prey (somewhat like a taser) and what the function is of shorter double bursts of electric discharge (blowing the cover of any edible prey in hiding when they involuntarily twitch). Meanwhile, the story of predatory wasps that turn cockroaches into zombified hosts for their offspring makes for engaging popular science. Catania's contribution is to figure out the exact sequence of events by which the wasp overcomes the cockroach's defences and violently subdues it. Though, as he shows, a prepared cockroach can hold its own and deliver some mighty kicks with its barbed hindlegs.

    Next to entertaining science experiments, Catania wrote this book to tell the stories that never make it into the published literature. Of the friendships with the people whose permission you seek to collect moles on their land, or the worm grunter who happily helps you out gathering data. The book is peppered with some genuinely entertaining anecdotes and personal interest stories. Catania has furthermore included photos, still frames from video clips, and diagrams to illustrate his work. As many of his experiments involved filming behaviour with high-speed cameras, some figure legends cleverly include QR codes that will take you to short clips on YouTube.

    Above all, Catania wrote this book to convey the sense of wonder that accompanies scientific discovery. The main reason I thoroughly enjoyed Great Adaptations is that it spoke to me on a very personal level. This is the sort of research that attracted me to biology in the first place (and which I have had the fortune to do myself). It is also easy to communicate to a general audience as it does not require prior knowledge of, say, genetics or ecological theories. All it needs is for you to observe animal behaviour with a healthy dose of curiosity and start asking questions. This kind of research, and by extension this book, is a gateway drug to biology. If I could go back in time 20 years I would be that student sitting in the front row during Catania's lectures, and beseeching him afterwards about doing a research project in his group. Lacking a time machine, this book is the next best thing.
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Biography

Kenneth Catania is the Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University. A 2006 MacArthur Fellow, Catania lives in Nashville.

Popular Science
By: Kenneth Catania(Author)
207 pages, 8 plates with 11 colour photos; b/w photos, b/w illustrations
NHBS
The excellent Great Adaptations features unusual animals and entertaining science experiments that anyone can understand.
Media reviews

"The irresistible enthusiasm of Great Adaptations couldn't come at a better time – science is under assault not merely by know-nothing deniers but in how it is taught and presented to the general public. It's dispensed as a collection of facts, recitations of what past research has uncovered, findings to be understood, which all too often means just 'memorized.' By contrast, as Mr. Catania clearly understands, and demonstrates beautifully in his book, science offers adventures in trying to decode the mysteries of the natural world."
– David P. Barash, Wall Street Journal

"In page after page, Catania's enthusiasm and awe for the animals shine through [...] Some of that enthusiasm will likely rub off on readers and spark a sense of wonder. Great Adaptations packs in plenty of astounding details about some remarkable creatures."
– Erin Garcia de Jesus, Science News

"[Catania] is as keen that we learn about the process of discovery as about animals themselves [...] The realms he studies may be on the small scale, but the implications are enormous."
– Bill Thompson, The Post and Courier

"Casual science readers will be hooked from page one; for those contemplating careers in the sciences, this should be required reading."
Library Journal, starred review

"By blending accessible writing with cutting-edge science, Catania [...] demonstrates how exciting the process of scientific investigation can be in his invigorating debut [...] The joy Catania takes in the process of exploring the natural world will delight readers."
Publishers Weekly, starred review

"With its combination of clearly explained science and vivid tales from the road, this is a book for anyone who is interested in the natural world and the interesting people who study it."
– Linda Lombardi, Shelf Awareness, starred review

"Using a variety of visual aids to good effect, Catania explores how the humblest species may have developed their remarkable abilities [...] It's clear that being a scientist has only magnified the author's sense of wonder, and he notes how chance, failure, an open mind, and tirelessly methodical experimentation are as much natural parts of science as breakthroughs [...] His delight is contagious."
Kirkus Reviews

"From mapping the sensory cortex of the star-nosed mole's brain to tactile receptors in its fleshy tentacles, to illustrating the unique behavioral capabilities of the electric eel, tentacled snake, water shrew, and jewel wasp, each species description reveals a compelling story of evolutionary adaptations in anatomy, physiology, and/or behavior. Catania aptly conveys his wonderment at finding out how an organism interacts with its environment, a project that became his life's work."
– J. Burger, Choice

"With engaging prose and captivating stories, Kenneth Catania brings his brilliant research to life. Never have I learned so much from a book that's so enjoyable to read."
– Jonathan Losos, author of Improbable Destinies

"In writing about the astonishing ways that animals live on this planet, Kenneth Catania says he stopped at the word 'miracles.' But in Great Adaptations, what he describes is just that – a planet full of miracles. Catania's personal experiences and journeys make this a compulsively readable book. Be very amazed."
– Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words and Becoming Wild

"Through a series of gripping vignettes about incredible animals doing seemingly impossible things, Great Adaptations melds insightful natural history with sophisticated experimental analysis, garnished with scientific brilliance. It is among the best natural history accounts our generation has to offer."
– Michael J. Ryan, author of A Taste for the Beautiful

"From star-nosed moles to worm grunting, this book captivates readers with stories about the extraordinary abilities of ordinary creatures."
– Marlene Zuk, author of Paleofantasy

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