Fall 2008 - The Johns Hopkins University Press

The Social Behavior of Older AnimalsAnne Innis DaggHow do young and old social animals view each other? Are aged animalsperceived by others as weaker? Or wiser? What is the relationship betweenage and power among social animals?Taking a cue from Frans de Waal’s seminal work examining the lives of chimpanzees,Anne Innis Dagg in this pioneering study probes the lives of oldermammals and birds. Synthesizing the available scientific research and anecdotalevidence, she explores how aging affects the lives and behavior of animalsranging from elk to elephants and gulls to gorillas, examining such topics aslongevity; how others in a group view senior members in regard to leadership,wisdom, and teaching; mating success; interactions with mates and offspring;how aging affects dominance; changes in aggressive behavior and adaptability;and death and dying.At once instructive and compelling, this theme-spanning study reveals thecomplex nature of maturity in scores of social species and shows that animalbehavior often displays the same diversity we find in ourselves.Anne Innis Dagg teaches in the Independent Studies program of the Universityof Waterloo. She is the author of over a dozen books, most recently “Loveof Shopping” Is Not a Gene: Problems with Darwinian Psychology and PursuingGiraffe: A 1950s Adventure.January 208 pages 6 x 9978-0-8018-9050-5 0-8018-9050-0$35.00(s) / £19.00 hcAnimal Behavior© David Dennis “Lion Cub with Mother in the Serengeti,” Tanzania, 2007THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS www.press.jhu.edu 30