Animal Mind : Profiles of Intelligence and Emotion

Uncover the astonishing inner lives of the animal kingdom and challenge everything you thought you knew about intelligence, communication, and consciousness.

Are animals capable of complex thought, culture, and deep emotion? In this fascinating and gorgeously illustrated book, acclaimed nature author Marianne Taylor and award-winning photographers (including Joel Sartore, Melissa Groo, and Peter Delaney) take you on an illuminating journey through the latest discoveries in animal cognition.

The Animal Mind profiles 60 diverse species―from the smallest insects to the largest mammals―revealing breathtaking instances of remarkable behavior: Perfect for fans of such books as Sy Montgomery's The Soul of an Octopus.

Bridging the gap between human and animal understanding, this book explores complex subjects like empathy, grief, tool use, problem-solving, and cross-species communication. Through thought-provoking essays, surprising insights, and stunning portraits, The Animal Mind provides an essential roadmap to animal intelligence, urging us to reconsider the complexity of the minds that share our planet.

• Does the prairie dog’s sophisticated vocal language mean they are discussing more than just immediate threats?
• Do gorillas truly ruminate on past events when using sign language to describe them?
• Is the ability of an ant to recognize itself in a mirror definitive proof of self-awareness?

A must-read for animal lovers, nature enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the cutting edge of ethology and evolutionary biology.

Marianne Taylor has written more than 30 books on natural history, including The Way of the Hare, The Story of Life in 10 Species, The Pocket Book of Bird Anatomy, and The Gull Next Door, and has written a number of guides for the RSPB. Taylor specializes in evolutionary biology, and her work focuses on the dance between habitat, behavior, and evolution. Her encyclopedic knowledge of animal life and an always-rigorous line of questioning challenge her readers’ often-held assumptions and encourage a sense of discovery.

With photographs by principal photographers Joel Sartore (bestselling author of The Photo Ark), Melissa Groo, a photographer and conservationist whose work has appeared on the covers of Audubon, Smithsonian, Outdoor Photographer, and Natural History magazines, and Peter Delaney, a wildlife photographer based in South Africa whose work has been published internationally and won numerous awards, including the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year three times.