The Evolution of Communication

An original treatment on the evolution of the diversity of communication systems in the natural world, emphasizing the causal factors that have been responsible for the evolution of such diversity. Following ethologist-Nobel laureate Nikolaas Tinbergen on the matter of comparative perspective, Hauser (anthropology and psychology, Harvard U.) explores the diversity of animal communication systems from four perspectives: mechanistic, ontogenetic, functional, and phylogenetic. The diverse group of organisms covered includes insects, frogs, birds, bats, monkeys and humans. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Marc D. Hauser is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Psychology at Harvard University.