Animal Behaviour: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the various ways in which animals can be intelligent, how this is revealed through behaviour, and how humans can discount some markers of intelligence and disproportionately favour others simply out of familiarity. For example, a dog won't recognise itself in a mirror, because dogs use smell more than sight to recognise each other (obvious when you think about it, but worth saying).

I think that sometimes claims about animals' intelligence are overblown by people making a moral case against eating them, which weakens the argument overall. The ability to feel pain suffices for the moral argument, and the discussion of animal behaviour and intelligence is much more interesting when liberated from show more its propaganda duties, as it is here. show less