Beetle battles One scientist's journey of adventure and discovery

Douglas John Emlen, 1967-

Book - 2019

Discusses beetle weapons and how their horns and armor change to better suit them in different environments.

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Subjects
Genres
Informational works
Illustrated works
Published
New York : Roaring Brook Press 2019.
Language
English
Main Author
Douglas John Emlen, 1967- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
170 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color map ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-164) and index.
ISBN
9781250147110
  • Finding the right beetle
  • Figuring out why beetles have horns
  • Figuring out why most species don't have big weapons
  • When benefits outweigh costs
  • Following the logic: animal and military weapons are the same
  • When arms races collapse.
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 6--8--Emlen, the author of the award-winning book Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, has adapted the same topic for a children's audience. He initially shares his search for an evolutionary reason for animal weaponry (horns, claws, and tusks) while researching dung beetles in Panama. His daily research routines are interesting; it's fun to vicariously experience his discoveries. The middle of the book derails a bit as Emlen searches for his next discovery. That discovery, the correlation between animal weaponry and military weaponry, brings new excitement to the narrative. The final chapter correlates the evolutionary demise of weapons in nature to the evolutionary demise of military weapons when new technologies emerge, currently reflected in military cyberhacking. The narrative flows well. Color photos highlight the text and provide a visual reference for the animals and the environments encountered while reading. VERDICT This well-written book may not appeal to all, but it is worth considering for bug lovers, military weapon enthusiasts, and those studying evolution.--Katherine Rao, Palos Verdes Library District, CA

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A biologist's thoughts on the causes and courses of arms racesin the natural world and elsewhere.Recasting his adult-oriented Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle (2014) for a younger audience, Emlen focuses on dung beetles, which he studied for many years in locales from Panama to the Serengeti. He describes in fascinating detail how he designed studies and experiments that proved not only that horned varieties fought individual duels over females underground, but that they also produced offspring with larger or smaller weapons through a process of natural selection. It's a great account of science in the field and in actionuntil, that is, he suddenly switches course, trying to extend his findings to the history of human warfare with a claim that "arms races" are effectively the same. This leads to some questionable, not to mention sexist, claims, notably that armored "knights errant" fought each other for "forty or more years of continuous battle" to win "the hand of an heiress" and that the Cold War was, like those battling beetles, a one-on-one duel writ large. More defensibly, he also discusses how weapons systems, natural and high-tech alike, become ever more unwieldy until rendered obsolete by "cheaters," such as, in the case of humans, guerillas and "cyberhackers" who refuse to fight face to face. Maps, paintings, and photos, many drawn from the previous edition, complement the text.Entertaining and instructive, if more than a bit shaky in its historical reaches (source note, index) (Nonfiction. 11-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.