Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
I want to read the book!
All characters reduced
What Is a Dog? - cover

We are sorry! The publisher (or author) gave us the instruction to take down this book from our catalog. But please don't worry, you still have more than 500,000 other books you can enjoy!

What Is a Dog?

Raymond Coppinger, Lorna Coppinger

Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

“An informative, well-written book on the evolution of all canids, including the wild types (wolves, coyotes, jackals, and dingoes)…Recommended.”—Choice   Of the world’s dogs, fewer than two hundred million are pets, living with humans who provide food, shelter, squeaky toys, and fashionable sweaters. But roaming the planet are four times as many dogs who are their own masters—neighborhood dogs, dump dogs, mountain dogs. They are dogs, not companions, and these dogs, like pigeons or squirrels, are highly adapted scavengers who have evolved to fit particular niches in the vicinity of humans.   This book present an eye-opening analysis of the evolution and adaptations of these unleashed dogs and what they can reveal about the species as a whole. Exploring the natural history of these animals, canine behavior experts Raymond and Lorna Coppingers explain how the village dogs of Vietnam, India, Africa, and Mexico are strikingly similar. These feral dogs, argue the Coppingers, are in fact the truly archetypal dogs, nearly uniform in size and shape and incredibly self-sufficient. Drawing on nearly five decades of research, they show how dogs actually domesticated themselves in order to become such efficient scavengers of human refuse. The Coppingers also examine the behavioral characteristics that enable dogs to live successfully and to reproduce, unconstrained by humans, in environments that we ordinarily do not think of as dog friendly. A fascinating exploration of what it actually means, genetically and behaviorally, to be a dog, What Is a Dog? is likely to change the way beagle or bulldog owners reflect on their four-legged friends.
Available since: 04/19/2016.
Print length: 257 pages.

Other books that might interest you

  • Inside Qatar - Hidden Stories from One of the Richest Nations on Earth - cover

    Inside Qatar - Hidden Stories...

    John McManus

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    'A wonderful and sometimes devastating book ... sophisticated, nuanced, fair-minded and yet very hard hitting' SIMON KUPER, author of SOCCERNOMICS


'This will transport you to Qatar and teach you with humanity and empathy some of the dark truths about globalisation' BEN JUDAH, author of THIS IS LONDON
'John McManus is a remarkable, compelling writer' RORY STEWART, author of THE PLACES IN BETWEEN
'Wise, well informed, fair-minded and honest' PETER OBORNE, author of THE ASSAULT ON TRUTH


AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD'S RICHEST NATIONS AHEAD OF THE FIFA 2022 WORLD CUP

Just 75 years ago, the Gulf nation of Qatar was a backwater, reliant on pearl diving. Today it is a gas-laden parvenu with seemingly limitless wealth and ambition. Skyscrapers, museums and futuristic football stadiums rise out of the desert and Ferraris race through the streets. But in the shadows, migrant workers toil in the heat for risible amounts.
Inside Qatar reveals how real people live in this surreal place, a land of both great opportunity and great iniquity. Ahead of Qatar's time in the limelight as host of the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup, anthropologist John McManus lifts a lid on the hidden worlds of its gilded elite, its spin doctors and thrill seekers, its manual labourers and domestic workers.

The sum of their tales is not some exotic cabinet of curiosities. Instead, Inside Qatar opens a window onto the global problems - of unfettered capitalism, growing inequality and climate change - that concern us all.
    Show book
  • Conrad Kain - Letters from a Wandering Mountain Guide 1906–1933 - cover

    Conrad Kain - Letters from a...

    Zach Robinson

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Examine the life of the pioneering guide in these 144 letters sharing his thoughts on immigrating to Canada, his passion for nature, his travels, and more. 
 
Conrad Kain is a titan amongst climbers in Canada and is well-known in mountaineering circles all over the world. His letters to Amelie Malek—a life-long friend—offer a candid view into the deepest thoughts of the Austrian mountain guide, and are a perfect complement to his autobiography, Where the Clouds Can Go. The 144 letters provide a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to Canada in the early part of the twentieth century. Kain’s letters are ordered chronologically with annotations, keeping the sections in English untouched, while those in German have been carefully translated. Historians and mountain culture enthusiasts worldwide will appreciate Kain’s genius for description, his passion for nature, his opinions, and his musings about his life. 
 
“In a culture that enjoys as many romantic figures as there are mountain peaks on the horizon as viewed from a lofty summit, Conrad Kain holds a special place in the historical landscape of western Canada’s mountains. Robinson . . . makes no secret of his affection for Kain, and that's a good thing, because he handles the letters Kain wrote throughout his adult life while guiding in Canada and New Zealand to his dear friend in Austria, Amelie Malek, with the care and reverence they so richly deserve.” —Lynn Martel, Alpine Club of Canada Gazette 
 
“From his letters, it’s obvious that Kain loved climbing mountains for the physical challenge, to meet interesting people, to make a living, and for opportunities to travel around the world, but most especially because of his all-consuming love of the natural world.” — Cyndi M. Smith, The Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. 129, No. 1
    Show book
  • Mediterranean Diet - 265+ Easy Healthy Recipes to Lose Weight and Increase Longevity Heal Your Body Increase Your Energy and Prevent Heart Disease With the Mediterranean Diet Cookbook - cover

    Mediterranean Diet - 265+ Easy...

    Jason Stevenson

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Have you ever had an idea of a diet that can be delicious and healthy and can even be better than following any other diets? 
The Mediterranean diet has been a staple of the dieting world, recommended by doctors, nutritionists, and crowned the US News and World Report's number ONE Best Diet for nine years in a row.  
The concept of the Mediterranean diet comes from the countries that border the Mediterranean sea, where people historically eat mainly produce, nuts, and healthy fats. 
As a traditional way of eating for many cultures worldwide, the Mediterranean diet wasn’t designed for weight loss. It just so happens that one of the healthiest diets around the globe also is good for keeping your weight down. 
Here are the main reasons why:265+ delicious, affordable, and easy recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and sneak.Surprise! NO calorie countingThe basics of Mediterranean diet, what it is all about, and how it worksThe infinite benefits of the dietThe good and bad foodsYou can eat bread and have some wine 
The Mediterranean diet can help with weight loss, heart health, and diabetes prevention. 
It’s more than a diet, it's a lifestyle. 
Buy this audiobook now to start cooking and try a New Lifestyle! 
    Show book
  • The Pine Island Paradox - Making Connections in a Disconnected World - cover

    The Pine Island Paradox - Making...

    Kathleen Dean Moore

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Can the love reserved for family and friends be extended to a place? “Luminous essays” on nature and environmental stewardship (Booklist). 
 
Named one of the Top Ten Northwest Books of the Year by the Oregonian 
 
In this book, acclaimed author Kathleen Dean Moore, a winner of the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award for Holdfast, reflects on how deeply the environment is entrenched in the human spirit, despite the notion that nature and humans are somehow separate. Moore’s essays, deeply felt and often funny, make connections in what can appear to be a disconnected world. Written in parable form, her stories of family and friends—of wilderness excursions with her husband and children, camping trips with students, blowing up a dam, her daughter’s arrest for protesting the war in Iraq—affirm an impulse of caring that belies the abstract division of humans from nature, of the sacred from the mundane. Underlying these wonderfully engaging stories is the author’s belief in a new ecological ethic of care, one that expands the idea of community to include the environment, and embraces the land as family. 
 
“Stands with the best tradition of nature writing.” —The Oregonian
    Show book
  • Innovation Outlook: Renewable Ammonia - cover

    Innovation Outlook: Renewable...

    Irena International Renewable...

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    This IRENA-AEA joint report provides a detailed overview of renewable ammonia in contrast to conventional and fossil-based ammonia with carbon mitigation.
    Show book
  • Mathematics - A Very Short Introduction - cover

    Mathematics - A Very Short...

    Timothy Gowers

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    The aim of this book is to explain, carefully but not technically, the differences between advanced, research-level mathematics, and the sort of mathematics we learn at school. The most fundamental differences are philosophical, and listeners of this book will emerge with a clearer understanding of paradoxical-sounding concepts such as infinity, curved space, and imaginary numbers. The first few chapters are about general aspects of mathematical thought. These are followed by discussions of more specific topics, and the book closes with a chapter answering common sociological questions about the mathematical community (such as "Is it true that mathematicians burn out at the age of twenty-five?"). It is the ideal introduction for anyone who wishes to deepen their understanding of mathematics.
    Show book