Power in the Wild

The Subtle and Not-So-Subtle Ways Animals Strive for Control over Others

By: Lee Alan Dugatkin

Narrated by: Clark Cornell

The quest for power in animals is so much richer, so much more nuanced than who wins what knock-down, drag-out fight. Indeed, power struggles among animals often look more like an opera than a boxing match.

Tracing the path to power for over thirty different species on six continents, writer and behavioral ecologist Lee Alan Dugatkin takes us on a journey around the globe, shepherded by leading researchers who have discovered that in everything from hyenas to dolphins, bonobos to field mice, cichlid fish to cuttlefish, copperhead snakes to ravens, and meerkats to mongooses, power revolves around spying, deception, manipulation, forming and breaking up alliances, complex assessments of potential opponents, building social networks, and more. Power pervades every aspect of the social life of animals: what they eat, where they eat, where they live, whom they mate with, how many offspring they produce, whom they join forces with, and whom they work to depose. In some species, power can even change an animal's sex.

Nor are humans invulnerable to this magnificently intricate melodrama: Dugatkin's tales of the researchers studying power in animals are full of unexpected pitfalls, twists and turns, serendipity, and the pure joy of scientific discovery.

©2022 Lee Alan Dugatkin (P)2022 Tantor

The struggle is real

This book is full of fun facts on animal behavior, focusing on the in-group hierarchy and power struggle. The complex and purposeful actions they take to protect territories, secure food, and promote reproduction are fascinating.

If you like this book and want more about animal behavior, check out Marlene Zuk's "Dancing Cockatoos and the Dead Man Test: How Behavior Evolves and Why It Matters" (2022) and Lucy Cooke's "The Truth About Animals: Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Tales from the Wild Side of Wildlife" (2018) and "On the Female of the Species" (2022).