Animal Talk

Library Journal

Animals ``talk'' in many different ways and on different levels. The flutter of a butterfly's wings or the flight pattern of a bird are forms of nonverbal communication, and each variance has meaning. Vocal communication ranges from the eagle's high-pitched warning shriek to the female elephant's mating call, inaudible to human ears but heard by others of the species up to two-and-a-half miles away. This book is a fascinating study of the sounds and actions of the animal kingdom and what they mean. The authors offer their own concept of how this complex animal communication system developed, and they believe that this was the forerunner of human communication. This well-written book will be of interest to students of animal behavior and educated animal lovers, although the theories presented may be too speculative to interest the general public.-- Deborah Emerson, Monroe Community Coll. Lib., Rochester, N.Y.