Harmony and Conflict in the Living World - Alexander F. Skutch [0]
Harmony and Conflict in the Living World
By Alexander F. Skutch
Illustrated by Dana Gardner
Page iv
Also by Alexander F. Skutch and illustrated by Dana Gardner
A Bird Watcher's Adventures in Tropical America (Austin, 1977)
A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm (Berkeley, 1980)
New Studies of Tropical American Birds (Cambridge, Mass., 1981)
Birds of Tropical America (Austin, 1983)
Nature through Tropical Windows (Berkeley, 1983)
Life of the Woodpecker (Ithaca, 1985)
Helpers at Birds' Nests: A Worldwide Survey of Cooperative Breeding and Related
Behavior (Iowa City, 1987)
A Naturalist Amid Tropical Splendor (Iowa City, 1987)
Life of the Tanager (Ithaca, 1989)
(with F. Gary Stiles) A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica (Ithaca, 1991)
Life of the Pigeon (Ithaca, 1991)
Origins of Nature's Beauty (Austin, 1992)
The Minds of Birds (College Station, 1996)
Orioles, Blackbirds and Their Kin (Tucson, 1996)
Antbirds and Ovenbirds: Their Lives and Homes (Austin, 1996)
Life of the Flycatcher (Norman, 1997)
Trogons, Laughing Falcons, and Other Neotropical Birds (College Station, 1999)
Libraryof Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Skutch, Alexander Frank, 1904
Harmony and conflict in the living world / by Alexander F. Skutch; illustrated
by Dana Gardner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical refrerences (p.).
ISBN 0-8061-3231-0 (alk. paper)
1. Life (Biology)Philosophy. I. Title.
QH501 .S54 2000
570'.1-dc21
99-055168
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources, Inc.¥
Copyright © 2000 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division
of the University. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Page v
Contents
Preface
ix
1. A Realm of Paradoxes
3
2. The Individual and Its Species
21
3. The Twofold Nature of Animals
33
4. Mutual Aid and Social Relations
53
5. Exploitation and Cooperation
79
6. Paradoxical Plants
97
7. Three Biological Heresies
131
8. Biodiversity or Biocompatibility?
151
9. The Troubled Childhood of Intelligence
163
Epilogue: The Failure of Success?
197
Bibliography
203
Index
209
Page vii
Illustrations
1. Chinstrap Penguins, Pygoscelis antartica
36
2. Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, Merops superciliosus
65
3. Sociable Weavers, Philetairus socius, at their nest
74
4. Strangler fig aerial roots
83
5. Purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea
100
6. Cobra lily, Darlingtonia californica
102
7. Nepenthes edwardsiana, tropical pitcher plant
104
8. Nepenthes rajah, tropical pitcher plant
105
9. West Australian pitcher plant, Cephalotus follicularis
107
10. Genlisea sp., branch, foliage, and traps
109
11. Round-leaved sundew, Drosera rotundifolia, plant and a glandular leaf enlarged
112
12. Venus's-flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, with traps open and closed on prey
115
13. Common butterwort, Pinguicula vulgaris, flowering plant
118
14. Greater bladderwort, Utricularia vulgaris, flowering stem and submerged leaves with bladders
120
15. Greater bladderwort, Utricularia vulgaris, bladder showing valve and appendages
121
16. Greater bladderwort, Utricularia vulgaris, internal structure of bladder
122
17. Greater bladderwort, Utricularia vulgaris, bladder set and expanded
123
18. Satin Bower-bird, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, at bower with ornaments
189
Page ix
Preface
If I were asked to characterize the living world in one word, the word would be paradoxical. A paradox is a conclusion that, although possibly true, appears not to follow logically from its premises, or a situation incompatible with its antecedents.