Animal Navigation (Scientific American Library, Number 26).

New York:: Scientific American Library, 1989.. 1st Printing.. Hardbound . BINDING/CONDITION: pale blue cloth; owner's name stamp in three places (top and bottom edges of the text block and the front endpaper), otherwise a Near Fine book, with a Near Fine dust jacket.. 9.5 inches tall by 8.75 wide . Index. Beige endpapers. Description: Well illustrated, with much in color. ''Biologist Talbot Waterman explains the techniques by which animals as different as the caribou and the Chinese wool-handed crab make their way from one habitat to another -- with none of the instruments or records considered essential to human navigation. After a look at the feats of some 'world-class' animal commuters, the author shows us that all successful navigators must be able to sense direction, distance, and time. We will see that an animal's compass, map, and clock are embedded in a variety of physiological and behavioral mechanics. Like human explorers, some animals pilot by sight: there are birds and bees that navigate by celestial clues and whales that follow the contours of coastlines. Most animals, however employ senses far different from ours, including the bloodhound's nose and the porpoise's 'radar', or echolocation. Dr Waterman explains how visual signals and gravity-sensing systems orient animals and keep them on a steady course. He then documents the various compass-like elements of animal physiology, including the chemoreception that plays a part in salmon homing and moth mating, the sensitivity of some birds to low-frequency infrasounds such as those caused by wind and surf, and the many examples in the animal kingdom of electric and magnetic direction-finding.'' This is the twenty-sixth volume in the Scientific American Library series.