by Rob Dunn
extinction of, 138
individualist vs. collectivist, 222–24, 226–27, 228
Currie, Cameron, 89
cytokines, 226
Darwin, Charles, 26, 30, 206, 210
DDT, 61
Demeter, 115
democracy, 228
Despommier, Dickson, 237–48, 252, 257
and green rooftops, 240–42, 251
and hydroponics, 243, 246–47
and tower gardens, 245–46, 248, 250–51
diabetes, 135
diet:
and evolution, 136
and metabolism, 131, 135
modern, 128–29, 135
Western, 130
disabilities, 228
disease, germ theory of, 22, 67
diseases:
and agriculture, 117
bacterial in origin, 63
causes of, 18, 20
and climate, 220
and germ-free animals, 79, 81
in history, 227
“new,” 18
from parasites, 210
signs of, 227
and social behavior, 220, 222–29
unnamed, 20
in villages, 219
disgust, 226, 227, 228
DNA, microbial, 75
dogs:
feral, 128, 158
plundering (Borophagus spp.), 27
short-legged (Protocyon spp.), 27
dolphins, 205, 206
Donlan, Josh, 34–35
Dubos, René, 251, 258
dung beetles, 191
durian, 29
eagle, Harpy, 149
Earth, impact of humans on, 12–13
E. coli, 226
ecology, human connections to, x, xi
ectoparasites, 205–16, 220, 223
Ehrlich, Paul, The Population Bomb, x
elephants, 206
endoparasites, 208
environment, created, 233–34
enzymes, 79–80
Eosimias, 178
evolution:
and aching, xii–xiii
and agriculture, 138
of brains, 175–76
of circulatory system, 188–89
in ecological contexts, 136
and fear module, 147–48
and genetics, 121, 127, 128
human history in, x, 252–53
and hunting, 157–58
and interspecific interactions, 30
and language, 175
natural selection, 26, 28, 79
of plants, 40
and universals, 181–82
and Vermeij’s law, 172–73, 174
of vision, 175–76, 179
excrement, smell of, 190–91
extinction, 11, 12–13, 28
of cultures, 138
and domestication, 124–25
and interspecific interactions, 30
eyelashes, 209
eyes, quality of, 164–65, 179
farming, 12–13
fat:
desire for, 189
storage of, 134–35
usefulness of, 134
Faulkner, Jason, 221, 222, 224
fava beans, 215
favism, 216
fear:
misplaced, 161–63
phobias, 162
fear module, 145–46, 147–48, 152–54, 161, 195, 250
fiber, 80
fight-or-flight response, 145–46, 152–53, 154, 162, 199
figs, 10n
Fincher, Corey, 218–22, 223–24, 226, 227, 228
fire, 12, 196, 198
fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), 82
fleas, 209–10, 211, 213
Fleming, Alexander, 62
flies, 205, 206, 213, 214
food:
digestion of, 78, 79, 80, 81
and germ-free animals, 79–80
hunger for, 190
production, see agriculture
food pyramid, 132
fossils:
discovery of, 3–10
predator evidence in, 148–49
in sediment layers, 7, 10
foxes, and domestication, 154
fruit, evolution of, 29
fruit flies, and human genetics, 7
Fulani people, 126
fungi:
(Escovopsis), and ants, 89
in human bodies, 82
and lichens, 254
fur mites, 212
G6PD gene, 215
Ganesh, 207
genetic code, 123
genetics:
and diversity, 137–38
and evolution, 121, 127, 128
and fruit flies, 7
innovations in, 64–65
selective sweeps in, 121
genomics, 238
germ-free animals, 68–76, 78–81
germ-free environments, 83
germs, fear of, 84
germ theory of disease, 22, 67
Gerrath, John, 255n
ghosts:
of diseases, 227
of extinct predators, 27–29
of human ecological history, 14
origins of, x
gonorrhea, 62, 208
Gordon, Jeffrey, 103
gorillas, 150, 207
gravity, 40
Greene, Harry, 168
grooming, 220, 223
guava, 29
guinea pigs, germ-free, 72, 78–80
guts:
antibiotics applied to, 65
bacteria in, 63, 64, 67, 73, 105, 249–50
and digestion, 36
and immune system, 32, 105
taste buds in, 184
of termites, 77
habitats, changing, 13, 198
hair/fur, 203–14
bacteria in, 210
and ectoparasites, 205–9, 211–12
hairpieces, 212
hand, evolution of, 157
Hansen, Dennis, 35
Hausa people, 126
Heatwole, Hal, 177
helminths, 32, 39, 56
hens, domestic, 154n
hippos, 206
Homo erectus, 11, 157
honeyguide (Indicator indicator), 186–87, 188
Hong Kong, epiphytes in, 257
hookworm:
(Ancylostoma duodenale), 32
(Necator americanus), 32
Cameroon source of, 51–52
costs of, 43
experiments with, 49
Lawrence case, 50–52
Mexican source of, 47
Hugot, Jean-Pierre, 20–21, 22
human bodies, organisms of, 55
humans:
clothing of, 211
consciousness of, 252–53
evolving, 11–12, 123, 136–37, 157–58, 252–53
hair of, 210
as hunters, 156–61, 179
newborn, 80–81
nomadic, 210, 219–20
predators of, 143–54
unique qualities of, 8, 11, 12
hunger, 190
Hunter, William, 35
hunter-gatherers:
average day of, 117
descendants of, 133–34
disappearance of, 125, 131
and disease, 134–35
food storage by, 135
life expectancies of, 115
in seasonal environments, 134, 135
transition to farming, 115
hydroponics, 243, 246–47
hygiene hypothesis, 43–44
hypochondria, 21
IBM employees, surveys of, 224
IgA antibody, 100–103, 108
IL-6 cytokines, 226
immune system:
antibodies in, 99–100
and appendix, 96, 97, 104
battling our bodies, 42, 44
behavioral, 219, 221, 226, 228
defenses of, 41–42
function of, 103
and human gut, 32, 105
lack of, 74–75, 76
&nbs
p; and parasites, 41–42, 56
peacekeepers of, 42, 43
and pictures, 225–26, 227–28
TH1s and TH2s, 41
and worms, 40, 43
Incan empire, 234
India:
communities in, 151
predators in, 143–45, 146, 148, 154, 155–56, 158–60
individualism, 222–23
inflammatory bowel diseases, 21, 32, 39
insects, eating, 133
interspecific interactions, 30
intestinal parasites, 21–22
and Crohn’s disease, 22–23, 31–34
iron lung, invention of, 68
Isbell, Lynne, 165–70
and primate vision, 166, 169, 174–75, 178
and snakes, 165–69, 173, 174–76, 192
The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent, 175
isolation, 224
Ivory Coast, predation in, 149
Janzen, Dan, 29
Kelly, Peter E., 255n
lactase, 122
lactase persistence, 122
lactase-phlorizin hydrolase, 123
lactose, adult ability to digest, 122–23, 124, 126–27, 131–32, 136, 137–39
lactose intolerance, 132
lambs, susceptibility of, 153
land, overuse of, 12
language:
in Africa, 137
evolution of, 175
failure to communicate, 85–86
Larson, Doug, 253–57
and The Urban Cliff Revolution, 255
lawns, 198, 257
Lawrence, Jasper, 48–55, 56, 57
Leidy, Joseph, 77
lemurs, 169, 175
Leston, Dennis, 208
Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 186
lice, 205, 206, 207–9, 210, 212, 213, 214, 223
lichens, 254, 257, 258
life, persistence of, 258
life expectancy:
and agriculture, 115
and progress, 17
lignin, 77, 79
Linnaeus, Carl, 10n
Lipes, Wheeler B., 91–93, 96, 97
lipopolysaccharide, 226
Llamas, Doctor, 53–54
locusts, 158-59n
Lucy (fossil), 4, 13
Lundholm, Jeremy, 255n
malaria (Plasmodium falciparum), 20, 214–15, 220
mammoths, extinct, 28
“Man-Eaters of Tsavo” (Kenya), 147
man-eating predators, 143–48, 152, 155–56, 158–60
manioc, 127
Mao Tse-tung, 158-59n
Maple, Maura, 177
Martin, Paul S., 29
Masai:
as cattle people, 139
drinking milk, 125–26
mastodons:
extinct, 28
hunting, 61
Matisse, Henri, 97
Matthes, Uta, 255n
Mbuti pygmies, 151
meat, eating, 133
melanin, 204, 213–14
mermaids, 205
metabolism, 131, 135
Mexico City, lichens in, 257, 258
mice, experiments on, 36, 39, 65–66, 81–82
microbes:
calories from, 83
and digestion, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83
as mutualists, 85, 106
of our ancestors, 81
in our guts, 105
total elimination of, 68–76, 81
ubiquitous in humans, 82, 83
and vitamin synthesis, 80–81
milk:
adult ability to digest, 122–23, 124, 126–27, 131–32, 135, 136, 137–39
breast, 80
and cheese, 126
on food pyramid, 132
and population changes, 127
mimicry, 199
mites, 212, 213
mitochondria:
microbial DNA in, 75
origin of, 7
modernity (progress), 17, 21
mole rats, 213, 214
mollusks:
predators of, 171–73
Vermeij’s study of, 170–71
monkeys:
appendix of, 95
births of, 151–52
color vision of, 166, 169, 174–75, 179
fight-or-flight response in, 152–53
grooming of, 220
predators of, 149–50, 174
RNA retrovirus of, 167
sleeping together, 150
and snakes, 168–69, 173–76, 193
snoring, 150
mosquitoes, 214, 220
Murray, Damian, 222, 224
mutant genes, 121
mutualists, 30, 68, 81, 105
animals and microbes, 85, 106
and domestication, 124
and evolution, 138
obligate partners, 67
naked-bear paradox, 210
Naskrecki, Piotr, 177
National Bison Range, Montana, 24–25
National Geographic, 9
natural selection, 26, 28, 79
nature:
end of, 258
human disconnection from, xi-xii
persistence of life, 258
restoring, 249
Neanderthals:
extinction of, 11
hairiness of, 203, 204
tools of, 11
Nebuchadnezzar II, 240
Neel, James, 134–35
newborns, 80–81
New World, human arrival in, 12
New York City:
green rooftops in, 240–42
and hydroponics, 243
Niagara Escarpment, 253–54
Niger, snakebites in, 178
nits, 208
norepinephrine, 225
Nottingham, England, 19, 46, 56, 57
nudity, 213
obesity, 135, 228
Öhman, Arne, 194–95
