by Rob Dunn
Olmstead County, Minnesota, 19
Olmsted, Frederick, 244
oranges, osage, 29
overweight, 130, 133
Pagel, Mark, 207
panic, 162
Papua New Guinea, 213
parasites:
absence of, 23, 32
appendages of, 30
and disease, 210
ecto- vs. endo-, 208
and hair/fur, 205–9, 211–12
and immune system, 41–42, 56
intestinal (worms), 21–22, 31–32
Parker, Bill, 98–104, 105
passenger pigeon, 61
Pasteur, Louis, 67, 72, 73, 75, 78, 84, 85
pathogens, 68, 81
peacekeepers, 42–43
peanuts, 118
penicillin, 62–63
Peru, Incan empire in, 234
pesticides, 61
phobias, 162
Picasso, Pablo, 97
pigeons, 61, 220, 248, 256
pig nematodes, 36–38
pigs, germ-free, 37
place cells, 195
plague, 213
plants:
and agriculture, 117–18, 131
evolution of, 40
extinct, 131
hydroponic, 243, 246–47
interactions in, 102
toxins in, 30
polio, 20
pollution, 258
pornography, 213
post-traumatic stress disorder, 162
potato blight, 128
predators:
extinct, 27–29
force exerted on prey by, 172–73
Pritchard, David, 56
probiotics, 250
progress:
anticipation of, 17
certain species favored by, 21
sickening, 20
pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), 23–29
populations of, 24
predators of, 27–28, 62
and rewilding the West, 34–35
speed of, 23–24, 26–27, 28, 29, 32, 34
uniqueness of, 23, 25
pronghorn principle, 30–31
proteins, 189
protists, 77
public gardens, 244
rage, 161, 162
Rantala, Markus, 207
rats, 248
germ-free, 68–76
grooming of, 220
and snakes, 195
reason, 217
Rector, Dean, 91–94, 96–97, 105
religion, 11
reptiles, fear response in, 153
Reyniers, James “Art,” 63, 67–76, 78, 79, 83, 84–85, 210
rhinos, 205–6
rice, 133
wild, 127
rickets, 204, 214
RNA, 64–65
RNA retrovirus, 167
roaches, 248
robots, invention of, 68
Rook, Graham, 41, 42
rubber boots, 180
Russell’s viper (Daboia russellii), 167–68
saliva, 132–33
salivation, 184
salmonella, experiments with, 81–82
salt, need for, 188–89
salty taste, 183
Salzman, Nita, 65–66, 81–82
San Bushmen, cave paintings of, 147
Schaller, Mark, 221, 222, 224, 225–28
Science, 3
science:
broad perspective missing in, 86
and changing times, 237–38
in context, 78
distraction in, 218
experiments in, 33–34, 46, 74
initial blossoming of wild ideas in, 22
results sought in, 28
specificity in, 86–87
wrong, 100
scorpionflies, 217
seals and sea lions, 205
sebaceous glands, 213
senses, 164–67, 191
of blind people, 170
and decisions, 179–80, 197–99
vocabularies of, 191
shaving, 204, 208
shells:
thickness of, 171
Vermeij’s study of, 170–71
Shreeve, Jamie, 6
sickle cell anemia, 215, 216
sleep, companions in, x-xi
Slowinski, Joe, 177
smallpox, 20
smell, sense of, 165, 176, 190–91
snakes, 165–69, 180
courtship of, 218
humans bitten by, 176–78
killing, 196
and monkeys, 168–69, 173–76, 193
and rats, 195
Russell’s viper (Daboia russellii), 167–68
universal fear of, 192–95
social groups, avoidance of, 228
sour taste, 183, 189–90
sparrows, 158-59n
species:
anachronistic features of, 30–31
beneficial, 249
changing human interactions with, xii, 8, 106
choosing, 197, 252
of cities and cliffs, 256
domestication of, 111–12
extinction of, 11, 12, 30–31
interaction with other, 30, 258–59
killing, 17–18, 124
mutual dependencies of, 8, 112
new, 128
pests, 248, 253
and progress, 21
Spring, Steve, 253–54
starch, digestion of, 132–33, 136
storks, 210
streptomycin, 66
stress, 161–62
sugar beets, 187, 188
sugarcane, 187, 188
sugars, 135, 189
survival, 12, 127, 196
and agriculture, 116, 118, 121, 124
and calories, 132
and decisions, 179–80
and tools, 157
sweet taste, 183
swine flu (H1N1), 223
syphilis, cure of, 62, 63
Tanzania, man-eating lions in, 148
tapeworms (Ascaris), 22, 50
taste buds, 183–90
termites, 76–79, 198–99, 245, 246
terror, 145–46
thirst, 190
Thornhill, Randy, 222, 224, 227, 228–29
The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems, 217–18, 219
thrifty genotype hypothesis, 134
ticks, 205, 206, 210, 214
tigers:
killed by humans, 161, 162
living in captivity, 160
man-eating, 143–45, 146, 152, 154, 155–56, 158–60
Tishkoff, Sarah, 125–27, 136–37, 215
tongue, 183–84, 190, 191
tools, 10–11, 157
Toronto, green rooftops in, 242
tortoise:
Aldabran, 35
Bolson (Gopherus flavomarginatus), 35
tower gardens, 245–46, 248, 250–51, 257
toxicity, 184, 190
Toxoplasmosis gondii, 149-50n
tracheoles, 152
treatments, effectiveness of, 55, 56
trees, ages of, 254
Trexler, Philip, 73
trichinosis, 237
tuberculosis, cure of, 62
Turner, Ted, 35
ulcerative colitis, 56
umami (savory) taste, 183
uncertainty, 40
United States, life expectancy in, 17
universal preferences, 185, 190, 191, 195, 196–98
universals, 181–82
and system of goods and bads, 185–86
USDA food pyramid, 132
UV radiation, 209
vampires, 161
Vermeij, Geerat, 170–73, 179
Vermeij’s law, 172–73, 174, 196
vertical gardens, 245–46, 248, 250–51, 257
vision, 164–65, 191–96
adaptive aspects of, 192
blindsight, 193–94
evolution of, 175–76, 179, 252
of monkeys, 166, 169, 174–75, 179
; responses to certain scenes, 191–92, 193
subconscious, 194
vitamin B complex, 80
vitamin D, 204
vitamin K, 80–81, 84
vomiting, 190
vultures, 191, 210, 214
Wade, Debora, 45–48, 50, 52–55, 56
war, 228
wasps, in figs, 10n
water:
thirst for, 190
universal preferences for, 195, 197
water striders, 217, 218, 219
weapons, introduction of, 147, 196
Weinstock, Joel, 40–41, 49, 51, 57, 67
and Crohn’s disease, 21–23, 31–34, 36–39, 45
on peacekeeper function, 42–43
and pig nematodes, 36–38
research with mice, 36, 39
whales, 205, 206
whipworms (Trichuris trichuria), 22, 37, 38, 46, 50
White, Tim, 3–10
wilderness, eradication of, xiii
wolves:
dire (Canus dirus), 27, 61
hunting in packs, 154, 157, 158, 160
killed by humans, 161
wolf boy, 204
World War II, 212
worms:
domestication of, 57
and immune system, 40, 43
and inflammatory bowel disease, 39
intestinal parasites, 21–22, 31–32
and Lawrence case, 49–54
as marine creatures, 32
mimicking the body’s own compounds, 43
pig nematodes, 36–38
reinoculation with, 56
removal of, 62, 203
toleration of, 42
Trichinella spiralis, 237
and Wade case, 46–48, 54–55, 56
xenophobia, 221, 222–24, 226, 228
xenotransplantation, 101
yucca (Cassava manihot), 118
Zak, Vlastimil, 177
zero gravity, 40
zoos, animals in, 162–63
About the Author
ROB DUNN is a professor in the Department of Biology at North Carolina State University. A rising star in popular-science journalism, he has written more than eighty magazine articles for National Geographic, Natural History, Scientific American, BBC Wildlife, and Seed. His most recent book is Every Living Thing. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his two children; his wife, Monica; and many thousands of species of wild life.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
Also by Rob Dunn
Every Living Thing: Man’s Obsessive Quest to Catalog Life, from Nanobacteria to New Monkeys
Credits
Jacket photographs © Getty Images
Jacket design by Albert Tang
Copyright
THE WILD LIFE OF OUR BODIES. Copyright © 2011 by Rob R. Dunn. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dunn, Rob R.
The wild life of our bodies : predators, parasites, and partners that shape who we are today / Rob Dunn. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-06-180648-3
1. Microbial ecology. 2. Human ecology. 3. Human evolution. 4. Host-parasite relationships. I. Title.
QR171.D86 2011
579’.17—dc22 2010043564
EPub Edition © July 2011 ISBN: 9780062092274
11 12 13 14 15 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Footnotes
[*]White thinks it was actually trampled by hippos, literally.
[*]Although the fruit on the tree of knowledge is now often cast as an apple, early biologists had great fun discussing other possibilities. The great namer of life Carl Linnaeus suggested the banana, since its shape is just a tiny bit sexual, as was Linnaeus’s easily titillated mind. Others suggested figs, like those that Ardi ate, a more appealing possibility to my mind. Buried in each successful fig is a dead wasp, the pollinator who remains, a symbol of the interactions among species on which every sweetness depends, the interactions we have changed.
[*]One imagines, perhaps, a little Marvin Gaye music playing in the background.
[*]One parasitologist I talked to referred to this process less euphemistically as “shitting a dragon.” I guess that, technically, it is not a euphemism.
[*]Perhaps, in reading this, you are thinking, “I know how you could get those viruses out.” If so, the urge you are feeling is the backbone of scientific innovation, a stew of can do, curiosity, obsession, and a little arrogance. It is of the job of conservative, daily science to suggest that the problems are bigger than you might appreciate. It is your job on behalf of radical, innovative science to go write your own fifty-year plan.
[*]In fact, the trends are actually the opposite. Individuals without an appendix actually have a reduced risk of some inflammatory diseases. A clue!
[*]Depending greatly on where one lives. Just as for Crohn’s, appendicitis is very rare in developing countries. It may be that it is a modern disease, somehow another consequence of the interaction between our biology and our daily lives. Another clue!
[*]At which date he would be no less than 120 years young. You get the point.
