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The Wild Life of Our Bodies: Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today

Page 31

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.

 

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