Giselle Clarkson

Just so

How did we end up the way we are? Just So looks at the ways the animal world has addressed the fundamental questions of life: How do I tell which foods are good to eat? How do I avoid becoming someone else’s meal? What will impress the ladies… or my fellow hermaphrodites?

Just so

There and back again

How do animals know where they’re going? Humans have been puzzling over the mysteries of migration and navigation for centuries, and our ideas about it have gone from absolutely wild to only slightly less so.

Just so

The teenage animal

Adults have complained about teenagers since the dawn of time, but it turns out evolution has good reasons for giving adolescents deep-seated social insecurity and a propensity to take silly risks. Just like humans, animals go through ‘wildhood’—a time of experimentation, creativity, danger and learning.

Just so

Time of death

Some animals are ephemeral. Others are almost eternal. Some age gracefully, while others self-destruct. Why are some creatures here for a good time, and others for a long time?