Episode 19: From the Horns of Beetles
/What animal weapons can teach us about our own warfare
“The things that apply to all these different animal weapons also apply to military technologies. ... Once I started digging into the literature, it was mind blowing, actually, to see how similar these stories were.”
When we think about weapons, we usually think of guns and bombs and swords -- military instruments. But in his book "Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle," beetle biologist Doug Emlen gives us an inside look at the weapons that animals use: things like horns and tusks and claws.
The book combines science and military history to show just how much we can learn about our own wars and arms races, by understanding the way animals fight. Emlen joins us on this episode to talk about it.
Photo by olga helmy
