By Tristram D. Wyatt Cambridge University Press pp. 408. ISBN 052148068X (hbk)/0521485266 (pbk) $100 (hbk)/$40 (pbk)
Wyatt's book Pheromones and Animal Behaviour is an excellently written account of the important, but often unappreciated, role that odour communication plays in influencing animal behaviour, including that of our own species. Due to our own comparatively poor sense of smell, we are usually unable to experience or observe this odoriferous exchange of information firsthand, but Wyatt describes in comprehensive detail what goes on literally under our noses.
This work is unprecedented in scope, spanning most of the animal kingdom from the `lowest' invertebrates to mammals, with a size ranging from microscopic organisms to elephants. It covers a wide spectrum of odour-based interactions, from the classical examples of sex pheromones, designed to bring individuals together for mating, to the odour-mediated structuring of social groups and hierarchies. Wyatt has wisely chosen to include many aspects...
