Written by a "National Geographic" magazine writer, "Unlikely Friendships" documents one heartwarming tale after another of animals who, with nothing else in common, bond in the most unexpected ways. Full color.

In the songs and bubble feeding of humpback whales; in young killer whales learning to knock a seal from an ice floe in the same way their mother does; and in the use of sea sponges by the dolphins of Shark Bay, Australia, to protect their beaks while foraging for fish, we find clear examples of the transmission of information among cetaceans. Just as human cultures pass on languages and turns of phrase, tastes in food (and in how it is acquired),...

"In the cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica, pairs of male long-tailed manakins-clad in their stunning, red, blue, and black plumage-use perches as a stage for a coordinated song-and-dance to attract mates. Because the potential benefits are so great, males compete intensely for access to the stage. Who wins that competition? If you want a good perch to attract a mate, you need to have connections-and be deeply embedded in the manakin social network...

A tour of the psychiatric service dog industry traces the author's work with unwanted shelter dogs before matching them with people in need, documenting her own partnership with a search canine while sharing uplifting success stories.

Groups, packs, herds of millions, and more-our world teems with animals on land, air, and sea. Packs is an inspiring celebration of how togetherness helps many creatures thrive, in both nonhuman and human communities. Hannah Salyer's stunning selection reminds us that teamwork is universal, there is brilliance in biodiversity, and there is strength in numbers. Includes an author's note encouraging community engagement and activism, as well as a fun...

Learn all about mountain gorillas, how they live in social groups called troops, and how the troop is led by a male gorilla. His silver-colored back shows his age and experience.

Presents five stories about animals who have forged unlikely, abiding bonds with other animals of different species, from the rhesus monkey and the white dove to the lion and the baby oryx.

"Hermit crabs might not be the first example that comes to mind when thinking about power in animal relationships, but they are representative of the costs, benefits, assessment, and struggles that animal behaviorist Lee Dugatkin explains in Power in the Wild. Besides learning that researchers can evict all crabs from their shells by tickling their abdomens with paintbrushes, readers discover that attacker crabs can assess both the quality of shells...