This remarkable primate with the curious name is challenging established views on human evolution. The bonobo, least known of the great apes, is a female-centered, egalitarian species that has been dubbed the "make-love-not-war" primate by specialists. In bonobo society, females form alliances to intimidate males, sexual behavior (in virtually every partner combination) replaces aggression and serves many social functions, and unrelated groups mingle instead of fighting. The species's most striking achievement is not tool use or warfare but sensitivity to others. In the first book to combine and compare data from captivity and the field, Frans de Waal, a world-renowned primatologist, and Frans Lanting, an internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, present the most up-to-date perspective available on the bonobo. Focusing on social organization, de Waal compares the bonobo with its better-known relative, the chimpanzee. The bonobo's relatively nonviolent behavior and the tendency for females to dominate males confront the evolutionary models derived from observing the chimpanzee's male power politics, cooperative hunting, and intergroup warfare. Further, the bonobo's frequent, imaginative sexual contacts, along with its low reproduction rate, belie any notion that the sole natural purpose of sex is procreation. Humans share over 98 percent of their genetic material with the bonobo and the chimpanzee. Is it possible that the peaceable bonobo has retained traits of our common ancestor that we find hard to recognize in ourselves? Eight superb full-color photo essays offer a rare view of the bonobo in its native habitat in the rain forests of Zaire as well as in zoos and research facilities. Additional photographs and highlighted interviews with leading bonobo experts complement the text. This book points the way to viable alternatives to male-based models of human evolution and will add considerably to debates on the origin of our species. Anyone interested in primates, gender issues, evolutionary psychology, and exceptional wildlife photography will find a fascinating companion in Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape.

Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape

Science & Math

Lanting, Frans

de Waal, Frans B. M.

Biological Sciences

University of California Press

Okavango: Africa's Last Eden

Now in a stunning paperback edition, Okavango: Africa's Last Eden captures the magnificent animals of the Kalahari Desert and their fragile environment in a highly praised collection of 125 extraordinary photographs, taken during a year-long expedition by award-winning National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting. The vast Okavango wetlands support a diversity of wildlife unparalleled anywhere in Africa. Hippos, crocodiles, zebras, impalas, giraffes, lions, and some of the continent's last wild elephant herds are but a few of the creatures that find sustenance in the seasonal ebb and flow of fresh water across Botswana's arid plain. With striking, full-color images and an insightful text, this award-winning volume will captivate nature lovers, environmentalists, and photography enthusiasts alike.

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Chronicle Books+

Provides photographs and text for a variety of wild animals, including the cheetah, emperor penguin, orangutan, and chameleon

Animal Athletes: Olympians of the Wild World

Children's Books

Bix, Cynthia Overbeck

Landau, Diana

Animals

ANDREWS MCMEEL PUB.

Describes wildlife around the world

Forgotten Edens: Exploring the World's Wild Places

Eckstrom, Christine K.

Natl Geographic Society

Describes the characteristics and activities of the Laysan albatross which flies to Midway Island to breed and discusses how birds and humans have learned to live together on this small island in the Pacific Ocean

The Albatrosses of Midway Island (Carolrhoda Nature Watch Series)

Johnson, Sylvia A.

CarolRhoda Books

Into Africa Exhibit Catalog

Insight Editions

Journey Into Africa with National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting and record all of your adventures in this lined journal featuring Lanting’s surreal and inspirational photos of Africa and its iconic animals. The Into Africa exhibit at the Smithsonian features more than thirty years of fieldwork in Africa by Frans Lanting, one of the world’s most renowned nature photographers. The exhibit was produced as a partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the National Geographic Society, and the World Wildlife Fund. During three decades of fieldwork and assignments for National Geographic, Lanting encountered otherworldly vistas and captured moments of intimacy with some of the world’s most iconic animals. As seen in these colorful endpapers and meditative cover, Lanting creates an enduring vision of Africa and demonstrates what is at stake for its wildlife and wild places. This journal features iconic images from the Into Africa exhibit on the cover and the endpapers. With sturdy construction and sewn binding, this journal lies flat, and the 192 lined, acid-free pages of high-quality heavy stock paper take both pen and pencil nicely to invite a flow of inspiration. All this, plus a ribbon placeholder, elastic closure, and 7.5 x 4.5–inch back pocket, perfect for holding photographs and mementos, makes this journal a must-have for any fans who love the natural world, fine photography, Africa, or journaling.

Into Africa: Hardcover Ruled Journal (Insights Journals)

Insights

Journey Into Africa through the lens of National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting, whose images have created an enduring vision of Africa’s diverse landscapes and wildlife. Experience the wonders of wild Africa as seen through the eyes of master photographer Frans Lanting, whose images have created an enduring vision of the continent’s primeval natural heritage—and what is at stake in the twenty-first century. Lanting’s images feature some of the most celebrated landscapes on Earth, from the sweeping vistas of the Serengeti Plains and the water wilderness of the Okavango Delta to the enchanting deserts of Namibia, the bewildering jungles of the Congo, and the otherworldly island of Madagascar. During many journeys over the past three decades, Lanting has documented Africa’s iconic animals—elephants, rhinos, giraffes, lions, leopards, and cheetahs—as well as its endangered primates, including gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and lemurs. His personal stories express the deep understanding and sense of mission that make his work stand out as a unique tribute to the continent’s wildlife and wild places. This book is based on Frans Lanting’s landmark exhibition, Into Africa, which was produced as a partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the National Geographic Society, with support from the World Wildlife Fund.

Into Africa

Earth Aware Editions

Explore the wonders of one of Earth's natural crown jewels: California's Monterey Bay--the hottest hot spot for biodiversity in North America, according to The Nature Conservancy. This is a place of giants, from redwood forests on land to forests of kelp offshore. Monterey Bay supports iconic wildlife from delicate Monarch butterflies to soaring California condors, and from secretive mountain lions to majestic blue whales. All survive in a region where cosmopolitan migrants mix with rare local species. Monterey Bay's natural abundance is the result of a unique confluence of land and sea, shaped by the forces of fog and fire and influenced by the actions of people. After the Gold Rush, a massive overexploitation of resources stripped the land of trees and the seas of fish and marine mammals. But that ecological collapse has been reversed in our time. Bay of Life describes a remarkable recovery which shows that damaged ecosystems can be restored when people care and act together. That offers a model for other places at a time when we need such stories of hope.

Bay of Life: From Wind to Whales

Eckstrom, Chris

Where the wild things are: From South America to Africa, up close with rainforest flora and fauna             Jungles is a personal exploration of nature in the tropics by master photographer, storyteller, and naturalist Frans Lanting. In a unique collection of images made over a period of 20 years in jungles from the lowlands of the Congo to the cloud forests of the Andes, Lanting interprets the aesthetic splendor and the remarkable natural history of the tropical rainforest—a realm of bewildering complexity where nothing is the way it first appears. "While the essence of photography is to show, jungles hide, or at best, suggest," Lanting writes. "So I opted to show impressions of jungles to evoke a sense of their kaleidoscopic nature—the glimpses of faces that melt into shadows, the bursts of color and shimmering light."      The book features four portfolios of images taken years and continents apart, and stories of field expeditions into tropical wilderness areas. "Water and Light" shows the interplay of these elements with plant and animal life, with a story about life after dark in the jungles of Central America. "Color and Camouflage" explores the need to hide and the desire to be seen, and details a journey to a remote part of the Amazon Basin to document macaws. "Anarchy and Order" features impressions of growth and movement, and leads to a trek up a mountain in Borneo. "Form and Evolution" is an ode to the wonders of natural selection, and culminates in encounters with primates in the forests of Madagascar and Africa.      In photographs ranging from spectacular gatherings of rainbow-colored macaws to the misty exhalations of a forest at dawn, Lanting evokes the lush sensuality and intricate natural order of the tropical regions that form the beating heart of life on earth.

Jungles.

Eckstrom, Christine

Individual Artists

Taschen Verlag

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Books by Lanting, Frans