The Well-Dressed Ape

the long version

The 'Well-Dressed Ape', aka Homo sapiens, is a strange mammal. It mates remarkably often and with unprecedented affection. With comparable enthusiasm, it will eat to the point of undermining its own health - unlike any other animal in the wild. The human marks its territory with doors, fences and garden gnomes, yet if it becomes too isolated it becomes depressed. It thinks of itself as complex, intelligent, and in every way both different from and superior to other animals - but is it, really? In this riveting and revealing field guide to the human animal, Hannah Holmes surveys the evidence. S.