Turns a critical eye on Aesop's Fables to ask whether there is any scientific truth to\n\nAesop’s portrayal of his animals.\nDespite originating more than two-and-a-half thousand years ago, Aesop’s Fables are\nstill passed on from parent to child, and are embedded in our collective consciousness.\nThe morals we have learned from these tales continue to inform our judgements, but\nhave the stories also informed how we regard their animal protagonists? If so, is there\nany truth behind the stereotypes? Are wolves deceptive villains? Are crows insightful\ngeniuses? And could a tortoise really beat a hare in a race?\nIn Aesop's Animals, zoologist Jo Wimpenny turns a critical eye to the fables to discover\nwhether there is any scientific truth to Aesop’s portrayal of the animal kingdom. She\nbrings the tales into the twenty-first century, introducing the latest findings on some of\nthe most fascinating branches of ethological research – the study of why animals do the\nthings they do. In each chapter she interrogates a classic fable and a different topic –\nfuture planning, tool use, self­recognition, cooperation and deception – concluding with\na verdict on the veracity of each fable’s portrayal from a scientific perspective. \nBy sifting fact from fiction in one of the most beloved texts of our culture, Aesop’s Animals\nexplores and challenges our preconceived notions about animals, the way they behave,\nand the roles we both play in our shared world.