(Oxford Animal Biology) Mike Hansell-Animal architecture-Oxford University Press, USA (2005)
The functions of animal built structures are essentially only three: to create a protected home, to trap prey, and for intraspecific communication. To this could be added the incidental creation of burrows by obligate subterranean foragers, and the manufacture or at least use of tools by some species. The overwhelming number and diversity of builder species fall into the category of homemakers, although this includes homes built for personal use, for the family, or for the offspring alone. The most common functions of these homes are protection against extremes of temperature and the threat of predation. However, their protective walls may generate secondary problems, gas exchange, for example, which must be solved by further adaptations, some architectural, so adding to the complexity of the structure. In addition, these living spaces may, through evolution, incorporate new functions, such as food storage or fungus cultivation. Homes, therefore, vary greatly from a simple protective wall to a complex differentiated residence. Species that build prey capture devices, are very limited in their taxonomic distribution but ecologically widespread and important. Communication structures are simply rare, tool construction rarer still. The common attribute of all these structures is that they extend the control of the builder over some aspect of the environment. This chapter considers first the ability of homes to regulate the interior physical and also the biological environment, before looking at the nature and mode of operation of prey capture and finally communication devices.
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