Includes bibliographical references (p. [321]-331) and index.

Explores how the human animal--the eponymous well-dressed ape--fits into the natural world, even as we humans change that world in both constructive and destructive ways.

Quick as a cricket : physical description -- Crafty as a coyote : the brain -- Blind as a bat : perception -- Free as a bird : range -- A dog in the manger : territoriality -- Hungry as a wolf : diet -- Loose as a goose : reproduction -- Busy as a beaver : behavior -- Chatty as a magpie : communication -- Tough as a boiled owl : predators -- A bull in a china shop : ecosystem impacts.