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Join Live Science as we take a seat at the tabular array with Bill Schutt , generator of " Cannibalism : A utterly raw History " ( Algonquin Books , 2018 ) .   While cannibalism in animals — let in people — has been recognized for centuries , it was n’t always well - study , and was long - sentiment to be a character of demeanor that only look under condition of utmost stress or deprivation .

However , research over the preceding few decades has take a bite out of cannibalism myth and misconceptions . scientist are taking a closer look at cannibalism in the natural world and in human club from the not - so - aloof - past , and are finding that it ’s more far-flung and establish as a behavior than was once thought .

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Zoologist and author Bill Schutt visited Live Science to dish about his new book, “Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History."

Schutt recently joined Live Science for a Facebook Live result to talk about covering this meaty topic in his new playscript , and he shared some tasty science tidbits : from worm that consume their mate , to sharks that eat their siblings in utero , to our captivation with the Donner Party and fabricated cannibals like Hannibal Lector .

A caterpillar covered in parasitic wasp cocoons.

A photograph of a labyrinth spider in its tunnel-shaped web.

a capuchin monkey with a newborn howler monkey clinging to its back

Close-up of an ants head.

three photos of caterpillars covered in pieces of other insects

Chimps sharing fermented fruit in the Cantanhez National Park in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.

School children look through a microscope

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Mother and daughter (7 years) doing homework at table.

Collection of science books in front of a blackboard

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Yosuda exercise bike being ridden by Sam Hopes, resident fitness writer at Live Science

An image comparing the relative sizes of our solar system�s known dwarf planets, including the newly discovered 2017 OF201

a view of a tomb with scaffolding on it

an illustration showing a large disk of material around a star

A small phallic stalagmite is encircled by a 500-year-old bracelet carved from shell with Maya-like imagery

a person holds a GLP-1 injector

A man with light skin and dark hair and beard leans back in a wooden boat, rowing with oars into the sea

an abstract illustration depicting the collision of subatomic particles