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Live Science Talks 'Cannibalism' with Author Bill Schutt

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

Join Live Science as we take a seat at the table with Bill Schutt, author of "Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History" (Algonquin Books, 2018). While cannibalism in animals — including people — has been recognized for centuries, it wasn't always well-studied, and was long-thought to be a type of behavior that only appeared under conditions of extreme stress or deprivation.

However, research over the past few decades has taken a bite out of cannibalism myths and misconceptions. Scientists are taking a closer look at cannibalism in the natural world and in human societies from the not-so-distant-past, and are finding that it's more widespread and established as a behavior than was once thought.

Schutt recently joined Live Science for a Facebook Live event to talk about covering this meaty topic in his new book, and he shared some tasty science tidbits: from insects that consume their mates, to sharks that eat their siblings in utero, to our fascination with the Donner Party and fictional cannibals like Hannibal Lector.

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Mindy Weisberger
Mindy Weisberger
Live Science Contributor

Mindy Weisberger is an editor at Scholastic and a former Live Science channel editor and senior writer. She has reported on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology and space. Mindy studied film at Columbia University; prior to Live Science she produced, wrote and directed media for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post and How It Works Magazine.  Her book "Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind Control" will be published in spring 2025 by Johns Hopkins University Press.