Coyote America by Dan Flores

Coyote America

A Natural and Supernatural History

Dan Flores

Basic Books · Print & ebook · January 6, 2026

The “engaging” (New Yorker), New York Times best-selling story of how coyotes took over North America—and are now taking over South America as well Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award "A masterly synthesis of scientific research and personal observation."—Wall Street Journal Legends don’t come close to capturing the incredible survival story of the coyote.

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Who it’s for
A clear-eyed look at a famously adaptable animal, with history and lore in uneasy company.
Themes
animal survival, American history, cultural evolution
Pacing
Steady

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About this book

The “engaging” (New Yorker), New York Times best-selling story of how coyotes took over North America—and are now taking over South America as well Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award "A masterly synthesis of scientific research and personal observation."—Wall Street Journal Legends don’t come close to capturing the incredible survival story of the coyote.

Continue reading

In the face of centuries of annihilation campaigns employing poisons, gases, helicopters, and bioweapons, coyotes didn’t just survive, they thrived, expanding across North America from Alaska to Florida and New York, and now, as this new edition explores, to South America as well. In the war between humans and coyotes, coyotes have won hands-down. Coyote America traces both the five-million-year-long biological story of coyotes, as well as their cultural evolution from preeminence in Native American religions to haplessness before the Road Runner. A deeply American tale, the story of the coyote in the American West and then across the entire country is a sort of Manifest Destiny in reverse, with a pioneering hero whose career holds up an uncanny mirror to the successes and failures of American expansionism. An illuminating biography of an extraordinary animal, Coyote America is one of the great epics of our time.

Why Coyotes Click

A clear-eyed look at a famously adaptable animal, with history and lore in uneasy company.

Come here for

  • cultural history with teeth
  • wildlife insight you can dip into

Expect

  • plainspoken explanation
  • short, browseable stretches

Where it sits

Natural History37%
Mammals36%
Wildlife25%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Native American History
  • U.S. History
  • Conservation
  • Environmental Policy
Show all 6 publisher categories
  • Natural History
  • How Cultures Work
Authors
Dan Flores
Publisher
Basic Books
Published
January 6, 2026
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
animal survival · American history · cultural evolution
Reading lane
Native American History