1. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #221948 by s.k.graham on July 30, 2008 at 10:49 am

re: bordercollie (#13),
There is nothing necessarily "PC" about it... observing these kinds of sexual acts in the natural behavior of animals refutes arguments from conservatives that such acts are "unnatural".

re: bugaboo (#14)
Non-reproductive 'sexual' or 'erotic' behavior of animals does not in any way refute 'sexual selection', which specifically applies to reproductive mate selection. That animals are seen to engage in non-reproductive behavior which mimics reproductive behavior, or which appears to stimulate emotions and pleasure centers normally associated with reproductive mating behavior, simply shows that these behaviors, emotions, and pleasure centers must serve purposes other than reproductive mating. Two obvious possibilities: (1) social bonding; (2) practice for the "real thing".

2. Six 'uniquely' human traits now found in animals

Comment #184036 by s.k.graham on May 23, 2008 at 1:18 pm

It is interesting that, despite so much Darwinian Evolution inspired rejection of quaint religious superstition and dogma, that the field of biology has clung to the "humans are special" bias for so long. Claims of animal intelligence, creativity, emotions, and so forth are treated as "extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary proof". If anything, it should be the other way around (which is not to say that there are not crackpots out there who do make outlandish claims about animal mental abilities). Given our understanding of evolution we should be very suprised if we *don't* find all of our "special" human traits among other species -- it is only a matter of degree.

Adding my own anecdote: my dog shows an extraordinary ability to 'read' me from the most subtle cues. He is generally able to tell that I am about to take him for a walk long before I have done anything to intentionally signal it, like saying "walk" or picking up the leash.

3. Rats influenced by the kindness of strangers

Comment #56319 by s.k.graham on July 15, 2007 at 2:05 am

I would note that the pulling the lever sounds like and rather easy task once learned. The paper itself gives no indication of the difficulty of this task for the rats involved, but the general impression I am left with is not very difficult. The so-called "altruistic" rat is risking very little. "Be nice to strangers" seems a sensible strategy, especially when your experience has been that strangers are nice to you. Why make an enemy? Surely rats are fairly good at remembering one-another as individuals.

One other thing: why is this sort of behavior so badly misnamed as "altruism"? Putting "reciprocal" in front of it just makes the phrase an oxymoron. How about "indirect cooperation" or "indirect exchange"?