From: IN%"orion1432@juno.com" "D. B. Cameron" 30-JUN-2000 13:36:14.49 To: IN%"k9acad@iafrica.com" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: Slaughterhouse atrocities. Sounds rather suspicious to me: Just ask yourself, as a slaughterhouse worker, which animal would YOU rather skin and dismember, one which is kicking wildly with large, semi-sharp hooves or one which is unconscious or dead? DBC On Mon, 26 Jun 2000 08:56:02 +0200 Glynne Anderson writes: > I would be interested in your comments on the posting below. > >For years, those of us who follow factory farming issues have known > that > >animals have been butchered alive in slaughterhouses. Finally, > video > >footage has been obtained from a worker in a Washington > slaughterhouse > >showing fully conscious cows being skinned alive and having their > legs > >cut off while struggling for freedom. > > >On May 26, 2000, television station KING channel 5 in Seattle, > >Washington broadcast video footage obtained by a worker in the Iowa > Beef > >Processor (IBP) slaughterhouse in Wallula, Washington showing these > >atrocities. > >What have we gained if we feed someone on the pain and suffering of > >another life form? I explore these issues in this week's Healing > Our > >World commentary on the Environment News Service, hosted on LYCOS > at > >http://www.ens.lycos.com/ens/jun2000/2000L-06-23g.html. You will > also > >find many links that will help you with this complex issue. > Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. > > > ^ ^ D. B. Cameron, DVM Animal Behavior Clinic < \ / > ! ! "Always remember YOU are unique . . . . . .. just like everyone else." Anonymous From: IN%"jeffreymasson@hotmail.com" "Jeffrey Masson" 2-JUL-2000 06:51:33.55 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: introducing myself Hi, my name is Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. I write about animals: When Elephants Weep, Dogs Never Lie About Love and The Emperor's Embrace. Right now I am writing a book about the emotional lives of farm animals. I am writing about cows, pigs, chickens, goats and sheep. If anyone has a good anecdote showing one of the higher emotions (friendship, especially inter-species, compassion, sympathy, gratitude, love, mourning, disappointment, nostalgia, etc.) I would love to hear from you. Also, in the introduction I am taking on the three sins of the science of animal behavior, anthropomorphism, anecdotalism and sentimentalism. If anyone has thoughts, pro or con, on this topic, would love to hear. Please tell me who you are when you respond so that if I use what you say in my book I can quote you and properly identify you. The rough draft for this book is due in September, and the final in December. Pocket Books in New York and Jonathan Cape in England are publishing it. As many of you know, I am not an expert in this (or any other) area, so I would be most grateful for any help. Anything unusual you have observed about any of these farm animals, would be appreciated. Hope to hear from some of you. And by the way, next to our flat in London are a pair of herring gulls. I would love to know if the male and female are equally active in feeding the chicks, they certainly seem to. Best, Jeff Masson Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Ph.D. 15 St. Mark's Crescent, London NW1 7TS England Telephone: 44.207.2671664 Fax: 44.207.2673550 Email address: jeffreymasson@hotmail.com ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com From: IN%"Eva.Sondergaard@agrsci.dk" "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Eva_S=F8ndergaard?=" 4-JUL-2000 07:39:56.73 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Paddock size and exercise Hi Does anyone know of experiments/observations looking at how the size = and shape of paddocks affect the exercise patterns of equines or other = species? Regards, Eva S=F8ndergaard Ph.D.student Eva S=F8ndergaard Research assistant Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences Dep. of Animal Health and Welfare Research Centre Foulum P.O. Box 50 DK-8830 Tjele Denmark Ph. +45 89 99 13 19 Fax. +45 89 99 15 00 E-mail. Eva.Sondergaard@agrsci.dk From: IN%"Sabine.Beyer@fat.admin.ch" "Sabine Beyer" 4-JUL-2000 08:20:08.10 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Re:Paddock size and exercise > Hi > Does anyone know of experiments/observations looking at how the size and > shape of paddocks affect the exercise patterns of equines or other specie= s? > Regards, Dear Eva, maybe the following literature will be helpful: Frentzen, F, (1994): Bewegungsaktivit=E4ten und -verhalten von Pferden in A= bh=E4ngigkeit von = Aufstallungsform und F=FCtterungsrhytmus unter besonderer Bercksichtigung u= nterschiedlich = gestalteter Auslaufsysteme (in German, summary in english), Phd Thesis, Han= nover Kusunose, R., et al. (1985): Behavioural studies on yearling horses in fiel= d environments, 1. = Effects of the field size on the behaviour of horses, Bulletin of Equine Re= search Institute, No = 22, 1-7 Kusunose, R., et al. (1987): Behavioural studies on yearling horses in fiel= d environments, 3. = Effects of the pasture shape on the behaviour of horses, Bulletin of Equine= Research = Institute, No 24, 1-5 Regards Sabine --------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Sabine Beyer Swiss Federal Veterinary Office Centre for proper housing of ruminants and pigs CH-8356 Taenikon - Switzerland SMTP: Sabine.Beyer@fat.admin.ch = X.400: G=3DSabine;S=3DBeyer;O=3Dfat;A=3Dadmin;C=3Dch FAX: ++41 52 365 11 90 = Phone: ++41 52 368 31 31/ -368 33 43 From: IN%"haussman@Uni-Hohenheim.DE" "Hans Haussmann" 4-JUL-2000 09:18:15.01 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Observation of horses This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_9TLEkIa3VU9+KKeL7/f5Tw) Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT I intend to observe a group of 20 horses by video cameras during the night. The problem is that the individuals are hard to identify. Has anybody experience with a special marker technique, e.g. by infrared diodes? Do horses see infrared light? Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Regards ___________________ ,--¬_ Prof. Dr. Hans Haußmann (Haussmann) ,;;,_ ____/ /|/ Institut für Tierhaltung und Tierzüchtung ;; ( )___, ) ' Universität Hohenheim ,' // V\__ Briefadresse: _ / \ / \ Institut 470, Uni Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart ¬ ¬ ' Tel. Büro 0711/459-3011(-3006), Fax -4239 ___________________ Tel. priv. 07022/95 95 86, Fax 95 95 87 --Boundary_(ID_9TLEkIa3VU9+KKeL7/f5Tw) Content-type: text/x-vcard; name=haussman.vcf; charset=us-ascii Content-description: Card for Hans Haussmann Content-disposition: attachment; filename=haussman.vcf Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT begin:vcard n:Haussmann;Hans tel;fax:+49 711 4239 tel;home:+49 7022 95 95 86 tel;work:+49 711 459 3011 x-mozilla-html:FALSE url:www.uni-hohenheim.de/aw org:University of Hohenheim;Department for Animal Husbandry and Animal Breeding version:2.1 email;internet:haussman@uni-hohenheim.de title:Professor, PhD adr;quoted-printable:;;Address: Institut 470,=0D=0AUniv. Hohenheim;70593 Stuttgart;;;Germany note;quoted-printable:I am professor for animal genetics but now working on animal behavior/husbandry/welfare. =0D=0AHome page: www.uni-hohenheim.de/aw x-mozilla-cpt:;-29600 fn:Hans Haussmann end:vcard --Boundary_(ID_9TLEkIa3VU9+KKeL7/f5Tw)-- From: IN%"Gerflannigan@aol.com" 4-JUL-2000 18:50:57.15 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca", IN%"AVSAB-L@listserv.utk.edu" CC: Subj: intact versus altered statistics Is there anyone on this list that can give me a reference for the number of intact versus altered dogs in Europe? I have the statistics from the APBC in the UK but was hoping to also get statistics from continental Europe. It is for a paper so I need something published. Thanks, Gerry Flannigan From: IN%"JBrody@compuserve.com" "James Brody" 4-JUL-2000 19:58:43.08 To: IN%"Blind.Copy.Receiver@compuserve.com" CC: Subj: NYAS: Unity of Knowledge Unity of Knowledge: The Convergence of Natural and Human Science, 6/23-25= , 2000, Rockefeller University, NY, NY. Ten years ago today I walked out of a job that I hated, one that helped m= e to need a quadruple by pass at the age of 47. The following remarks are = a casual celebration and reflect my peculiar biases, those of a liberal art= s major who followed his instincts to psychology, then to the sciences and= sociobiology. The formal abstracts should be available from the Academy = or the speakers; the talks should be published sometime in the next 12 month= s. The speakers' email addresses are given here so that you can obtain copi= es of abstracts and papers more quickly. I did not attend the third day whi= ch was devoted to "Science, Culture, Meaning, Values --- a Dialogue" and to "Science in the Liberal Arts Curriculum --- a Roundtable." The audience numbered about 375 for this 3 day meeting organized by the N= ew York Academy of Sciences and held in the Caspary Auditorium, a geodesic dome with perfect acoustics and no view of the outside world, perhaps an ideal spot for everyone to do his or her thing, to make announcements of deeds and ideas but not necessarily to incorporate material from others. = = Behavior geneticists hint to us that we commonly reject disagreeable material as a problem in the signal and not in our interpretations of it.= = Thus, there were no two of us in Caspary who were the identical product o= f genes x opportunities and none of us heard the same talks. We all picked= = messages and built memories that fit well with other aspects of our uniqu= e personal natures. Deceased radio host Norm Nathan once described it well= : "There is NO technical difficulty here at the station (WBZ, Boston, 1030 Hz); the problem IS in your set." This filter problem was never mentione= d or confronted and may have from the outset scuttled "convergence" and her= older sister ship, "consilience." FRIDAY EVENING: E. O. Wilson and Stuart Kauffman Ed Wilson gave the same lecture as in Atlanta 18= months ago in a former church at Emory University, but a speech compresse= d now into a smaller audience and time. I will listen to Ed anywhere. = Epigenetic rules? Certainly! And tunable by niches even to the extent that circumstances and transcription factors change the set of genes with= which we operate from moment to moment. Win a few rounds of tennis or ha= ve intercourse and serotonin flips on one collection, lose a few games or masturbate and serotonin changes both our active genes and the strategies= available to us. Bacteria do it too, but with plasmids. = Ed's dream of a scientific unity is achievable although the rest of us mu= st discourage him at times. We are all part of the same elephant even if biologists are no longer clear on the nature of a gene or of a species. = Darwin had the same problem with barnacles; the closer he looked, the few= er the distinctions that he could make between species. We just need enough= time and niche collapses may well force cooperation sooner rather than later. Stu Kauffman I attended this meeting largely because = I think his ideas are some of the reasons that physics will eventually offe= r explanatory structures for human morals. He put on a good show but one that frightened me a bit. (Like most very smart people, Stu is a little mad.) He reported the creation of a self replicating amino acid and was = so excited that more of them are on the way. He also defined, tentatively, life as a system that both replicates itself and that accomplishes work, itself defined as the creation of a constraint. = However, he disagreed with Wilson and argued that we won't know outcomes from a particular genetic foundation because programs always interact wit= h opportunities. He also suggested the existence of traits that have no clear adaptive past but which become an adaptation because of a niche change. Example: Ed's ability (due to a mutation) to predict earthquakes= makes him the dad for all future Californians if they have one suitable quake that he, and no other male, survives. = The juxtaposition of Wilson and Kauffman drew me to New York; this could have been a pivotal moment for synergy between these two icons and their fans. However, it didn't happen and may need some more incubation time.= = Nonetheless, physics and decision theory are on the threshold of describi= ng the minutiae of human families. The content ranges from a mother's decision to clear the breakfast table before checking the kid's diaper, t= o the numbers of people in clusters at social gatherings, to the natural spacing in the birth interval of our children, and to our notions of good= and evil. I doubt that Kauffman is tuned to these possibilities even though biologists may someday defend their importance much as the sociologists, historians, and literati do now. Kauffman did a heck of a job in 25 minutes and I'll struggle through his next book, "Investigations," due from Oxford this October. Joshua Lederberg asked old questions about "education" vs. technical training and the problem of science's relevance to policy if scientists are not trained in policy. He also expressed great optimism in the malleability of the human mind despite epigenetic rules. However, T. H. Huxley grandiosely said it first in regard to morality --- we CAN overcome our nature --- but no one has convinced me that it's possible. = Flattus: Robert John commented from the audience that Ed Wilson has argue= d for the inseparability of genes and culture. Are we giving up on some of= our options if we fail to respect ethnic differences? Nobelist Lederberg= : "Did you say ETHNIC?," blocking on the word. More later on John. SATURDAY Bruce McEwen Allostasis & Allostatic Loa= d: A Dialog between Nature and Nurture. McEwen related glucocorticoid reactions in dominant and subordinate monkeys to stable and unstable nich= e conditions. Long term elevation of glucocorticoids is associated with a smaller hippocampus, memory impairments, depression, fatigue, and weakene= d immune reactions in several species. = Various human clinical maladies are associated with low socioeconomic status (SES) and (therefore!) must result from low SES. Hardship predict= s early physical and mental declines. (Circularity? Yes. Hardship must b= e defined by the response of an individual to a particular experience. = Again, we are all different.) McEwen mentioned the "Robin Hood Index," t= he proportion of income that must be redistributed within a country in order= to eliminate SES differences. The higher the RHI, the higher mortality rate. That is, everyone still dies but at younger ages. = The term "fitness" --- physical symmetry, relative pathogen load, longevity, and freedom from deleterious mutations (Miller, 2000) --- and did not enter his presentation nor did "correlation." A questioner wante= d to sue advertisers who promote guns and discord because bad news elicits stress, making us die miserably and sooner. Egad. A second questioner recommended giving Prozac freely because of Mike McGuire's 1998 citation that Prozac leads to dominance in monkeys and (therefore!) to less social= distress. The phenomenon is a bit more complex, described but not always= read, in McGuire & Troisi, Darwinian Psychiatry. Much of the Prozac effe= ct eroded if there are no females in the group. We guys and many females DO= play to female audiences. Michael Meaney --- Genes, Development, and Behavior. = Hebb compared "development" to a rectangle that is defined by length and width, or nature and nurture. Meany was wittily critical of behavior genetics wherein variance is apportioned to one factor or the other; statistical analyses assume additive relationships and independence of th= e contributing variables. Neither assumption is true about the recursive outcomes from genes and their settings. Fascinating bits of data: maze-bright rats are groomed more intensely by their mothers; maze dull rats are not. A deprived environment in puphood= impaired the adult performance of both dull and bright rats. Indeed, it almost eliminated them regardless of maternal grooming. On the other han= d, an enriched environment nearly eliminated the maze differences between du= ll and bright rats. BUT: cross adopt the rats so that bright mothers groome= d dull pups and vice versa. The extra grooming improved the adult performance (and the development of NMDA sites --- the receptors for glutamate) of dull rats. However, the lessened grooming had no effect on= adult performance of bright rats who are born with all the NMDA sites one= can imagine. Meaney moved to data that there is no effect of an adoptive family if the= biological family for a child was not antisocial. However, children from= an antisocial family are more apt to be antisocial only if they are adopt= ed by an antisocial family. = David Rowe --- Do People Make Environments or Do Environments Make People? Rowe whispered that he does the kinds of thing= s that Meaney doesn't like, that of breaking factors into heritable contributions. But, he didn't seem particularly contrite as he responded= to McEwen's citations: Income has arisen since 1956 but there is no increase in the proportion of families who see themselves as well off. = Lottery winners do not report enhanced well-being. Contentment ratings a= re often independent of SES. Poor African Americans are happier than poor European Americans. Identical twins are alike in happiness regardless of= whether reared apart of together. Rowe suggested that there is a genetic= "set point" for emotional state just as for temperature and for weight. The clever maneuver in behavior genetics is the explanation that people react to and make their environments in ways that reflect substantial genetic influences. Thus, "environment" reflects a substantial genetic loading and total direct and indirect genetic influence could account for= as much as 98% of the total variance. In a sense, we pick the experience= s that make our genes happy and avoid or escape situations that don't. Any= kid who need cheats on a spelling test probably understands behavior genetics. Randolph Nesse --- How Natural Selection Shapes Mechanisms that Regulate Stress and Anxiety. Nesse suggested that women= between ages 14 and 54 have a 50% rate of depression but will forget abou= t it later. Nesse asserted that many people are really miserable but won't= say that they are. So much for Rowe? Nesse argued that depression is a product of selection and that emotions help us survive, not make us content. How is it that we can give medication to block a useful reaction and often get away with it? Arousa= l is biased towards premature alarms. Giving medication blocks the false positive signals but without harming the patient. His use of a signal detection model to assess physiological defenses shou= ld be noted and emulated by other evolutionists as they account for one behavior or another. He is also correct that few scientists study how to= determine when a natural defense is useful to the client and when should = we clinicians meddle. On the other hand, there are probably more strange reactions to Prozac than we know; standard forms don't highlight the periodic client who impulsively sells his business and moves to the shore= , leaving his very puzzled wife and children behind. Shlomo Breznitz --- A Psychological Analysis of t= he Immune System. Immune systems, like people, react under some conditions but not others. = He drew several parallels in regard to the negative value of experience with prior alarms; for example, we ignore the 2nd presentation after a false alarm. Further, some pathogens are ignored because they are too fe= w or too massive to trigger an alarm. These patterns lead to immune deficiencies in older people. They also contribute to our ignoring predictions about climate and resource changes. Managing false alarms may be a selection factor that eliminates inept shamans. That is, you need to make forecasts in such a manner that peopl= e credit you with being right even when you were wrong. This variable also= seems to play into the development of science; that is, we are to make "falsifiable" predictions but most of us do so best in jousts with competing scientists. It takes a village to raise a truth? Antonio Damasio --- Emotion, Feeling, and Knowing Emotion is not the same as feeling; emotion facilitates socially useful, logical behavior. (Albert Ellis, where were you?) For example, lesions= to the amygdala make us less apt to be angry or afraid; they also make us= more vulnerable to exploitation and less able to detect insincerity. = Sadness, happiness, fear, and anger elicit 4 different images on brain scans; some regions become more active and other regions become less so. = However, the same anatomical structures are involved in emotion, attentio= n, consciousness, and wakefulness; there is a superposition of functions within a structure. It's possible to be irritated with people who localize functions to brain= networks; such people need to be respected. Both the arts and religion have shrinking domains if they define themselves in terms of a particular= set of causal factors. Scientists, given freedom and enough time, eventually identify physical bases that also account for those same outcomes. Science generally gives us tools as well as resulting from the= m. Primate minds seek tools more reliably than incantations; cultural and religious "stories" retreat and reform in response to science's initiatives. John Allman --- The Perspective from Brain Evolution Allman asserted MacLean to be "dead wrong" on 2 counts; the limbic system= is not phylogenetically older and it is not a slave to emotions. Spindle= cells are conspicuous in humans and less in other primates, in a manner correlated with our clade distances from each other. Areas 24/25 in the anterior cingulate are high in dopamine and tend to be more active when w= e are reinforced and less active if we are not. The anterior cingulate generates error signals in changing conditions. The dorsal anterior cingulate is associated with cognitive tasks and concentration; the ventr= al with repetitive behavior, depression, OCD, and social judgments. One audience member commented that Damascio and Allman didn't use a humanistic definition of emotion; therefore, humanism was disinvited from= the discussion. Eric Kandel --- Genes, Synapses, and Long Term Memory= Declarative is not the same as procedural memory and Kandel identified th= e components in each. Declarative appears to depend on the hippocampus, procedural on the striatum, neocortex, amygdala, and cerebellum. Practic= e converts either memory from short term to long term memory in sea slugs, mice, and humans. Neurotransmitters modify transcription factors which change genetic activity by switching genes on and off. Different pattern= s of stimulation can lead to different brain organizations, violinists who start young have a different representation of fingers than do non violinists. (People starting later don't get that organization.) Odd fact: there is apparently a memory suppressor gene and turning it off actually improves the formation of long term memories. What a delightful guy! Thin, totally confident and enthused in his every= move, and his white mane a manic battle flag, Kandel made the two best comments of the meeting: 1) To Jerry Kagan: "You are fundamentally wrong" but in a style that annoyed Kagan not one bit. 2) To all of us : "Don't worry about that slide; I made it to intimidate = my wife who is very hard to intimidate." Kandel obviously understands sexu= al selection. Patricia Kuhl --- Language, Emotion, and the Human Brain Kuhl is particularly interested in the learning that occurs before infant= s begin to speak for themselves. Children in Japan, the US, and several European sites give clues about the universals in language acquisition. = Language exposure by 6-8 months tunes their brain to emphasize slight differences in similar phonemes in their mother tongue; at the same time,= they lose capacity to make similar distinctions in other languages that a= re not being repeated to them by family members. I hope she mentions the work of Mark Hauser in her final paper. Hauser found identical capacities in Tamarins, rhesus, and 8 month old humans fo= r language recognition. He uses dishabituation to assess recognition of familiar and novel sequences of consonants and vowels. All of his subjects, regardless of species, distinguished the patterns of Korean fro= m those of English. Most important: neither kids nor tamarins acquired recognition of the sound sequences in either language when it was played backwards. Pronounce ability was a factor in acquisition even though Tamarins will never speak! (Gosh, I hope I understood him correctly from= his brilliant talk at HBES --- Human Behavior and Evolution Society --- 2= weeks ago!) He also found that 8 mo humans and tamarins and rhesus have comparable number abilities: that is, fewer than 4 objects were handled precisely, those greater than 4 or 5 required symbols in order to maintai= n an exact count. Chimps handled symbols very well for numbers 1-9. Kuhl mentioned that Bill Gates is interested in human language acquisitio= n in order to design computer programs. Has she told him that pronounce ability is a factor in such? Jerome Kagan --- The Significance of Transformations on Knowledge. Do psychological structures have an autono= my despite their evolutionary roots? We don't know because psychologists study functions --- memory, perception, learning --- without consideratio= n of structures. Social class predicts emotional and physical health and contentment of 4 yos. He reviewed his work on temperament. High reactiv= e traits in infancy predict future smiling, HR patterns, evoked potentials,= sympathetic nervous system activity, sensitivity to moral lapses, and melancholia at later ages. Although, reactive children are not reactive = in all situations as they get older, there is no case of a reactive child becoming bold. He suggested that biology can have desirable or uncomfortable biases but the specific content is a product of culture. Kandel told Kagan that his last point is "fundamentally wrong." It may b= e that the variance in timidity in children will eventually be entirely attributable to genetic variations much as Huntingtons is. In regard to functions and structures, my impression is that Kagan and Lederberg and HBES would benefit from some time in each other's company. Richard Davidson --- Toward a Biology of Personality and Emotion. There is unstudied and unappreciated plasticity= in emotions. We don't practice our emotions to the extent that we practi= ce language. Davidson studied prefrontal cortex and the amygdala in order t= o find points of maximum activation when the subject was shown neutral and unpleasant images. There was high individual variability in affective style that consisted of differences in threshold, reaction amplitude, ris= e time in the emotional response, recovery time from activation, and respon= se duration. He used an elevated view of a lake and trees as a "neutral" stimulus; evolutionary research finds this stimulus to be strongly attractive. He also related total duration of depression to a reduction in hippocampal volume. Chicken or egg? Is there a group with less hippocampal capacity= that is more apt to be depressed because of lapses in explicit memory and= social failures that result? Michael Posner --- Exploring the Biology o= f Socialization He highlighted the association between difficulties in task persistence a= nd the expression of negative affects after a change. (Shades of Murray Bowen!) Such patterns are strongly heritable. (Not sure that Bowen knew that!) One area of the cingulate that mediates attention inhibits activit= y in the inferior area that modulates emotionality. The reverse effect is also true. Further, high reactive children appear to develop a social conscience whereas low reactives will need more "effortful control" from outsiders. I'm not sure how this one will play out. That is, female Caucasians and Oriental children of either sex appear to be more "cooperative" and less disruptive on the average than Caucasian males. Yet Caucasian females do= lie (even by age 3 and are quite good at it ) and are less apt than males= to confess when questioned. It may be that the high reactives can be mor= e sneaky rather than necessarily more compliant. There's a further complication. Shy persons become braver if they eat Powdermilk Biscuits = or if they age past their reproductive years or if they encounter a partner who is even more timid. Transciption factors may be a very large in our ability to shift strategies in various contexts. "Tuning" may be a more pervasive influence than "learning." Richard Shweder --- A Polytheistic Conception = of the Sciences and the Virtues of Deep Variety. Shweder tore into Wilson's= book, proclaiming that it's ideas have been wrong for 200 years, citing T= om Kuhn and Karl Popper. (Not that Popper and Kuhn agreed with each other.)= = Shweder sees no peace growing between sciences or between sciences and humanities. They are all fundamentally nonconsilient. Shweder's knowabl= e world is incomplete, he still has a mind-body problem, and he can't handl= e differences between voluntary and involuntary action. How can his immaterial will effect the movement of his hand? Shweder felt the social sciences to be "hot beds of creativity" that sear= ch for "parsimonious explanations" and that the "real thing" is culture. = Further, science is healthy when you can't generalize beyond your origina= l context and there is no convergence in explanations over time. Logic and= evidence are not satisfactory for building knowledge systems, and meaning= s and values cannot be measured and studied by science. He perhaps was on a testosterone roll after spending time at a conference= in Bremen where philosophers defined a problem but didn't agree on solutions or their understandings of it, neuroscientists showed slides of= brain parts, and psychologists and anthropologists presupposed mentalisti= c causes. Shweder may also have been scared of taking on Ed Wilson the nex= t day and put on a "display" and was perhaps used by the conference organizers to keep all of us in situ for another day. "Display" refers to outcomes from sexual selection. Natural selection tends to make us all the same over generations; sexual selection tends to= make us more different. According to Geoffrey Miller (The Mating Mind: How Sexual Selection Shaped Human Nature), sexual selection accounts for traits for which variation is maintained or even increased over time, the= trait is costly to produce and is correlated with the physical health and= "fitness" of its carrier, and it is disproportionate to survival needs. = Deer antlers, giraffe necks, and peacock tails are examples of features that probably became more prominent because of mating contests. Human language is very possibly another outcome of sexual selection as are many= components of our culture. In the case of language, we have a vocabulary= of about 100,000 words but, according to Miller, actually need about 8000= to get us through life and about 800 to write a book on any topic. = Displays also occur differently in males and females. Further, males do more talking (and song writing and book publishing by a factor of 10 and = at an earlier age) than females even though females routinely have superior receptive and expressive language. The interesting possibility exists th= at male's do not understand each other's arguments (or even the implications= of their own!) and that females, who understand them better, scan male verbal skill to assess kindness, resources, and political influence. The very traits that Shweder ascribed to social sciences align nicely wit= h the characteristics of a sexually selected display. Further, since most science both follows tools and creates new ones, there is a core thread o= f survival function in science even though scientists also will compete in leks and for the same reasons as humanists. (Some of us scientists would= possibly mate with a humanist who had superior displays.) If Shweder's description is correct in regard to the social sciences, he makes the phrase "social science" an oxymoron, perhaps comparable to "military intelligence." I don't mind his so doing, but I'm sure that was not his= intent. Shweder's display insults the causes in which he believes, although he doesn't understand how. I resent him for it. I came through the libera= l arts, prudently hiding my gold key even today. I am grateful knowing th= at I have literate allies, that Tennyson understood both Ulysses and me, tha= t perhaps all 3 of us have restless natures that seek one more conquest whether to impress a lady or for resources (which usually i mpress a lady) and for those sparkling dopamine hits in our cingulate areas. Despite English traditions that a liberal education is to have no= utility, there IS survival value in poetry; follow that survival value an= d find consilience. CONCLUSIONS: Several presentations on the cingulate might have been omitted in order f= or some more evolutionists to line up beside Nesse. For example, Paul Sherm= an (our use of spices to control pathogens in our food), Laura Betzig (how bees and Catholicism employed similar strategies for control of males and= resources), and Mark Hauser (language recognition in tamarins and humans)= have ample scientific material and some powerful films. Geoffrey Miller would have been a powerful contributor. And most important, Steve Pinke= r gave a wonderful talk at HBES 2 weeks ago, "The Blank Slate, Noble Savage= , and the Ghost in the Machine," a talk that would also have informed the Caspary house. Further, Herbert Gintis gave a chilling presentation at HBES: Cooperators= will punish non cooperators in economic games AND they will also punish cooperators who fail to punish noncooperators. The only way cooperation can be maintained is by punishment of defectors and appears to be particularly likely in times of niche or organizational failure. That is= , when simple cooperation will not save the day, people apply sanctions to the nonconformists. (I am reminded of how the "rabble" were locked in th= e hold of the sinking Titanic so that the "cooperators" had a better chance= to escape. Is this part of the current pattern in academia? That established players are defending their positions more stridently when th= ey sense they have lost the game? One finding from Gintis is that some of u= s, no matter how firmly lashed, do not become more cooperative when punished= . = I think they used to know this in Boston and the colonies. Second, we may not have a lot of time. Carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere are higher now than for the past 400,000 years. A spike of CO= 2 also occurred about 250 mya and was followed by the death of 80-90% of th= e existing species. We may enter a similar era and many succeeding generations will experience thirst, heat, want and fear. During these coming times, we will all follow our adaptations, including enforced cooperation, and later generate stories to excuse our conduct. The philosophers and shamans who survive will adjust their displays for their= new audiences just as men and women have always done for each other. Third, we have a substantial history of blaming our tools (and science an= d scientists and incompetent shamans) instead of our nature that chose the tools in the first place. We lament about "mismatch" but fail to localiz= e it within ourselves. However, culture and technology are recursively driven not autonomously but by our human genetic interests. Our explanations change to fit the outcomes from the tools that our nature chose. We, like Wilson's ants, will transform every niche and every species to match our needs. Such is the Janus gargoyle of human selfishness and human cooperation, that we modify or destroy other specie= s for our own ends. The fault is not in our stars or technologies but in ourselves; the arrogance and denial at Caspary offered no recognition of this fundamental problem. = =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D FRACTALS I met a woman of symmetry and an age that matched mine. I offered dinner= and hoped for sex, she wanted to sell me a book. Neither of us succeeded= . = Darwin DOES describe NY girls. The university kitchen served a politically correct sandwich of lean beef= and flavorless onions and flavorless horse radish, guaranteeing that I could offend no one even though I might want to. Was it designed by the same the guy who wants to pull everyone's gun? An evolutionist friend commented, "We are different. These people still don't get the message." I'm glad she said it. Meanwhile, her husband ha= d a recent photography show at a NY gallery. I hope he has the good sense= to attempt character studies of her millimetric eye shifts and her off center sympatico smile that would seduce any lens. You quietly know that she misses nothing, can you prove your conviction with a camera? There were some great displays at the meeting: high verbal abilities, posturing, rapid movements, joking and ridicule --- all things that competing vertebrates do. However, older hominid males (and some older females) issue statements about "good of humanity" when there is no evolutionary basis for such a motive. It is recommended (by Dennis Krebs= and others) that we suspect lying and selfishness when we encounter these= rallying cries. A large and distinguished gentleman approached me at break. = "What a beautiful place for such a conference." "Yes, it's very privileged and with the Rockefeller support, will survive= despite events on many of our horizons." He immediately wandered off. I didn't mean to confuse or offend him. Fitness --- one of those useful words that would choke a moderator or ignite a campus riot, unless you're Nietzsche. The word was absent for t= he same reasons as the bite in my horseradish and onion. It was too strong for the slurry of correlations and cooperation reported today. Robert John lurks, glibly advocating racial heterogeneity through separation. At another meeting, he recently glided from "respect cultura= l differences" to "Hitler's contributions." How ironic and offensive. = Western culture was exported by capitalists and missionaries along with t= he plows and guns that we sold. Indeed, our medicines and infant formulae were key players in the population crisis. Now John claims to defend western society against counter invasions from other peoples. Someone might tell him that "hybrid vigor" might apply to cultures as well as to species. And, as Haldane remarked, the first task for a successful hybr= id is to kill off its parents. No loss if John's beliefs are an early targe= t. Biology can't define a gene or a species; yet, Cavalli-Sforza says there are significant genetic differences between Ithaca (including Cornell?) &= Albany. Like Darwin watching his barnacles, the closer we look, the more= detail we find and the fewer boundaries that we can define between any of= us. Disputation is composed of stories, a display of verbal facility, a descendent of stories and contests by old fires in old times. We still d= o them. Stu Kauffman: I've been a fan for 4 years and I broke through his group o= n Saturday to give him a note for later, one that individual human lives al= so walk "the edge of chaos" and that selfishness/cooperation are steering mechanisms for that walk. We can span from physics to human morality without a need to stop at biology. Not sure that he will read it or even= look again in his jacket pocket. = An onlooker remarked, "If you like, you can have follow up by email." = However, one large reason I liked the conference is that Kauffman hasn't answered my email for the past 3 years except for a note last year from h= is assistant that he doesn't answer his email. No big deal. The rules of r-selection apply when there are so many more students than great teacher= s who must invest less in the average of us and more in the very talented = of us. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D James Brody, Ph.D. Clinical Sociobiology From: IN%"Heleen_Vandeweerd@adas.co.uk" "Heleen Van De Weerd" 6-JUL-2000 01:47:21.21 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: old mail (Behaviour of Hogs:.) Hi You can ignore the last (old) mail I send to the list, it was a 'file-manag= ement' mistake. Sorry. Heleen :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) Dr. H.A. van de Weerd ADAS Terrington Terrington St. Clement Kings Lynn Norfolk PE34 4PW Tel: +44 (0) 1553 828621 Fax: +44 (0) 1553 827229 email: Heleen_vandeweerd@adas.co.uk :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) :o) >>> Heleen van de Weerd 07/05/00 10:04pm >>> >Date: Thu, 07 Oct 1999 17:09:04 +0100 >From: Michael Meredith >Subject: Behaviour of Hogs: excreting in the lying area >To: Ethology Posting >X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 >X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.2106.4 >X-MSMail-priority: Normal > >I have added a reference list, and contributions from Dr. Harold Gonyou of >the Prairie Swine Centre >and Dr. Nabil Brandl of the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, to >the web page on excretory behavior of swine at: > > http://www.pighealth.com/dunging.htm=20 > >Thanks > >Mike Meredith > > > For more information on ADAS, visit our website at http://www.adas.co.uk. The information transmitted is intended only for the addressee and=20 may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by parties other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you receive this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. Opinions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of ADAS are neither given nor endorsed by it. From: IN%"aap28@hermes.cam.ac.uk" "Anabela Pinto" 7-JUL-2000 05:20:29.76 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: New Member testing this list Hello I am a new member of this list. I just joinned yesterday and since I haven't received any messages yet I am wondering if I have registered properly. I am using an old version of Eudora with no spell checker, so I appologise for any spelling mistakes. I am Portuguese, I did my PhD. on Freshwater Ecology in Denamrk and for three years ago I came to the UK to study animal behaviour. I live now permanently in Cambridge. During my stay in Oxford I was inspired by Marian Dawkins which showed me the way to animal welfare (I didn't even know that such a science existed).This was the answer for my professional search. I moved Cambridge to work with Don Broom and now I am managing the Cambridge University Animal Welfare Information Center and I'm a member of Don's group. The problem of scientists that take animal welfare as a life cruzade is that sometimes we may forget about where is the line that divides purely objective science and our own ethical believes. So I hope that with my participation in this list I will be helped by some of my colleagues to bring me down to earth when my activities become more of a believer in a cause than of an objective, emotionally distant scientist. I am particularly interested on subjects related to cognition, counsciousness and feelings. Once, while looking for a subject of study , a colleague of mine suggested cats. -After all, you like cats so much, why don't you do some work with them ? -he asked. And I replied -Precisley because I like them so much!... I fear that my sympathy for a certain type of animal, may lead me to biased consclusions. I wonder if some you have ever fell in love with the animals object of your research. When it happens what should we do ? That's enough for an introduction. Please let me know if this email have reached your mail boxes. =Dr. Anabela de Assis Pinto= Animal Welfare and Human-Animal Interactions Group Dept. of Clinical Veterinary Medicine Cambridge University Madingley Road Cambridge CB3 0ES phone: +44 (0)1223-339 865 fax: +44 (0)1223-330 886 mobile:+44 (0)7775-843 179 in Portugal:+351-919 559 975 http://www.vet.cam.ac.uk/AWHAIG/index.html From: IN%"PetherC@prose.dpi.qld.gov.au" "Petherick, Carol (TBC)" 9-JUL-2000 17:15:33.49 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "'ethology'" CC: Subj: Pinioning All Does anybody have any information on pinioning of birds? ie a surgical procedure on a bird's wing to make the bird permanently incapable of flight (does not include feather clipping). It is performed on birds such as herons, ibises, storks, flamingos, ducks, and geese, in wildlife parks. Basically so that they can be exhibited in open areas rather than in cages. It is generally done on birds less than 3 days age by remove the tip of one wing (third carpal bone) which contains the primary flight feathers. It can also be done by cutting a tendon in one wing. My organisation has been asked for their opinion of it. Are there references to this? Does anybody have any knowledge (anecdotal or otherwise) about it? I'm struggling to see the difference between a bird being unable to fly outside of a cage as opposed to in it! I guess it depends on the size of the cage and there may be health reasons for not caging birds eg parasite exposure, as well as aesthetics! I'd be grateful for any information. Carol "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi Carol Petherick Senior Scientist (Animal Behaviour and Welfare) Queensland Beef Industry Institute Tropical Beef Centre PO Box 5545 Central Qld Mail Centre Rockhampton Qld 4702 Australia email: petherc@dpi.qld.gov.au tel: (0)7 4923 8200 fax: (0)7 4923 8222 From: IN%"chrisrutt@ntlworld.com" "chrisrutt" 10-JUL-2000 02:03:05.55 To: IN%"PetherC@prose.dpi.qld.gov.au" "Petherick, Carol (TBC)", IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: Pinioning Carol Very touchy subject in the UK. I don't know what our zoos do with their wildfowl and flamingos, which live in open areas rather than aviaries. If you get no other response from the UK I will try to find out for you. Do you know that the "Environmental Investigation Agency" in its efforts to suppress trade in wild caught psittacines, routinely puts out a film of trappers in West Africa pinioning adult wild caught parrots (Poicephalus spp) with a machete. BTW for all its official sound the "EIA" in not a governmental body. In the UK, mutilation in any form for "convenience" or "appearance" is either banned (as in ear cropping dogs or declawing cats) or heavily criticised (tail docking in dogs). Best wishes Chris (UK) Lovebird Breeder chris@lovebirdsUK.org www.lovebirdsUK.org ----- Original Message ----- From: "Petherick, Carol (TBC)" To: "'ethology'" Sent: 10 July 2000 00:14 Subject: Pinioning > All > Does anybody have any information on pinioning of birds? ie a surgical > procedure on a bird's wing to make the bird permanently incapable of flight > (does not include feather clipping). > > It is performed on birds such as herons, ibises, storks, flamingos, ducks, > and geese, in wildlife parks. Basically so that they can be exhibited in > open areas rather than in cages. It is generally done on birds less than 3 > days age by remove the tip of one wing (third carpal bone) which contains > the primary flight feathers. It can also be done by cutting a tendon in one > wing. > > My organisation has been asked for their opinion of it. Are there > references to this? Does anybody have any knowledge (anecdotal or > otherwise) about it? I'm struggling to see the difference between a bird > being unable to fly outside of a cage as opposed to in it! I guess it > depends on the size of the cage and there may be health reasons for not > caging birds eg parasite exposure, as well as aesthetics! > > I'd be grateful for any information. > > Carol > > "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way > its animals are treated." > Mahatma Gandhi > > Carol Petherick > Senior Scientist (Animal Behaviour and Welfare) > Queensland Beef Industry Institute > Tropical Beef Centre > PO Box 5545 > Central Qld Mail Centre > Rockhampton > Qld 4702 > Australia > > email: petherc@dpi.qld.gov.au > tel: (0)7 4923 8200 > fax: (0)7 4923 8222 > > From: IN%"aib.hq2@virgin.net" "AIB" 10-JUL-2000 02:33:54.85 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "ethology board" CC: Subj: Pet cats and plastic Is there a credible scientific explanation for why some cats seem attracted to lick plastic - such as shopping bags, electrical appliances etc. From: IN%"J.Durrell@Queens-Belfast.ac.uk" "Julie Durrell" 10-JUL-2000 03:55:19.82 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Applied ethology" CC: Subj: "Friendships" As part of my PhD thesis, I examined subgroup behaviour amongst sows=20 introduced into dynamic loose housing systems. Whilst carrying out=20 this research I noticed that some pairs of sows within a subgroup=20 appeared to spend more time with each other than with other members of=20 the subgroup. These sows spent more time lying with each other,=20 queuing at the feed station together and actively seeking each other=20 out when separated. No formal observations, however, were carried out. I am now hoping to carry out research to investigate these =D2pairbonds=D3= =20 or =D2friendships=D3 between sows further - i.e. to examine their=20 prevalence, the circumstances or characteristics that lead to their=20 formation and the benefits of these relationships. I was wondering if any members of this group have observed any similar=20 behaviour with pigs or other animals or know of any useful references on this topic. Any information at all would be appreciated. ---------------------- Julie Durrell, Research Assistant Queen's University of Belfast From: IN%"chris.sherwin@bristol.ac.uk" "Chris Sherwin" 10-JUL-2000 04:09:32.87 To: IN%"J.Durrell@Queens-Belfast.ac.uk" "Julie Durrell" CC: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Applied ethology" Subj: RE: "Friendships" Dear Julie, There are several papers on animals apparently selecting to be near=20 other individuals. I suggest you do a data-base search using 'nearest=20 neighbour' as the key phrase. For sheep, you could look at the work of G.W. Arnold, M.L. Dudzinski,=20 J.J. Lynch and others. Hope this helps. On Mon, 10 Jul 2000 10:46:38 +0100 Julie Durrell=20 wrote: > As part of my PhD thesis, I examined subgroup behaviour amongst sows=20 > introduced into dynamic loose housing systems. Whilst carrying out=20 > this research I noticed that some pairs of sows within a subgroup=20 > appeared to spend more time with each other than with other members of=20 > the subgroup. These sows spent more time lying with each other,=20 > queuing at the feed station together and actively seeking each other=20 > out when separated. No formal observations, however, were carried out. >=20 > I am now hoping to carry out research to investigate these =D2pairbonds= =D3=20 > or =D2friendships=D3 between sows further - i.e. to examine their=20 > prevalence, the circumstances or characteristics that lead to their=20 > formation and the benefits of these relationships. >=20 > I was wondering if any members of this group have observed any similar=20 > behaviour with pigs or other animals or know of any useful references on > this topic. Any information at all would be appreciated. >=20 > ---------------------- > Julie Durrell, Research Assistant > Queen's University of Belfast >=20 ---------------------- Dr. Chris M. Sherwin Division of Animal Health and Husbandry University of Bristol Langford House Langford Bristol BS40 5DU Phone: (0117) 928 9486 Fax: (0117) 928 9582 E-mail chris.sherwin@bris.ac.uk From: IN%"aap28@hermes.cam.ac.uk" "Anabela Pinto" 10-JUL-2000 04:16:49.10 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Applied ethology" CC: Subj: Friendships In the seventies David Macdonald published a booklet about interactions in domestic cats in farms. Here he shows ethograms and interactions between certain idividuals. If you do a search on Macdonald and cats you may be able to find it. Recently Paul Stewart finished his PhD. on the behaviour of badgers where he addresses again the social interactions between animals. Do a search on allogrooming. Are your "friendly" sows kin related or do they come from different farms? Are there any similarities on their behaviour while performing other tasks? Do you think they select their friends by "projection of identity" (I've just inveted this term!!). I mean.. do they seek other animals that have a similar behavior to themselves? =Dr. Anabela de Assis Pinto= Animal Welfare and Human-Animal Interactions Group Dept. of Clinical Veterinary Medicine Cambridge University Madingley Road Cambridge CB3 0ES phone: +44 (0)1223-339 865 fax: +44 (0)1223-330 886 mobile:+44 (0)7775-843 179 in Portugal:+351-919 559 975 http://www.vet.cam.ac.uk/AWHAIG/index.html From: IN%"andreas.boldt@aen.unibe.ch" "Andreas Boldt" 10-JUL-2000 05:43:16.54 To: IN%"deermail2@egroups.com", IN%"listproc@u.washington.edu", IN%"studenttws-l@listserv.vt.edu", IN%"tws-l@listserv.vt.edu", IN%"ecolog-l@umdd.umd.edu", IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca", IN%"ethology@seagate.sunet.se", IN%"asab@ncl.ac.uk", IN%"newlett CC: Subj: Volunteers for chamois project This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_pa1NT5oDextuYB9QYGzrOg) Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT Sorry for cross-postings. Please note the following announcement. VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR A RESEARCH PROJECT WITH ALPINE CHAMOIS We are looking for volunteers for a research project in the Berner Oberland / Switzerland starting in fall 2000. The behaviour of alpine chamois will be observed in their winter habitat on the Männlichen mountain above Wengen (right in the heart of the famous Jungfrau region). Habitat use and activity under different environmental conditions will be investigated with radio-collared and marked animals. For the field season between November 2000 and May 2001, we need the support of additional persons. Scientific knowledge is not necessary, but applicants are expected to have a general interest in biological and conservation topics. The willingness to work outdoor under harsh conditions (in winter and partly at night) and in unregular intervals is required. Experience in high mountains is not necessary. Working dates can be arranged individually, but should last at least 2 weeks. The main duty is the triangulation of the radio-collard chamois from permanent towers in Wengen. This will be carried out regularly during the whole winter. Possible is also the participation in other data sampling events, like countings, behaviour observations, recording of environmental conditions. Volunteers will also take part in the data entry and preparation process. Volunteers have the opportunity to take part and actively work in a current and conservation relevant research project. We provide them with a basic lodging in Wengen together with other project staff, and with project related travel expenses in Switzerland. To receive more information and to apply please submit your prefered dates to: +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Andreas Boldt Ethology & Nature Conservation Zoological Institute University of Bern Laenggassstr. 27 CH-3012 Bern Switzerland Phone ++41 (0)31 631 34 53 Fax ++41 (0)31 631 34 51 andreas.boldt@aen.unibe.ch +++++++++++++++++++++++++ --Boundary_(ID_pa1NT5oDextuYB9QYGzrOg) Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT

Sorry for cross-postings.

Please note the following announcement.

VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR A RESEARCH PROJECT WITH ALPINE CHAMOIS

We are looking for volunteers for a research project in the Berner Oberland / Switzerland starting in fall 2000. The behaviour of alpine chamois will be observed in their winter habitat on the Männlichen mountain above Wengen (right in the heart of the famous Jungfrau region). Habitat use and activity under different environmental conditions will be investigated with radio-collared and marked animals.

For the field season between November 2000 and May 2001, we need the support of additional persons. Scientific knowledge is not necessary, but applicants are expected to have a general interest in biological and conservation topics. The willingness to work outdoor under harsh conditions (in winter and partly at night) and in unregular intervals is required. Experience in high mountains is not necessary. Working dates can be arranged individually, but should last at least 2 weeks.

The main duty is the triangulation of the radio-collard chamois from permanent towers in Wengen. This will be carried out regularly during the whole winter. Possible is also the participation in other data sampling events, like countings, behaviour observations, recording of environmental conditions. Volunteers will also take part in the data entry and preparation process.

Volunteers have the opportunity to take part and actively work in a current and conservation relevant research project. We provide them with a basic lodging in Wengen together with other project staff, and with project related travel expenses in Switzerland.

To receive more information and to apply please submit your prefered dates to:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Andreas Boldt
 
Ethology & Nature Conservation
Zoological Institute
University of Bern
 
Laenggassstr. 27
CH-3012 Bern
Switzerland
 
Phone ++41 (0)31 631 34 53
Fax ++41 (0)31 631 34 51
andreas.boldt@aen.unibe.ch
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
--Boundary_(ID_pa1NT5oDextuYB9QYGzrOg)-- From: IN%"Libby20@aol.com" 10-JUL-2000 06:18:55.52 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: "friendships" Julie, While observing dynamic groups of sows using ESF systems I often noticed that sub-groups of sows would lie together and queue up to feed together. They were usually sows which had been introduced to the large dynamic group from service accommodation. Perhaps they stick together because of familiarity? Stock people can often go straight to where a particular sow is lying, even in a large dynamic group (you have probably noticed this) because they are familiar with where these small sub-groups lie. There is also anecdotal evidence that those sows who have been longest in a dynamic ESF group will have the best lying areas, and feed times closest to the start of the feed cycle. As they leave the group, others will move into prefered lying areas. It should be relatively easy to find out the previous social history of "friends" (were they next to each other in farrowing accommodation, or in the same gilt rearing group?) to find if there is any pattern to these friendships, best wishes, Libby From: IN%"Uknierim@Itt.tiho-hannover.de" "Ute Knierim" 10-JUL-2000 06:34:26.10 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Applied ethology" CC: Subj: RE: "Friendships" Dear Julie, the following reference regarding cattle might be of interest: Reinhard, V. & Reinhard, A. (1981): Cohesive relationships in a cattle herd (Bos indicus). Behav. 77, 121-151 Best wishes Ute > As part of my PhD thesis, I examined subgroup behaviour amongst sows > introduced into dynamic loose housing systems. Whilst carrying out > this research I noticed that some pairs of sows within a subgroup > appeared to spend more time with each other than with other members of > the subgroup. These sows spent more time lying with each other, > queuing at the feed station together and actively seeking each other > out when separated. No formal observations, however, were carried out. > > I am now hoping to carry out research to investigate these pipairbondsa > or pifriendshipsa between sows further - i.e. to examine their > prevalence, the circumstances or characteristics that lead to their > formation and the benefits of these relationships. > > I was wondering if any members of this group have observed any similar > behaviour with pigs or other animals or know of any useful references on > this topic. Any information at all would be appreciated. > > ---------------------- > Julie Durrell, Research Assistant > Queen's University of Belfast > > ********************************************************************* Dr. Ute Knierim Institut fuer Tierhygiene und Tierschutz Tieraerztliche Hochschule Hannover Institute of Animal Hygiene and Welfare School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Buenteweg 17 p D-30559 Hannover Tel +49 (0)511 953 8449 Fax +49 (0)511 953 8588 uknierim@itt.tiho-hannover.de ************************************************************************** From: IN%"PetherC@prose.dpi.qld.gov.au" "Petherick, Carol (TBC)" 10-JUL-2000 16:39:01.98 To: IN%"J.Durrell@Queens-Belfast.ac.uk" "'Durrell, Julie'" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "'ethology'" Subj: 'Friendships' Julie This is only an anecdotal report on some of my feedlot cattle. In a study we did, cattle were sourced from a number of different vendors and properties and were of different genotypes/phenotypes of Brahman cattle. The cattle were run as a single mob on the research property for 6+ months before being allocated to small feedlot pens. The cattle from the different properties were distributed across pens so that 3 or 4 from each vendor was in each group of 12. It soon became very apparent that those cattle from the same vendor group kept together (standing, lying, feeding, grooming) and that when resting they could always be located in the same part of the pen. Even though these cattle came from the same vendor they could have been separate for many months or years before they came onto this experiment, but we have no information on this. Lloyd Fell and Bob Kilgour in New South Wales have conducted a lot of work on allogrooming and affiliations between feedlot cattle. If you're interested in finding out more I can put you in contact with Bob. Carol "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi Carol Petherick Senior Scientist (Animal Behaviour and Welfare) Queensland Beef Industry Institute Tropical Beef Centre PO Box 5545 Central Qld Mail Centre Rockhampton Qld 4702 Australia email: petherc@dpi.qld.gov.au tel: (0)7 4923 8200 fax: (0)7 4923 8222 From: IN%"PetherC@prose.dpi.qld.gov.au" "Petherick, Carol (TBC)" 10-JUL-2000 16:59:40.56 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "'ethology'" CC: Subj: Sambraus translations to English All As some of you may know I'm trying to review the literature on the sexual behaviour of free-ranging cattle. I contacted Prof Sambraus who did a lot of work on this in the 70s and he kindly sent me copies of his work. They are, of course, in German but I was wondering if anybody at some time had got English translations done of any of this work and if they'd be willing to let me have copies. I would be extremely grateful, and you would receive due acknowledgment! Carol "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi Carol Petherick Senior Scientist (Animal Behaviour and Welfare) Queensland Beef Industry Institute Tropical Beef Centre PO Box 5545 Central Qld Mail Centre Rockhampton Qld 4702 Australia email: petherc@dpi.qld.gov.au tel: (0)7 4923 8200 fax: (0)7 4923 8222 From: IN%"JBrody@compuserve.com" "James Brody" 11-JUL-2000 20:38:30.32 To: IN%"Blind.Copy.Receiver@compuserve.com" CC: Subj: NYAS: Unity of Knowledge Unity of Knowledge: The Convergence of Natural and Human Science, 6/23-25= , 2000, Rockefeller University, NY, NY. Ten years ago today I walked out of a job that I hated, one that helped m= e to need a quadruple by pass at the age of 47. The following remarks are = a casual celebration and reflect my peculiar biases, those of a liberal art= s major who followed his instincts to psychology, then to the sciences and= sociobiology. The formal abstracts should be available from the Academy = or the speakers; the talks should be published sometime in the next 12 month= s. The speakers' email addresses are given here so that you can obtain copi= es of abstracts and papers more quickly. I did not attend the third day whi= ch was devoted to "Science, Culture, Meaning, Values --- a Dialogue" and to "Science in the Liberal Arts Curriculum --- a Roundtable." The audience numbered about 375 for this 3 day meeting organized by the N= ew York Academy of Sciences and held in the Caspary Auditorium, a geodesic dome with perfect acoustics and no view of the outside world, perhaps an ideal spot for everyone to do his or her thing, to make announcements of deeds and ideas but not necessarily to incorporate material from others. = = Behavior geneticists hint to us that we commonly reject disagreeable material as a problem in the signal and not in our interpretations of it.= = Thus, there were no two of us in Caspary who were the identical product o= f genes x opportunities and none of us heard the same talks. We all picked= = messages and built memories that fit well with other aspects of our uniqu= e personal natures. Deceased radio host Norm Nathan once described it well= : "There is NO technical difficulty here at the station (WBZ, Boston, 1030 Hz); the problem IS in your set." This filter problem was never mentione= d or confronted and may have from the outset scuttled "convergence" and her= older sister ship, "consilience." FRIDAY EVENING: E. O. Wilson and Stuart Kauffman Ed Wilson gave the same lecture as in Atlanta 18= months ago in a former church at Emory University, but a speech compresse= d now into a smaller audience and time. I will listen to Ed anywhere. = Epigenetic rules? Certainly! And tunable by niches even to the extent that circumstances and transcription factors change the set of genes with= which we operate from moment to moment. Win a few rounds of tennis or ha= ve intercourse and serotonin flips on one collection, lose a few games or masturbate and serotonin changes both our active genes and the strategies= available to us. Bacteria do it too, but with plasmids. = Ed's dream of a scientific unity is achievable although the rest of us mu= st discourage him at times. We are all part of the same elephant even if biologists are no longer clear on the nature of a gene or of a species. = Darwin had the same problem with barnacles; the closer he looked, the few= er the distinctions that he could make between species. We just need enough= time and niche collapses may well force cooperation sooner rather than later. Stu Kauffman I attended this meeting largely because = I think his ideas are some of the reasons that physics will eventually offe= r explanatory structures for human morals. He put on a good show but one that frightened me a bit. (Like most very smart people, Stu is a little mad.) He reported the creation of a self replicating amino acid and was = so excited that more of them are on the way. He also defined, tentatively, life as a system that both replicates itself and that accomplishes work, itself defined as the creation of a constraint. = However, he disagreed with Wilson and argued that we won't know outcomes from a particular genetic foundation because programs always interact wit= h opportunities. He also suggested the existence of traits that have no clear adaptive past but which become an adaptation because of a niche change. Example: Ed's ability (due to a mutation) to predict earthquakes= makes him the dad for all future Californians if they have one suitable quake that he, and no other male, survives. = The juxtaposition of Wilson and Kauffman drew me to New York; this could have been a pivotal moment for synergy between these two icons and their fans. However, it didn't happen and may need some more incubation time.= = Nonetheless, physics and decision theory are on the threshold of describi= ng the minutiae of human families. The content ranges from a mother's decision to clear the breakfast table before checking the kid's diaper, t= o the numbers of people in clusters at social gatherings, to the natural spacing in the birth interval of our children, and to our notions of good= and evil. I doubt that Kauffman is tuned to these possibilities even though biologists may someday defend their importance much as the sociologists, historians, and literati do now. Kauffman did a heck of a job in 25 minutes and I'll struggle through his next book, "Investigations," due from Oxford this October. Joshua Lederberg asked old questions about "education" vs. technical training and the problem of science's relevance to policy if scientists are not trained in policy. He also expressed great optimism in the malleability of the human mind despite epigenetic rules. However, T. H. Huxley grandiosely said it first in regard to morality --- we CAN overcome our nature --- but no one has convinced me that it's possible. = Flattus: Robert John commented from the audience that Ed Wilson has argue= d for the inseparability of genes and culture. Are we giving up on some of= our options if we fail to respect ethnic differences? Nobelist Lederberg= : "Did you say ETHNIC?," blocking on the word. More later on John. SATURDAY Bruce McEwen Allostasis & Allostatic Loa= d: A Dialog between Nature and Nurture. McEwen related glucocorticoid reactions in dominant and subordinate monkeys to stable and unstable nich= e conditions. Long term elevation of glucocorticoids is associated with a smaller hippocampus, memory impairments, depression, fatigue, and weakene= d immune reactions in several species. = Various human clinical maladies are associated with low socioeconomic status (SES) and (therefore!) must result from low SES. Hardship predict= s early physical and mental declines. (Circularity? Yes. Hardship must b= e defined by the response of an individual to a particular experience. = Again, we are all different.) McEwen mentioned the "Robin Hood Index," t= he proportion of income that must be redistributed within a country in order= to eliminate SES differences. The higher the RHI, the higher mortality rate. That is, everyone still dies but at younger ages. = The term "fitness" --- physical symmetry, relative pathogen load, longevity, and freedom from deleterious mutations (Miller, 2000) --- and did not enter his presentation nor did "correlation." A questioner wante= d to sue advertisers who promote guns and discord because bad news elicits stress, making us die miserably and sooner. Egad. A second questioner recommended giving Prozac freely because of Mike McGuire's 1998 citation that Prozac leads to dominance in monkeys and (therefore!) to less social= distress. The phenomenon is a bit more complex, described but not always= read, in McGuire & Troisi, Darwinian Psychiatry. Much of the Prozac effe= ct eroded if there are no females in the group. We guys and many females DO= play to female audiences. Michael Meaney --- Genes, Development, and Behavior. = Hebb compared "development" to a rectangle that is defined by length and width, or nature and nurture. Meany was wittily critical of behavior genetics wherein variance is apportioned to one factor or the other; statistical analyses assume additive relationships and independence of th= e contributing variables. Neither assumption is true about the recursive outcomes from genes and their settings. Fascinating bits of data: maze-bright rats are groomed more intensely by their mothers; maze dull rats are not. A deprived environment in puphood= impaired the adult performance of both dull and bright rats. Indeed, it almost eliminated them regardless of maternal grooming. On the other han= d, an enriched environment nearly eliminated the maze differences between du= ll and bright rats. BUT: cross adopt the rats so that bright mothers groome= d dull pups and vice versa. The extra grooming improved the adult performance (and the development of NMDA sites --- the receptors for glutamate) of dull rats. However, the lessened grooming had no effect on= adult performance of bright rats who are born with all the NMDA sites one= can imagine. Meaney moved to data that there is no effect of an adoptive family if the= biological family for a child was not antisocial. However, children from= an antisocial family are more apt to be antisocial only if they are adopt= ed by an antisocial family. = David Rowe --- Do People Make Environments or Do Environments Make People? Rowe whispered that he does the kinds of thing= s that Meaney doesn't like, that of breaking factors into heritable contributions. But, he didn't seem particularly contrite as he responded= to McEwen's citations: Income has arisen since 1956 but there is no increase in the proportion of families who see themselves as well off. = Lottery winners do not report enhanced well-being. Contentment ratings a= re often independent of SES. Poor African Americans are happier than poor European Americans. Identical twins are alike in happiness regardless of= whether reared apart of together. Rowe suggested that there is a genetic= "set point" for emotional state just as for temperature and for weight. The clever maneuver in behavior genetics is the explanation that people react to and make their environments in ways that reflect substantial genetic influences. Thus, "environment" reflects a substantial genetic loading and total direct and indirect genetic influence could account for= as much as 98% of the total variance. In a sense, we pick the experience= s that make our genes happy and avoid or escape situations that don't. Any= kid who need cheats on a spelling test probably understands behavior genetics. Randolph Nesse --- How Natural Selection Shapes Mechanisms that Regulate Stress and Anxiety. Nesse suggested that women= between ages 14 and 54 have a 50% rate of depression but will forget abou= t it later. Nesse asserted that many people are really miserable but won't= say that they are. So much for Rowe? Nesse argued that depression is a product of selection and that emotions help us survive, not make us content. How is it that we can give medication to block a useful reaction and often get away with it? Arousa= l is biased towards premature alarms. Giving medication blocks the false positive signals but without harming the patient. His use of a signal detection model to assess physiological defenses shou= ld be noted and emulated by other evolutionists as they account for one behavior or another. He is also correct that few scientists study how to= determine when a natural defense is useful to the client and when should = we clinicians meddle. On the other hand, there are probably more strange reactions to Prozac than we know; standard forms don't highlight the periodic client who impulsively sells his business and moves to the shore= , leaving his very puzzled wife and children behind. Shlomo Breznitz --- A Psychological Analysis of t= he Immune System. Immune systems, like people, react under some conditions but not others. = He drew several parallels in regard to the negative value of experience with prior alarms; for example, we ignore the 2nd presentation after a false alarm. Further, some pathogens are ignored because they are too fe= w or too massive to trigger an alarm. These patterns lead to immune deficiencies in older people. They also contribute to our ignoring predictions about climate and resource changes. Managing false alarms may be a selection factor that eliminates inept shamans. That is, you need to make forecasts in such a manner that peopl= e credit you with being right even when you were wrong. This variable also= seems to play into the development of science; that is, we are to make "falsifiable" predictions but most of us do so best in jousts with competing scientists. It takes a village to raise a truth? Antonio Damasio --- Emotion, Feeling, and Knowing Emotion is not the same as feeling; emotion facilitates socially useful, logical behavior. (Albert Ellis, where were you?) For example, lesions= to the amygdala make us less apt to be angry or afraid; they also make us= more vulnerable to exploitation and less able to detect insincerity. = Sadness, happiness, fear, and anger elicit 4 different images on brain scans; some regions become more active and other regions become less so. = However, the same anatomical structures are involved in emotion, attentio= n, consciousness, and wakefulness; there is a superposition of functions within a structure. It's possible to be irritated with people who localize functions to brain= networks; such people need to be respected. Both the arts and religion have shrinking domains if they define themselves in terms of a particular= set of causal factors. Scientists, given freedom and enough time, eventually identify physical bases that also account for those same outcomes. Science generally gives us tools as well as resulting from the= m. Primate minds seek tools more reliably than incantations; cultural and religious "stories" retreat and reform in response to science's initiatives. John Allman --- The Perspective from Brain Evolution Allman asserted MacLean to be "dead wrong" on 2 counts; the limbic system= is not phylogenetically older and it is not a slave to emotions. Spindle= cells are conspicuous in humans and less in other primates, in a manner correlated with our clade distances from each other. Areas 24/25 in the anterior cingulate are high in dopamine and tend to be more active when w= e are reinforced and less active if we are not. The anterior cingulate generates error signals in changing conditions. The dorsal anterior cingulate is associated with cognitive tasks and concentration; the ventr= al with repetitive behavior, depression, OCD, and social judgments. One audience member commented that Damascio and Allman didn't use a humanistic definition of emotion; therefore, humanism was disinvited from= the discussion. Eric Kandel --- Genes, Synapses, and Long Term Memory= Declarative is not the same as procedural memory and Kandel identified th= e components in each. Declarative appears to depend on the hippocampus, procedural on the striatum, neocortex, amygdala, and cerebellum. Practic= e converts either memory from short term to long term memory in sea slugs, mice, and humans. Neurotransmitters modify transcription factors which change genetic activity by switching genes on and off. Different pattern= s of stimulation can lead to different brain organizations, violinists who start young have a different representation of fingers than do non violinists. (People starting later don't get that organization.) Odd fact: there is apparently a memory suppressor gene and turning it off actually improves the formation of long term memories. What a delightful guy! Thin, totally confident and enthused in his every= move, and his white mane a manic battle flag, Kandel made the two best comments of the meeting: 1) To Jerry Kagan: "You are fundamentally wrong" but in a style that annoyed Kagan not one bit. 2) To all of us : "Don't worry about that slide; I made it to intimidate = my wife who is very hard to intimidate." Kandel obviously understands sexu= al selection. Patricia Kuhl --- Language, Emotion, and the Human Brain Kuhl is particularly interested in the learning that occurs before infant= s begin to speak for themselves. Children in Japan, the US, and several European sites give clues about the universals in language acquisition. = Language exposure by 6-8 months tunes their brain to emphasize slight differences in similar phonemes in their mother tongue; at the same time,= they lose capacity to make similar distinctions in other languages that a= re not being repeated to them by family members. I hope she mentions the work of Mark Hauser in her final paper. Hauser found identical capacities in Tamarins, rhesus, and 8 month old humans fo= r language recognition. He uses dishabituation to assess recognition of familiar and novel sequences of consonants and vowels. All of his subjects, regardless of species, distinguished the patterns of Korean fro= m those of English. Most important: neither kids nor tamarins acquired recognition of the sound sequences in either language when it was played backwards. Pronounce ability was a factor in acquisition even though Tamarins will never speak! (Gosh, I hope I understood him correctly from= his brilliant talk at HBES --- Human Behavior and Evolution Society --- 2= weeks ago!) He also found that 8 mo humans and tamarins and rhesus have comparable number abilities: that is, fewer than 4 objects were handled precisely, those greater than 4 or 5 required symbols in order to maintai= n an exact count. Chimps handled symbols very well for numbers 1-9. Kuhl mentioned that Bill Gates is interested in human language acquisitio= n in order to design computer programs. Has she told him that pronounce ability is a factor in such? Jerome Kagan --- The Significance of Transformations on Knowledge. Do psychological structures have an autono= my despite their evolutionary roots? We don't know because psychologists study functions --- memory, perception, learning --- without consideratio= n of structures. Social class predicts emotional and physical health and contentment of 4 yos. He reviewed his work on temperament. High reactiv= e traits in infancy predict future smiling, HR patterns, evoked potentials,= sympathetic nervous system activity, sensitivity to moral lapses, and melancholia at later ages. Although, reactive children are not reactive = in all situations as they get older, there is no case of a reactive child becoming bold. He suggested that biology can have desirable or uncomfortable biases but the specific content is a product of culture. Kandel told Kagan that his last point is "fundamentally wrong." It may b= e that the variance in timidity in children will eventually be entirely attributable to genetic variations much as Huntingtons is. In regard to functions and structures, my impression is that Kagan and Lederberg and HBES would benefit from some time in each other's company. Richard Davidson --- Toward a Biology of Personality and Emotion. There is unstudied and unappreciated plasticity= in emotions. We don't practice our emotions to the extent that we practi= ce language. Davidson studied prefrontal cortex and the amygdala in order t= o find points of maximum activation when the subject was shown neutral and unpleasant images. There was high individual variability in affective style that consisted of differences in threshold, reaction amplitude, ris= e time in the emotional response, recovery time from activation, and respon= se duration. He used an elevated view of a lake and trees as a "neutral" stimulus; evolutionary research finds this stimulus to be strongly attractive. He also related total duration of depression to a reduction in hippocampal volume. Chicken or egg? Is there a group with less hippocampal capacity= that is more apt to be depressed because of lapses in explicit memory and= social failures that result? Michael Posner --- Exploring the Biology o= f Socialization He highlighted the association between difficulties in task persistence a= nd the expression of negative affects after a change. (Shades of Murray Bowen!) Such patterns are strongly heritable. (Not sure that Bowen knew that!) One area of the cingulate that mediates attention inhibits activit= y in the inferior area that modulates emotionality. The reverse effect is also true. Further, high reactive children appear to develop a social conscience whereas low reactives will need more "effortful control" from outsiders. I'm not sure how this one will play out. That is, female Caucasians and Oriental children of either sex appear to be more "cooperative" and less disruptive on the average than Caucasian males. Yet Caucasian females do= lie (even by age 3 and are quite good at it ) and are less apt than males= to confess when questioned. It may be that the high reactives can be mor= e sneaky rather than necessarily more compliant. There's a further complication. Shy persons become braver if they eat Powdermilk Biscuits = or if they age past their reproductive years or if they encounter a partner who is even more timid. Transciption factors may be a very large in our ability to shift strategies in various contexts. "Tuning" may be a more pervasive influence than "learning." Richard Shweder --- A Polytheistic Conception = of the Sciences and the Virtues of Deep Variety. Shweder tore into Wilson's= book, proclaiming that it's ideas have been wrong for 200 years, citing T= om Kuhn and Karl Popper. (Not that Popper and Kuhn agreed with each other.)= = Shweder sees no peace growing between sciences or between sciences and humanities. They are all fundamentally nonconsilient. Shweder's knowabl= e world is incomplete, he still has a mind-body problem, and he can't handl= e differences between voluntary and involuntary action. How can his immaterial will effect the movement of his hand? Shweder felt the social sciences to be "hot beds of creativity" that sear= ch for "parsimonious explanations" and that the "real thing" is culture. = Further, science is healthy when you can't generalize beyond your origina= l context and there is no convergence in explanations over time. Logic and= evidence are not satisfactory for building knowledge systems, and meaning= s and values cannot be measured and studied by science. He perhaps was on a testosterone roll after spending time at a conference= in Bremen where philosophers defined a problem but didn't agree on solutions or their understandings of it, neuroscientists showed slides of= brain parts, and psychologists and anthropologists presupposed mentalisti= c causes. Shweder may also have been scared of taking on Ed Wilson the nex= t day and put on a "display" and was perhaps used by the conference organizers to keep all of us in situ for another day. "Display" refers to outcomes from sexual selection. Natural selection tends to make us all the same over generations; sexual selection tends to= make us more different. According to Geoffrey Miller (The Mating Mind: How Sexual Selection Shaped Human Nature), sexual selection accounts for traits for which variation is maintained or even increased over time, the= trait is costly to produce and is correlated with the physical health and= "fitness" of its carrier, and it is disproportionate to survival needs. = Deer antlers, giraffe necks, and peacock tails are examples of features that probably became more prominent because of mating contests. Human language is very possibly another outcome of sexual selection as are many= components of our culture. In the case of language, we have a vocabulary= of about 100,000 words but, according to Miller, actually need about 8000= to get us through life and about 800 to write a book on any topic. = Displays also occur differently in males and females. Further, males do more talking (and song writing and book publishing by a factor of 10 and = at an earlier age) than females even though females routinely have superior receptive and expressive language. The interesting possibility exists th= at male's do not understand each other's arguments (or even the implications= of their own!) and that females, who understand them better, scan male verbal skill to assess kindness, resources, and political influence. The very traits that Shweder ascribed to social sciences align nicely wit= h the characteristics of a sexually selected display. Further, since most science both follows tools and creates new ones, there is a core thread o= f survival function in science even though scientists also will compete in leks and for the same reasons as humanists. (Some of us scientists would= possibly mate with a humanist who had superior displays.) If Shweder's description is correct in regard to the social sciences, he makes the phrase "social science" an oxymoron, perhaps comparable to "military intelligence." I don't mind his so doing, but I'm sure that was not his= intent. Shweder's display insults the causes in which he believes, although he doesn't understand how. I resent him for it. I came through the libera= l arts, prudently hiding my gold key even today. I am grateful knowing th= at I have literate allies, that Tennyson understood both Ulysses and me, tha= t perhaps all 3 of us have restless natures that seek one more conquest whether to impress a lady or for resources (which usually i mpress a lady) and for those sparkling dopamine hits in our cingulate areas. Despite English traditions that a liberal education is to have no= utility, there IS survival value in poetry; follow that survival value an= d find consilience. CONCLUSIONS: Several presentations on the cingulate might have been omitted in order f= or some more evolutionists to line up beside Nesse. For example, Paul Sherm= an (our use of spices to control pathogens in our food), Laura Betzig (how bees and Catholicism employed similar strategies for control of males and= resources), and Mark Hauser (language recognition in tamarins and humans)= have ample scientific material and some powerful films. Geoffrey Miller would have been a powerful contributor. And most important, Steve Pinke= r gave a wonderful talk at HBES 2 weeks ago, "The Blank Slate, Noble Savage= , and the Ghost in the Machine," a talk that would also have informed the Caspary house. Further, Herbert Gintis gave a chilling presentation at HBES: Cooperators= will punish non cooperators in economic games AND they will also punish cooperators who fail to punish noncooperators. The only way cooperation can be maintained is by punishment of defectors and appears to be particularly likely in times of niche or organizational failure. That is= , when simple cooperation will not save the day, people apply sanctions to the nonconformists. (I am reminded of how the "rabble" were locked in th= e hold of the sinking Titanic so that the "cooperators" had a better chance= to escape. Is this part of the current pattern in academia? That established players are defending their positions more stridently when th= ey sense they have lost the game? One finding from Gintis is that some of u= s, no matter how firmly lashed, do not become more cooperative when punished= . = I think they used to know this in Boston and the colonies. Second, we may not have a lot of time. Carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere are higher now than for the past 400,000 years. A spike of CO= 2 also occurred about 250 mya and was followed by the death of 80-90% of th= e existing species. We may enter a similar era and many succeeding generations will experience thirst, heat, want and fear. During these coming times, we will all follow our adaptations, including enforced cooperation, and later generate stories to excuse our conduct. The philosophers and shamans who survive will adjust their displays for their= new audiences just as men and women have always done for each other. Third, we have a substantial history of blaming our tools (and science an= d scientists and incompetent shamans) instead of our nature that chose the tools in the first place. We lament about "mismatch" but fail to localiz= e it within ourselves. However, culture and technology are recursively driven not autonomously but by our human genetic interests. Our explanations change to fit the outcomes from the tools that our nature chose. We, like Wilson's ants, will transform every niche and every species to match our needs. Such is the Janus gargoyle of human selfishness and human cooperation, that we modify or destroy other specie= s for our own ends. The fault is not in our stars or technologies but in ourselves; the arrogance and denial at Caspary offered no recognition of this fundamental problem. = =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D FRACTALS I met a woman of symmetry and an age that matched mine. I offered dinner= and hoped for sex, she wanted to sell me a book. Neither of us succeeded= . = Darwin DOES describe NY girls. The university kitchen served a politically correct sandwich of lean beef= and flavorless onions and flavorless horse radish, guaranteeing that I could offend no one even though I might want to. Was it designed by the same the guy who wants to pull everyone's gun? An evolutionist friend commented, "We are different. These people still don't get the message." I'm glad she said it. Meanwhile, her husband ha= d a recent photography show at a NY gallery. I hope he has the good sense= to attempt character studies of her millimetric eye shifts and her off center sympatico smile that would seduce any lens. You quietly know that she misses nothing, can you prove your conviction with a camera? There were some great displays at the meeting: high verbal abilities, posturing, rapid movements, joking and ridicule --- all things that competing vertebrates do. However, older hominid males (and some older females) issue statements about "good of humanity" when there is no evolutionary basis for such a motive. It is recommended (by Dennis Krebs= and others) that we suspect lying and selfishness when we encounter these= rallying cries. A large and distinguished gentleman approached me at break. = "What a beautiful place for such a conference." "Yes, it's very privileged and with the Rockefeller support, will survive= despite events on many of our horizons." He immediately wandered off. I didn't mean to confuse or offend him. Fitness --- one of those useful words that would choke a moderator or ignite a campus riot, unless you're Nietzsche. The word was absent for t= he same reasons as the bite in my horseradish and onion. It was too strong for the slurry of correlations and cooperation reported today. Robert John lurks, glibly advocating racial heterogeneity through separation. At another meeting, he recently glided from "respect cultura= l differences" to "Hitler's contributions." How ironic and offensive. = Western culture was exported by capitalists and missionaries along with t= he plows and guns that we sold. Indeed, our medicines and infant formulae were key players in the population crisis. Now John claims to defend western society against counter invasions from other peoples. Someone might tell him that "hybrid vigor" might apply to cultures as well as to species. And, as Haldane remarked, the first task for a successful hybr= id is to kill off its parents. No loss if John's beliefs are an early targe= t. Biology can't define a gene or a species; yet, Cavalli-Sforza says there are significant genetic differences between Ithaca (including Cornell?) &= Albany. Like Darwin watching his barnacles, the closer we look, the more= detail we find and the fewer boundaries that we can define between any of= us. Disputation is composed of stories, a display of verbal facility, a descendent of stories and contests by old fires in old times. We still d= o them. Stu Kauffman: I've been a fan for 4 years and I broke through his group o= n Saturday to give him a note for later, one that individual human lives al= so walk "the edge of chaos" and that selfishness/cooperation are steering mechanisms for that walk. We can span from physics to human morality without a need to stop at biology. Not sure that he will read it or even= look again in his jacket pocket. = An onlooker remarked, "If you like, you can have follow up by email." = However, one large reason I liked the conference is that Kauffman hasn't answered my email for the past 3 years except for a note last year from h= is assistant that he doesn't answer his email. No big deal. The rules of r-selection apply when there are so many more students than great teacher= s who must invest less in the average of us and more in the very talented = of us. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D James Brody, Ph.D. Clinical Sociobiology From: IN%"lepape@univ-tours.fr" "Gilles LE PAPE" 12-JUL-2000 04:14:43.78 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: List related to Zoos Return-path: Received: from process.sask.usask.ca by sask.usask.ca (PMDF V5.2-32 #39033) id <01JRO01975IO94DXVH@sask.usask.ca> (original mail from lepape@univ-tours.fr); Wed, 12 Jul 2000 04:14:42 CST Received: from CONVERSION-DAEMON by sask.usask.ca (PMDF V5.2-32 #39033) id <01JRO019465C94DVO5@sask.usask.ca> for applied-ethology-expand@process.sask.usask.ca (ORCPT rfc822;Applied-ethology@skyway.usask.ca); Wed, 12 Jul 2000 04:14:31 -0600 (CST) Received: from ronsard.univ-tours.fr (ronsar.univ-tours.fr [193.52.209.2]) by sask.usask.ca (PMDF V5.2-32 #39033) with ESMTP id <01JRO017S16494DY39@sask.usask.ca> for applied-ethology-expand@process.sask.usask.ca (ORCPT rfc822;Applied-ethology@skyway.usask.ca); Wed, 12 Jul 2000 04:14:31 -0600 (CST) Received: from lepco-ens6.univ-tours.fr (lepco-ens6.univ-tours.fr [193.52.212.237]) by ronsard.univ-tours.fr (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id LAA12284 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2000 11:01:10 +0200 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 12:18:12 +0200 From: Gilles LE PAPE Subject: List related to Zoos X-Sender: lepape/rabelais.univ-tours.fr@127.0.0.1 To: Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca Errors-to: applied-ethology-error@sask.usask.ca Message-id: <200007120901.LAA12284@ronsard.univ-tours.fr> MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0.2 Content-type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Hi all, does anybody knows if a mailing discussion list related to zoos or zoological parks exists ? Many thanks Gilles LE PAPE Ethologie Facult=E9 des sciences Parc Grandmont F-37200 TOURS T=E9l. 33 (0)2 47 36 69 96 Fax. 33 (0)2 47 36 72 85 Recherches bien-=EAtre animal : www.univ-tours.fr/desco/BEA/AccueilBEA.htm Formations en statistiques : www.univ-tours.fr/desco/fc.htm From: IN%"chris.gotman@sympatico.ca" 12-JUL-2000 19:54:35.34 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: List related to Zoos << Hi all, does anybody knows if a mailing discussion list related to zoos or zoological parks exists ? Many thanks Gilles LE PAPE >> Yes, there are mailing discussion lists on captive zoo animal care. sincerely, Chris Gotman zookeeper Granby Zoo Québec, Canada From: IN%"Ute.Knierim@tiho-hannover.de" "Ute Knierim" 13-JUL-2000 00:00:02.25 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Applied ethology" CC: Subj: ISAE West Central Europe - regional workshop 2000 What follows is the announcement of the ISAE West Central Europe - regional workshop 2000 in German language: "Individualitaet bei Nutz- und Labortieren: Konzepte und Methoden" 8. & 9. September in Schwerzenbach (Zuerich) Kontakt: Dr. Lars Schrader, ETH Zuerich, Institut fuer Nutztierwissenschaften, Gruppe Physiologie und Tierhaltung, email: lars.schrader@inw.agrl.ethz.ch Dr. Susanne Waiblinger, Veterinaermedizinische Universitaet Wien, Institut fuer Tierhaltung und Tierschutz, email: Susanne.Waiblinger@vu-wien.ac.at Dr. Ute Knierim, Tieraerztliche Hochschule Hannover, Institut fuer Tierhygiene und Tierschutz, email: Ute.Knierim@tiho-hannover.de Programm Freitag, 8.9.2000 13.00 - 14.00 h Begruessungs-Apero Konzepte und Methoden zur Untersuchung der Individualitaet bei Tieren 14.00 - 14.30 h Beat Wechsler (Taenikon): Coping und coping Strategien aus verhaltensbiologischer Sicht 15.00 - 15.30 h Lars Schrader (Zuerich): Verhaltenstests und -beobachtungen zur Erfassung von Individualitaet - Validitaet und Reliabilitaet 16.00 - 16.30 h Kaffee 16.30 - 17.15 h N.N.: Statistische Verfahren zur Erfassung von Zusammenhaengen und zur Gruppierung von Individuen 18.00 - ??? h Gemeinsames Abendessen Samstag, 9.9.2000 Aktuelle Forschungsprojekte 9.00 - 9.20 h Sven Hansen (Berlin): Individualitaet und Herzschlagvariabilitaet 9.40 - 10.00 h Kristin Hagen (Cambridge): Gebrauch von Sequenzanalyse zur Charakterisierung der Neigung von Individuen in einer Rinderherde zum Anfuehren oder Folgen bestimmter anderer Individuen 10.20 - 10.40 h Aurelia Zimmermann (Zuerich): Die Komplexitaet der Haltungsumgebung hat keinen Einfluss auf die interindividuelle Variabilitaet von Laborratten 11.00 - 11.30 h Kaffee 11.30 - 11.50 h Ute Knierim & Andrea Sattler (Hannover): Individuelle Unterschiede im Sozialverhalten von Milchkuehen und Auswirkungen einer sozialen Belastungssituation auf das Liege-, Fress- und Sozialverhalten der Kuehe 12.10 - 12.30 h Susanne Waiblinger & Roswitha Hofmann (Wien): Individuelle Unterschiede in ethologischen und physiologischen Reaktionen von Milchkuehen auf verschiedene Stresssituationen 12.50 - 13.10 h Lars Schrader (Zuerich): Individuelle Reaktionen von Milchkuehen auf Testreize in ihrer gewohnten Haltungsumgebung 13.30 - 15.00 h Mittagspause 15.00 - 18.00 h Schlussdiskussion Ausarbeiten eines Thesenpapiers Veranstaltungsort Der workshop findet am ETH-Standort Schwerzenbach statt. Die genaue Addresse ist: ETH Zuerich Standort Schwerzenbach Schorenstrasse 16 CH- 8603 Schwerzenbach Schwerzenbach ist vom Hauptbahnhof Zuerich in 13 min mit der S9 (Richtung Uster) zu erreichen. Die Abfahrtszeiten sind: Zuerich HB --> Schwerzenbach xx:28 h und xx:58 h Schwerzenbach --> Zuerich HB xx:16 h und xx:46 h Der Fussweg vom Bahnhof Schwerzenbach zum Veranstaltungsort betraegt 1 min. Schwerzenbach liegt direkt an der A53 und ist daher auch mit dem Auto gut zu erreichen. Parkplaetze stehen am Institut zur Verfuegung. Schwerzenbach ist ein kleiner Ort, direkt am schoenen Greifensee gelegen. Fuer ein gemeinsames Mittagsessen koennen umliegende Restaurants innerhalb weniger Gehminuten erreicht werden. Der workshop wird in unserem Seminarraum (Stock D, Raum 1) stattfinden. Er ist mit Overhead-Projektor, Dia-Projektor und flip-charts ausgestattet. An den Seminarraum grenzt eine Cafeteria mit kleiner Terasse. Unkosten Als Unkostenbeitrag fuer den Apero und die Kaffeepausen moechten wir waehrend des workshop ca. 20,- Fr je TeilnehmerIn erbitten. Fuer Restaurantbesuche muss selber aufgekommen werden. Bei Teilnahme bitten wir um vorherige Anmeldung ********************************************************************* Dr. Ute Knierim Institut fuer Tierhygiene und Tierschutz Tieraerztliche Hochschule Hannover Institute of Animal Hygiene and Welfare School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Buenteweg 17 p D-30559 Hannover Tel +49 (0)511 953 8449 Fax +49 (0)511 953 8588 uknierim@itt.tiho-hannover.de ************************************************************************** From: IN%"Wernicke@cip.biologie.uni-osnabrueck.de" "Wernicke, Ruth" 13-JUL-2000 04:40:27.40 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "'applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca'" CC: Subj: Help! Dplomatheme horse Hello members, my name is Ruth Wernicke and I`m studying Biology at the University of Osnabr=FCck (Germany). I have just completed my written and oral exams for my diploma in = Biology. After that I have to write a research paper on a project of my choice. = I have always been involved in research projects on horses and therefore = I chose horses as the topic of my final paper. There is a Professor in Osnabr=FCck, Prof. Dr. Schr=F6pfer, who is the examiner and also my = mentor and adviser. His idea/suggestion is to have a look at the locomotion of = horses during browsing. He suggests comparing different horse races which have different evolutionary roots.=20 I would like to compare his ideas with comparisons of individual = distances and social behaviour.=20 Do you know, if anybody has ever done something similar to this before? = Can you think of a person or a researcher who has worked within this field? = I'm also looking for literature on this topic. I would like to get some ideas how to get data of the pattern of = locomotion. Can you recommend anything that might be of useful for me? I=B4m also looking for places where horses live under almost natural conditions, for the purpose of observation and of getting data from. The start of the thesis is in September/October 2000. I have about one = year to finish the project. I=B4m grateful for any kind of support, suggestions, hints, addresses, = etc. Everything could be useful for me.I would be glad to hear from you. Tank you very much, Ruth Wernicke From: IN%"matchdog@chello.nl" "Bianca Uittenbogaard" 13-JUL-2000 11:29:01.21 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: Help! Dplomatheme horse This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_LiX+eZd7pYA9E7O0ZBriIg) Content-type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Hello Ruth, As you live in Germany you will probably be able to receive the Dutch = TV. Tonight at 23.35 hours, there's a programme about newly started = nature reserves in Holland on channel Nederland 2. One of the subjects = will be the konikhorses freely roaming the countryside (within the = reserve of course). Regards, Bianca --Boundary_(ID_LiX+eZd7pYA9E7O0ZBriIg) Content-type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
Hello Ruth,
 
As you live in Germany you will = probably be able to=20 receive the Dutch TV. Tonight at 23.35 hours, there's a programme about = newly=20 started nature reserves in Holland on channel Nederland 2. One of the = subjects=20 will be the konikhorses freely roaming the countryside (within the = reserve of=20 course).
 
Regards,
 
Bianca
--Boundary_(ID_LiX+eZd7pYA9E7O0ZBriIg)--