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Humans are not alone in aiding others
June 19, 2012 | 5
Foraging honey bees show fellow foragers they way to good food sources.
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Male olive baboons will partner up to drive away a female’s existing consort, giving one of the pair the chance to mate with her.
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Some meerkats act as sentinels, warning group members with an alarm call when they spy a predator.
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Among Florida scrub jays, helpers assist with the rearing of chicks that are not their own.
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Male chimpanzees sometimes team up to hunt monkeys for food.
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New Monkey Species Discovered in India
Most unbred animals (English sparrows, for example) all look alike to
me. People, of course, not so. Do I just not recognize the traits that
distinguish one animal from another, or do they really lack the
individual distinctiveness of humans?
Human evolution appears to be associated with a trend toward greater
intelligence. Is there a discernible trend toward greater intelligence in other
species as well? And if cognitive ability confers an evolutionary advantage, why
are humans (apparently) so unique in this trait?
Whale Song Revolution
Scientists Identify Source of Potent Animal Toxin
Scientists Spy Dozens of New Frog Species in Sri Lanka
How Prions Leap Species
Mother Right Whales May Hold Key to Species' Survival, Study Finds
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5 Comments
Add Comment"co-operate" - I think that is a Human trait, and an irrelevant human overlay to otherwise explainable behavior - but nice pictures anyway.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRe "Some workers have questioned the existence of strict altruism. Wilson (1978), for instance, questions the altruism of Mother Teresa - this because of her belief in the possibility of saving the soul to eternal life through good deeds (pp. 164-165). If human behaviour is viewed from the perspective of natural selection, the effect that counts is survival and reproduction. Reward in heaven and brotherhood of class, race or creed are not real reciprocity or kin selection, but just illusions; illusions that make people commit altruistic acts."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this[Birgitta S. Tullberg and Jan Tullberg, http://www.tullberg.org/Papers/BJ-96-O-75.pdf]
What is the evolutionary explanation of altruism in non-humans?
The best altruism is that which is based on: I do you a solid, you do me a solid. It's just one of the things believers in individualism forget (and eventually regret).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell, I am not sure what all is said, but I just like the story, and the monkeys are cool in my book.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI guess some may need to kind of let go of being so....oh...smart, and just have some fun, just like the apes are doing. Climb a tree and scream at the world, so smart and as of yet...well...let not go there...
We love the story it cool and I am off to have some fun...
I think it's rather sad that the only reason any of these activities seem noteworthy is that there is an underlying assumption that all non-human species are solitary savages incapable of cooperation, even when it is obviously beneficial. Male lions cooperate in moving prey animals toward waiting females hiding the the grass; many species cooperate in hunting and in defending the group; cats will nurse kittens from other mothers; and most colonial animals, like prairie dogs, have a variety of alarm calls, specific to each type of danger. So how come this is suddenly big news, except possibly to those recently awakened from a coma?
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