Tag Archives: Behavioral Biology

The Phalarope: Not just another polyandrous bird…

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MIT researchers found that phalaropes depend on a surface interaction known as contact angle hysteresis to propel drops of water containing prey upward to their throats. Photo by Robert Lewis
The Phalarope starts out as an interesting bird because of its “reversed” sex-role mating behavior. For at least some species of Phalarope, females dominate males, forcing them to build nests and to care for the eggs that the females place there after mating. If a female suspects that a male is caring for eggs of another female, she may destroy the eggs and force the male to copulate with her a few times, after which she places the newly fertilized eggs in his nest. This polyandrous behavior is probably facilitated by the fact that the lady phalaropes, denizens of extreme climates with short breeding seasons, are capable of rapid egg production … so their egg production converges, kinda, on sperm production … thus allowing them to exploit multiple males for their parenting behavior.Well, it turns out that these birds are interesting in another way: They defy gravity! … sort of … read on:

As Charles Darwin showed nearly 150 years ago, bird beaks are exquisitely adapted to the birds’ feeding strategy. A team of MIT mathematicians and engineers has now explained exactly how some shorebirds use their long, thin beaks to defy gravity and transport food into their mouths.The phalarope, commonly found in western North America, takes advantage of surface interactions between its beak and water droplets to propel bits of food from the tip of its long beak to its mouth, the research team reports in the May 16 issue of Science.These surface interactions depend on the chemical properties of the liquid involved, so phalaropes and about 20 other birds species that use this mechanism are extremely sensitive to anything that contaminates the water surface, especially detergents or oil.

Continue reading The Phalarope: Not just another polyandrous bird… →

Be nice to me or I might not talk to you. Or worse, maybe I will talk to you…

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ResearchBlogging.orgRecently published research shows that individual humans will be nicer (more altruistic) when there is the possibility that the recipient of an act can respond verbally. The paper, “Anticipated verbal feedback induces altruistic behavior” is published in Evolution and Human Behavior for March. Continue reading Be nice to me or I might not talk to you. Or worse, maybe I will talk to you… →

Genetics of Behavior: Fire Ants

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ResearchBlogging.orgA common presumption is that behavior is part of phenotype, and since phenotype arises from genotype (plus/minus Reaction Norm), that there can be a study of “behavioral genetics.” This is certainly an overstatement (or oversimplification) for organisms with extensive and/or complex neural systems, such as humans and mice. Neural systems probably evolved (not initially, but eventually) to disassociate behavior with the kind of pre-determined micro-management of behavior that a simple gene-behavior link requires. However, in organisms with neural systems the size of the period at the end of this sentence, we often do see cases of allelic variations causing behavioral variation in the whole organism. The study discussed here is an example of this. Continue reading Genetics of Behavior: Fire Ants →

The Origin of the Human Smile

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i-292d5241115b67e27ce78512e86d1926-chimp_smile.jpgA colleague and grad student of mine, Rob, just sent me the following question, slightly edited here:

A student in my intro class asked me a good question the other day to which I had no answer. When did smiling cease to be a threat gesture? I have a couple of ideas. One is that with reduced canines, smiling became a way to say “look, I have small canines, I am not a threat to you.” The other is that smiling is based more on a “fear-grin” than a threat. Under this idea, smiling might have been a way of showing deference to others. If everyone shows deference, it would be egalitarian, until the one guy comes along who never smiles. Maybe that’s why bosses often don’t smile. … let me know when you have some free time to have lunch. Tuesdays andWed’s probably work best for me.

Good question, and good ideas as to a possible answer. I have a couple of other ideas to contribute…. Continue reading The Origin of the Human Smile →

Cafe Scientifique

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Despite having only a couple of beers, I’m a little fuzzy this morning, but I do want to give a short update last night’s Cafe Scientifique at the Bryant Lake Bowl (sponsored by the Bell Museum of Natural History).First, thanks to everyone for coming, and I’m truly sorry for those of you (Mike, Rob, Betsy, Chris, and countless others) who could not make it it. It was nice to have a sold-out ‘performance’ but not nice that people schlepped all the way to LynnLake in sub zero weather! But, in the end, you probably had more fun drinking and bowling than sitting listening to me.Shanai Matteson did an excellent job, as always, moderating and guiding the entire process. Those of you who go to the Twin Cities Cafe Scientifique can’t see behind the scenes, but there is a lot of work that goes into organizing these events, and this is not Shanai’s only job at the Bell Museum! Peggy, Gordon, Shanai should get a raise…The questions and comments by members of the audience were fantastic and enjoyable. I very much appreciate that.Later on, I’ll post my power point slides and give a summary.

Crazy Anthropologist Links Food, Sex

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Can you believe this guy? Check it out:

The French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss once proposed that humanity began with cooking. [a Twin Cities anthropologist] says love may have begun with cooking, as well.

…

The earliest human ancestors, some kind of chimp-like apes, were living off raw plant foods and probably doing a bit of hunting like chimpanzees do now.

And then, somebody discovers the ability to control fire. Everybody argues about when this happened. We’re saying it happened about 2 million years ago. Suddenly, all this food that was previously poisonous or indigestible becomes edible. We’re talking about grass seeds, like wheat. And tubers. The amount of energy available to these early human ancestors goes up a huge amount. So, they get bigger. At the same time, their jaws get smaller, which is supported by the fossil record.

and so on and so forth, bla bla bla. Read it here.

Proof that Noah’s Ark was Real

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One of the most compelling argument that the story of Noah’s Ark is made up is the implausibility of having animals like tigers and lions together with animals like lambs and deer on the same boat for very long. The big carnivores would eventually eat the little cute furry things. The bunnies would be the first to go. But new evidence, shown on the Miracle Pet Show disproves this objection. Continue reading Proof that Noah’s Ark was Real →

Darwin and the Voyage: 06 ~ Bugs

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When reading the Voyage, it is impossible to miss the observation that much of the time Darwin was engaged in adolescent boy behavior: Pulling the heads off insects, noting how long they would wiggle after cut in half, closely examining the ooze and guts, occupied much of his time. Obviously, careful observation and a strong stomach were not all that was required to think up Natural Selection and his other theories, or the Origin of Species would have been written dozens of times by dozens of grown up kids. Continue reading Darwin and the Voyage: 06 ~ Bugs →

Steven Pinker: A brief history of violence

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In a preview of his next book, Steven Pinker takes on violence. We live in violent times, an era of heightened warfare, genocide and senseless crime. Or so we’ve come to believe. Pinker charts a history of violence from Biblical times through the present, and says modern society has a little less to feel guilty about.

Continue reading Steven Pinker: A brief history of violence →