Ostracism as a social and biological phenomenon: An introduction

Ostracism refers to the general process of rejection and exclusion, observed in human groups and in many other species. It occurs as “shunning” in small homogenous groups like the Amish or as rejection among children. Ostracism in various forms is also deeply embedded in our own legal tradition, and is used in the formal and informal legal procedures of other cultures, used to maintain order, to punish deviance, and to increase social cohesion. Hence, it is plausible to hypothesize that human ostracism may have physiological substrates or biological functions in addition to cultural, moral, and legal dimensions. Biological research shows that human emotions (anger, fear, reassurance, self-confidence) involve responses of the limbic system as well as ideas or thoughts in the cerebral cortex and that human behavior continually integrates biological and cultural factors. The legal system expresses and channels human behavior. For this reason laws should be more effective if their functions complement (rather than ignore) the function of the behavior being regulated. To look at law as it affects human behavior in the light of the life sciences does not imply the intention of finding a universally valid “natural law,” akin to theological or ideological doctrine. On the contrary, we find that humans can form radically different social systems due to the plasticity of their behavior. However, an interdisciplinary analysis of ostracism as a common area of behavior, combining biology, law, and the social sciences can produce insights that none of these fields alone can provide. Such an approach should increase our understanding of human nature and the functions of law.     

水洞沟遗址第2地点古人类“行为现代性”及演化意义

解剖学意义上的现代人及其行为的演化与扩散是古人类学和旧石器考古学关注的重大科学问题。本文对水洞沟第2地点生态、技术、经济社会组织和象征行为方面的行为特征进行分析,于不同的文化层揭示出了不同的创新行为,它们分别预示了不同的演化意义。距今4~2万年间中国北方连续发展的石片石器技术系统从人类行为角度支持中国古人类连续演化的假说,在此理论背景下,探求中国古人类的行为创新需要关注人类行为的演化历程,进而总结创新表现,而非将总结自欧非等地区的现代行为清单与中国的考古学材料简单比对,进而讨论行为的现代与否。现代人出现后中国古人类行为的特殊性和多样性,促使研究者更多地关注行为变异性及不同适应策略产生的原因,而非将一系列的特征总称为现代行为;同时提醒学者们不应以总结自旧大陆西部的现代行为清单衡量和定性中国乃至东亚旧石器时代晚期人群的生物学属性和社会行为能力。     

Loss of estrus in human evolution: Too many answers,too few questions

Models addressing the importance of “loss of estrus” in human evolution assume that, as part of a general trend among higher primates, endogenous hormonal fluctuations have less influence on human female sexuality than cognitive and socioenvironmental factors. The diversity of reproductive patterns among primate species is not satisfactorily explained as the outcome of evolutionary trends along dimensions such as brain enlargement, behavioral flexibility, or relative independence of behavior from physiology. Rather, the role of hormones and other factors must be viewed in the context of species' life history and ecological constraints. Human studies on the relationship between the menstrual cycle and sexual behavior have been limited to Western women in industrialized societies, which may not reveal evolved behavioral-physiological patterns. Furthermore, available studies have yielded inconsistent results. No single pattern emerges that can be said to characterize the human female, and no conclusion can be reached regarding the relationship between cyclic hormonal fluctuations and sexual behavior and, thus, whether human ovulation is concealed. Future studies are needed that are methodologically improved and systematically document the interaction among ecological, subsistence, social, and physiological variables.     

Genetic-gonadal-genitals sex (3G-sex) and the misconception of brain and gender,or, why 3G-males and 3G-females have intersex brain and intersex gender

The categorization of individuals as “male” or “female” is based on chromosome complement and gonadal and genital phenotype. This combined genetic-gonadal-genitals sex, here referred to as 3G-sex, is internally consistent in ~99% of humans (i.e., one has either the “female” form at all levels, or the “male” form at all levels). About 1% of the human population is identified as “intersex” because of either having an intermediate form at one or more levels, or having the “male” form at some levels and the “female” form at other levels. These two types of “intersex” reflect the facts, respectively, that the different levels of 3G-sex are not completely dimorphic nor perfectly consistent. Using 3G-sex as a model to understand sex differences in other domains (e.g., brain, behavior) leads to the erroneous assumption that sex differences in these other domains are also highly dimorphic and highly consistent. But parallel lines of research have led to the conclusion that sex differences in the brain and in behavior, cognition, personality, and other gender characteristics are for the most part not dimorphic and not internally consistent (i.e., having one brain/gender characteristic with the “male” form is not a reliable predictor for the form of other brain/gender characteristics). Therefore although only ~1% percent of humans are 3G-“intersex”, when it comes to brain and gender, we all have an intersex gender (i.e., an array of masculine and feminine traits) and an intersex brain (a mosaic of “male” and “female” brain characteristics).     

Two shades of boldness: novel object and anti-predator behavior reflect different personality dimensions in domestic rabbits

It is increasingly common to quantify and describe behavioral variation in domestic and wild animals in terms of “personality”. Correlating behavioral traits are referred to as personality “dimensions” or “factors” and different dimensions have been reported in different species. “Boldness” is a well-described personality dimension in several species, although some issues remain unclear. Previous models of boldness include both novelty and risk taking, but recent studies indicate that these types of behaviors may reflect separate personality dimensions. In this study, we developed a behavioral test battery for domestic rabbits, and recorded behaviors of 61 individuals in four different situations (novel object, novel arena, social, and predator interactions). We used domestic rabbits as a model because behavioral variation in rabbits has rarely been quantified in terms of personality dimensions, although rabbit behavior is described. We also wanted to investigate behavioral variation in a Swedish rabbit breed of conservation concern — the Gotland rabbit. Factor analysis of the behavioral test measures suggested three personality dimensions: “exploration”, “boldness”, and “anxiety”. Novel object scores clustered in the exploration and boldness factors, whereas scores associated with predator interactions were explained by “anxiety”, indicating that novel object and anti-predator behavior reflect different personality dimensions in rabbits.     

Primate subsistence patterns: Collector-predators and gatherer-hunters

Hominization via predation has become a pervasive anthropological theme in recent years. Indeed, the assumption that hunting behavior originated within the primate phylogenetic sequence as a “human” subsistence pattern has generated numerous subsidiary hypotheses about how secondary traits were initiated, propagated or enhanced when a terrestrial, savanna-dwelling, meat-eating hominid line emerged from an arboreal, forest-dwelling, plant-eating ancestral stock. New field evidence on the behavioral and organizational features of subsistence in nonhuman and human primates now provides the basis for reconsidering these views.Many monkey, ape and human populations no longer seem to fit the stereotyped images sketched in past decades, when little or no comparative information was available to anthropologists. The discrepancy between the old concepts and new facts is particularly evident in Sub-Saharan Africa, where numerous primate taxa have been studied in climatically and biotically similar zones. In this region alone, more than 364 cases of predation, involving 22 different species of mammalian prey, have been recorded among at least 10 supposedly “vegetarian” baboon and chimpanzee populations dispersed between Ethiopia and South Africa. Furthermore, many of the human populations living within this same region—such as the Mbuti pygmies, the Hadza and the Kalahari bushmen—have been characterized as “hunters” but actually subsist for the most part on foods other than meat. These basic facts about collector-predator and Gatherer-hunter subsistence patterns are a mere beginning, however, for popular conceptions of primate lifestyles are eroding swiftly along many axes of investigation. It is becoming clear, for instance, that many primates—from prosimians to humans—are actually omnivores even though anthropologists have persistently miscast them as frugivores or carnivores. This false dichotomization of nonhuman versus human diets has led to a series of equally erroneous dichotomies in nonhuman versus human behavior. Thus, the possession of culture, technology, language and other similarly amorphous traits, many of which were in fact derived from this presumed shift in subsistence, have become entrenched as concepts of human uniqueness. In recent years, however, many new discoveries in primatology, and in ethnography and archeology, have weakened the theoretical structure to which “man-the-hunter” has been pinned. It is probable that savanna-dwelling, tool-using, seed-eating, scavenging and other independent schemes can now be replaced by a single, much simpler model wherein subsistence shifts among both nonhuman and human primates are perceived as smooth transitions within a graded continuum of evolution. Thus, the central objective of this report is to show that the subsistence activities of several extant cercopithecid, pongid and hominid populations in Africa can be arranged along an integrated spectrum which reflects gradual processes in the evolution of primate behavior and organization. This spectrum serves as the crux for a unifying model of behavioral evolution, and can in turn be broken down into a linked series of subsidiary models which elucidate specific aspects of primate prehistory.     

The weaker sex: Is being male a legally cognizable defect,impairment, or disability?

Compared with women, men die from cancer and coronary artery disease in disproportionately higher numbers and are more susceptible to a host of emotional and developmental disorders. The authors of this article consider what scientific proof or evidence would be required to legally recognize “being male” as a disability, based on the overwhelming number of physical deficiencies to which males are genetically predisposed. The article summarizes major scientific findings on male health problems and explores various laws and policies that might be implicated by treatment of males as a special category recognized by the law. How the law creates categories of individuals and the reasons why these categories are created for legal classification are reviewed. In addition, the potential for a “maleness” defense in the context of criminal law and procedure is assessed. Lastly, the authors examine the policy implications of treating men as a disabled class, and consider how judges, juries, and legislators would view a scientifically based approach to the creation of a class. Given the many false starts in the past, in which the law had embraced what later was shown to be bad science, substantial historical baggage will have to be overcome to convince judges, juries, and legislators that science has now got it in the sense of having established a valid, causal, genetic or biological determinant for behavior. The consideration of a “male deficiency” theory under the law would have to rely on a more inclusive view of legal “disability” and a willingness to allow technologic advances in genetics to inform our understanding of criminal behavior.     

How do we decide when (not) to free-ride? Risk tolerance predicts behavioral plasticity in cooperation

In collaborations, group productivity typically increases with more cooperators, but is also often subject to diminishing returns. This pattern provides a different view about cooperation from traditional social dilemmas: defection is not necessarily the dominant strategy. Rather, a frequency-dependent “anti-conformist” strategy (cooperate if many others defect, and vice versa) is often individually rational. This study addresses human cooperation under such marginally diminishing group productivity, focusing on the plasticity of cooperative choices. We conducted a two-part “team foraging” experiment, in which the most- or least-cooperative members in the first part were re-grouped separately for the second part. We observed that cooperating and defecting “types” emerged within a group over time but did not completely persist across groups, with some of the most cooperative members switching to become the least cooperative (and vice versa). Risk attitude was a key factor in this switching behavior: greater risk-takers showed greater behavioral plasticity. These results imply that human cooperation may be more context-dependent and behaviorally plastic than previously thought.     

Quantifying effects of legal and non-legal designations of alien plant species on their control and profile

Invasive alien species (IAS) pose serious threats to native ecosystems worldwide. In some regions, laws and/or lists related to alien species have been made, but their effects on actual measures against alien species have been little studied. In Japan the IAS act, which came into force in 2005, lists many harmful species under the heading “Designated IAS”. The importation, domestication, sale or release of these species is tightly regulated. In addition, other species are named as alerted alien species (AASs) on the “alien species alert list” to raise public awareness. In this paper we examined the situation in Japan as case study that is exposed to threats from alien species under such laws in recent year to evaluate the effects of that for public interesting. We conducted a survey of the effects of the legal designation and other classification of alien plant species, examining a number of aspects, including research publications, eradications and public awareness. In our analysis, the degree of harmfulness of IASs was considered on the basis of weed risk assessment (WRA). The results show that legal classification of IASs has led to increases in research focused on the designated species, eradication efforts and public awareness. Similar results were also apparent for some AASs, but there was a great deal of variability among the many sub-categories of AASs. This may be partly because AAS sub-categories are based on different premises, and partly because the identification of AASs is not necessarily linked to legal controls that affect the behavior of individuals.     

Great Apes Do Not Learn Novel Tool Use Easily: Conservatism,Functional Fixedness,or Cultural Influence?

Animal culture has been of interest for decades but the concept remains controversial. Many researchers feel that animal behavior should not be granted the label “culture” because the latter includes more than “simple” behavioral variation. In recent years, the study of animal culture has been concerned mainly with social learning mechanisms, often claimed to be human specific, which led to the uniqueness of human culture. In addition, failure to innovate novel cultural behavior as often as humans is usually explained by psychological mechanisms presented as more parsimonious, such as conservatism or functional fixedness. However, it is unclear how cognitively complex these mechanisms are in the first place. Here, I analyze recent data obtained with wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) and wild-born orangutans (Pongo abelii) using the honey-trap experiment, in which individuals must devise a solution to reach inaccessible honey. I compare behavior of apes that developed a tool-based solution in the task with those that did not, and test whether conservatism and functional fixedness can explain individual variation in ape behavior. I find evidence of conservatism, with apes relying on their existing knowledge, and evidence of functional fixedness, with this knowledge potentially preventing them from innovating. However, the apes showed large intraspecific variability. I discuss the two mechanisms through a representational perspective to tackle their cognitive complexity. Understanding how conservatism and functional fixedness interact with ape cultural knowledge to limit innovation of novel tool use appears necessary to understand the full extent of ape cultures and how they compare to human cultures.     

Principles and methods of the graph-theoretical analysis of natural binary arborescences

This paper studies the fundamental bases for the topological analysis of natural objects branched by means of bifurcations. The first part analyses and exploits the available concepts and methods. They allow the determination of the general topological model (that of “single-stemmed, binary arborescences”) and of its mathematical properties. Conversely, they only offer a limited access to more refined analyses. There are two different approaches; one attempts to measure topological parameters and the other to identify trees. The level of analysis of the first is too general, while that of the second is too precise. A desirable level of analysis (dealing for instance with the comparison between observed patterns or their classifications in sets of sufficient size) actually lacked adapted tools.The second part of the study bridges this gap from both directions: by combining various parameters and by widening the methods of identification. The first direction makes it possible to characterize certain patterns governed by precise mathematical laws and to show that two of these (the linear and exponential patterns) are two theoretical extremes between which one may quantitatively locate other patterns. The second direction leads to broader classes. A continuous gamut of methods is offered. The third part extends the study to other observable patterns differing from the general model and shows that they all belong to one single topological category. A comparison with other topological patterns permits their interpretation.     

“野生动物”的概念框架和术语定义

“野生动物”(wild animal)一词不止在我国, 在全球的英语使用者中也有不同的含义。通过梳理相关研究、国内法和国际法背景下的定义和适用范围, 结合人类对动物繁殖和生活条件的控制情况, 本文提出了“野生动物”的二维概念框架, 梳理了动物从“野生”到“驯化”的12个连续状态。以下状态即未经中长期人工选择的动物类群应被视为野生动物: (1)其在荒野自然或人工环境(如城市或乡村)中自由生存繁殖, 无论是否存在人工投喂、经救护或辅助生殖后被放归的个体; (2)被捕捉圈养在人工环境中生活, 或源自野外但在圈养条件下出生的个体; (3)直系血亲(《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》解释为世系前四代)仍有野外来源的人工繁育后代; (4)放生、逃逸或引入到自然环境中的人工繁育个体。在野生动物物种保护的目标和语境之下, 经过长期人工选择的驯化动物, 无论其是否在人类控制下生活, 如家养猫狗、家禽家畜或模式实验动物, 以及流浪猫狗、放生禽畜和野化家养动物等都不是“野生动物”。但对于一些经过一定程度的人工选择, 所处人类控制情况和对野外种群的影响各异(如经过多代人工繁育的驯养动物、因人类活动导致的外来动物等), 其是否需被作为野生动物管理, 则需要根据生态安全、物种管理、立法目标等特别设定监管范围。《中华人民共和国野生动物保护法》的保护对象可以考虑为: 受到人类威胁濒临灭绝的, 或者具有重要生态作用的野生动物物种, 其状态可不限于是在野外还是人工控制条件下。其他动物的管理, 可根据遗传资源保护、疫病防控、动物福利和生态安全等需要, 另外设立《动物福利法》《生物安全法》等, 并和已有的法律法规如《动物防疫法》《渔业法》等做好衔接。本文还就《野生动物保护法》可能采用的“野生动物”定义提出建议。     

麋鹿行为谱及PAE编码系统

以麋鹿为实例,通过辨识行为的基本单元,区别了“姿势”、“动作”和“环境”,分解了动物行为的层次,然后根据行为的适应和社群机能归类,建立了以“姿势—动作—环境”为轴心的,以生态功能为分类依据的动物行为分类编码系统（PAE编码分类系统）。PAE编码分类系统以集合论为基础,明确了动物行为的三要素：姿势、动作和生态环境之间的关系,避免了笼统地将动物的姿势、动作和行为混为一谈的做法,区分了动物行为的组成要素和结构层次。行为要素编码方法为动物行为学研究提供了一个新的生长点。在继承前人工作的基础上,记录了有关麋鹿的姿势、动作和行为达200多种,还区别了各种行为在雄性、雌性和幼体之间的相对发生频次以及发生季节。     

A Review of the Legal and Policy Framework for Vessel Source Pollution in Hong Kong

Vessel source marine pollution is an increasingly major concern at both the national and international levels. Hong Kong, as an important maritime center, is naturally concerned with vessel source pollution. To meet the challenges, Hong Kong has formulated policies and measures that emphasize “green shipping” as part of an overall planning strategy that promotes a “green economy.” This article provides a review and analysis of Hong Kong's marine pollution laws, with a view toward making policy suggestions. It argues that the general perception of the adequacy of Hong Kong's marine laws in combating vessel source pollution is flawed. It suggests that Hong Kong should adopt a more forward-looking perspective in the formulation of legal measures to control vessel source pollution.     

Rhythms,rhythmicity and aggression

The relationships between biological rhythms and human aggressive behavior are addressed and discussed in this article: First, circadian rhythms and aggression are considered. Studies of sleep/waking cycle disturbances in aggression are reported. Severe aggression is associated with profound changes in sleep architecture. Causal link is difficult to establish given that sleep disturbance and aggressive behavior could be the symptoms of the same disorder. Specific aggressive behavior developed during sleep is also described. In addition, hormonal circadian rhythm studies are reported. Thus, low cortisol levels, in particular low cortisol variability, are associated with aggressive behavior, suggesting an inhibitory role of cortisol. Testosterone has daily and seasonal fluctuations, but no link with aggression has been established. Neurophysiological underlying mechanisms are discussed in the last part of this article, with a focus on the relationship between brain rhythm and aggression. Increase of slow-wave EEG activities is observed in individuals with aggressive behavior. Epilepsy, as a disease of brain rhythm could be associated with aggressive behavior, in pre, post and inter ictal periodes. Incidence of aggression is not likely more prevalent in epileptic individuals compared to those with other neurological conditions. Ictal changes take the form of profound behavioral changes, including aggressive behavior which has been interpreted as the emergence of “archeical” or innate motor patterns. In this multidisciplinary approach, the main difficulty is the categorization of the differents types of aggression. Finally, taken together, these studies suggest that biological rhythms, especially circadian rhythms, could provide therapeutic benefits to human aggressive behavior. Biological rhythymicity seems to be a necessary permanent training offering interesting perspectives for the adaptation to changes in the field of aggression.     

Historical and philosophical perspectives on the study of developmental bias

Throughout the recent history of research at the intersection of evolution and development, notions such as developmental constraint, evolutionary novelty, and evolvability have been prominent, but the term “developmental bias” has scarcely been used. And one may even doubt whether a unique and principled definition of bias is possible. I argue that the concept of developmental bias can still play a vital scientific role by means of setting an explanatory agenda that motivates investigation and guides the formulation of integrative explanatory frameworks. Less crucial is a definition that would classify patterns of phenotypic variation and unify variational patterns involving different traits and taxa as all being “bias.” Instead, what we should want is a concept that generates intellectual identity across various researchers, and that unites the diverse fields and approaches relevant to the study of developmental bias, from paleontology to behavioral biology. I point to some advantages of conducting research specifically under the label of “developmental bias,” compared with employing other, more common terms such as “evolvability.”     

Bestial Wisdom and Human Tragedy: The Genesis of the Animal Epic

ABSTRACT

A radical redefinition or blurring of the boundaries between the human and animal realms, between “us” and “them,” can sometimes open dramatic new aesthetic and cultural possibilities. This paper discusses the earliest example of this, an ancient Akkadian fragment known, a bit deceptively, as “The Fable of the Fox.” Set against the background of a terrible drought which may well have destroyed the Akkadian Empire, it records the exchanges of a fox or jackal, a wolf, a lion and a dog. The last of these animals, especially, seems to bear a tragic destiny, of a sort that traditional literature tends to identify exclusively with the “human condition.” The essay goes on to trace how the story may have been the origin of a tradition which includes such important literary works as the Hindu Panchatantra, the Arab Kalila wa Dimna and even Shakespeare's “Othello.” Finally, it concludes with suggestions as to how recognition of tragedy not simply as part of “the human condition” but also as a bond with animals and the environment may open new aesthetic possibilities in the years to come.     

The Legal Status of Cats in New Zealand: A Perspective on the Welfare of Companion,Stray, and Feral Domestic Cats (Felis catus)

Pinpointing and safeguarding the welfare status of domestic cats is problematic, especially in New Zealand where cats are introduced predators with significant impact on indigenous fauna. Usually the identification of welfare status depends on conservational, legal, and public attitudes that are often contrasting. Cats may rapidly transgress definitions placed on them, confounding attempts to categorize them. In 1 generation, cats can move from a human-dependent state (“stray” or “companion”) to wild (“feral”). Often this categorization uses arbitrary behavioral and or situational parameters; consequent treatment and welfare protection for these cats are similarly affected. Terminology used to describe cats is not equitable across research. However, the New Zealand Animal Welfare (Companion Cats) Code of Welfare 2007 seeks to create a new definition of the terms companion, stray, and feral. It distinguishes between cats who live within and without human social constructs. This legislation mandates that cats in human environments or indirectly dependent on humans cannot be classified as feral. Such definitions may prove vital when safeguarding the welfare of free-living domestic cats and cat colonies.     

The scanning behavior of juncos: A game-theoretical approach

Flocking birds frequently look up or “scan” while they are feeding on the ground. High scanning rates increase the probability that the birds in a flock will see an approaching predator in time to avoid predation; however, high scanning rates also decrease the feeding rates of the scanning individuals. Since the scanning rate that maximizes the survival probability of one individual depends on how frequently other birds in the same flock are scanning, the optimal scanning behavior must be modeled as a game. We develop a realistic model of scanning behavior and use it to find two game theoretical solutions—the “co-operative” or Pareto optimum and the “selfish” or Nash optimum. The observed scanning rates do not differ significantly from the co-operative optimal scanning rate. We argue that in a game where players meet again and again such apparent co-operation may be an evolutionarily stable strategy.     

The Birth and Life of Species–Cultures

Evolution and life phenomena can be understood as results of history, i.e., as outcomes of cohabitation and collective memory of populations of autonomous entities (individuals) across many generations and vast extent of time. Hence, evolution of distinct lineages of life can be considered as isomorphic with that of cultures. I argue here that cultures and culture-like systems – human culture, natural languages, and life forms – always draw from history, memory, experience, internal dynamics, etc., transforming themselves creatively into new patterns, never foreseen before. This is possible thanks to the fact that all forms of life are descendants of life. Ontogeny and speciation in various lineages draw from continuous re-interpretation of conservative genetic/generic “texts”, as well as from changes of the interpretative process itself. The result is continuous appearances of new lineages-cultures and/or communities-cultures, in a semiotic process of re-interpretation and inventing new ways of living. The topic is developed here on the backgrounds of ideas presented by R. A. Rappaport in “Ritual and religion in the making of humanity” and J. Flegr in “Frozen evolution”.