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Bibliography on: Sociobiology

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ESP: PubMed Auto Bibliography 26 Jul 2026 at 01:58 Created: 

Sociobiology

Sociobiology is a field of scientific study that is based on the hypothesis that social behavior has resulted from evolution and attempts to examine and explain social behavior within that context. Sociobiology investigates social behaviors, such as mating patterns, territorial fights, pack hunting, and the hive society of social insects. It argues that just as selection pressure led to animals evolving useful ways of interacting with the natural environment, it led to the genetic evolution of advantageous social behavior. While the term "sociobiology" can be traced to the 1940s, the concept did not gain major recognition until the publication of Edward O. Wilson's book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis in 1975.

Created with PubMed® Query: sociobiology NOT pmcbook NOT ispreviousversion

Citations The Papers (from PubMed®)

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RevDate: 2007-01-17
CmpDate: 1982-10-12

Albin RS (1981)

Sociobiology: its implications for the humanities.

Humanities report, 3(8):4-8.

RevDate: 2019-06-07
CmpDate: 1991-06-24

Pellegrino ED (1990)

Science and theology: from a medical perspective.

The Linacre quarterly, 57(4):19-35.

RevDate: 2019-11-05
CmpDate: 1995-11-28

Agar N (1995)

Designing babies: morally permissible ways to modify the human genome.

Bioethics, 9(1):1-15.

My focus in this paper is the question of the moral acceptability of attempts to modify the human genome. Much of the debate in this area has revolved around the distinction between supposedly therapeutic modification on the one hand, and eugenic modification on the other. In the first part of the paper I reject some recent arguments against genetic engineering. In the second part I seek to distinguish between permissible and impermissible forms of intervention in such a way that does not appeal to the therapeutic/eugenic distinction. If I am right much of what we would intuitively call eugenic intervention will be morally acceptable. Central to my argument is an asymmetry in the way genetic engineers can influence a person's capacities on the one hand and life-goals on the other. Forms of genetic intervention that have a high probability of producing a mismatch of life-goals and capacities will be ruled out.

RevDate: 2019-10-27
CmpDate: 1993-02-09

Hill EM, BS Low (1992)

Contemporary abortion patterns: a life history approach.

Ethology and sociobiology, 13(1):35-48.

RevDate: 2019-10-27
CmpDate: 1993-02-01

Betzig L, LH Lombardo (1992)

Who's pro-choice and why.

Ethology and sociobiology, 13(1):49-71.

RevDate: 2019-10-27
CmpDate: 2000-07-28

Sloane A (1999)

Singer, preference utilitarianism and infanticide.

Studies in Christian ethics, 12(2):47-73.

RevDate: 2021-12-03
CmpDate: 2000-09-27

Udry JR (1995)

Policy and ethical implications of biosocial research.

Population research and policy review, 14(3):347-357.

RevDate: 2009-11-19
CmpDate: 1991-02-20

Lammers A, T Peters (1990)

Genethics: implications of the human genome project.

Christian century (Chicago, Ill. : 1902), 107(27):868-872.

RevDate: 2025-01-03
CmpDate: 1993-05-12

Dreyfuss RC, D Nelkin (1992)

The jurisprudence of genetics.

Vanderbilt law review, 45(2):313-348.

RevDate: 2009-11-19
CmpDate: 1996-09-10

Rothman BK (1995)

Of maps and imaginations: sociology confronts the genome.

Social problems, 42(1):1-10.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 1998-01-07

Kaye HL (1992)

Are our genes our destiny? We are more than our DNA.

Current, 345:4-9.

RevDate: 2025-01-03
CmpDate: 2000-07-30

MacKellar C (1996)

The biological child.

Ethics & medicine : a Christian perspective on issues in bioethics, 12(3):65-69.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

Science for the People. Sociobiology Study Group (1976)

Sociobiology: tool for social oppression.

Science for the people, 8(2):7-9.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

DeVore I, S Morris (1977)

The new science of genetic self-interest.

Psychology today, 10(9):42-46+.

RevDate: 2004-11-17
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

Currier R (1977)

Sociobiology: the new heresy.

Human behavior; the newsmagazine of the social sciences, 5(11):16-22.

RevDate: 2019-11-05
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

Simon MA (1978)

Sociobiology: the Aesop's fables of science.

The Sciences, 18(2):18-21+.

RevDate: 2019-11-05
CmpDate: 1979-06-01

Harris M, EO Wilson (1978)

Encounter: the envelope and the twig.

The Sciences, 18(8):10-15+.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 1980-08-01

Dorozynski A (1978)

Sociobiology: science's enfant terrible.

Science forum, 11(2):15-16.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 1981-02-01

Simon RL, SL Zegura (1979)

Sociobiology and morality.

Social research, 46(4):766-786.

RevDate: 2019-11-05
CmpDate: 1981-06-01

Perry RJ (1980)

Sociobiology: science in the service of ideology.

Ethics, 91(1):125-137.

RevDate: 2019-12-10
CmpDate: 1981-06-01

Hamburgh M (1980)

The paradox of human goodness.

Ethics in science & medicine, 7(3-4):127-140.

RevDate: 2019-10-27
CmpDate: 1981-06-01

Midgley M (1979)

Gene-juggling.

Philosophy (London, England), 54(210):439-458.

RevDate: 2002-11-20
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

Anonymous (1976)

Genes über alles.

Time, 108(24):93+.

RevDate: 2004-11-17
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

Gould SJ (1976)

Biological potential vs. biological determinism.

Natural history, 85(5):12+.

RevDate: 2019-10-27
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

Holton G (1977)

Sociobiology: the new synthesis?.

Newsletter on science, technology & human values.

RevDate: 2009-11-11
CmpDate: 1979-06-01

Pines M (1978)

Is sociobiology all wet?.

Psychology today, 11(12):23-24.

RevDate: 2002-11-20
CmpDate: 1979-10-01

Morin AJ (1979)

Revelation and heresy in sociobiology: a review essay.

Science, technology & human values, 4(27):24-35.

RevDate: 2019-10-27
CmpDate: 1979-11-01

Brungs RA (1979)

Biotechnology and the control of life.

Thought, 54(212):37-57.

RevDate: 2004-11-17
CmpDate: 1981-02-01

Hampshire S (1978)

The illusion of sociobiology.

The New York review of books, 25(15):64-69.

RevDate: 2004-11-09
CmpDate: 1980-08-01

Anonymous (1978)

A genetic defense of the free market.

Business week.

RevDate: 2007-11-15
CmpDate: 1981-02-01

Frankel C (1979)

Sociobiology and its critics.

Commentary (New York, N.Y.), 68(1):39-47.

RevDate: 2019-10-27
CmpDate: 1981-06-01

Wind J (1980)

Man's selfish genes, social behavior and ethics.

Journal of social and biological structures, 3(1):33-41.

RevDate: 2004-11-17
CmpDate: 1981-06-01

Rosenfeld A (1980)

Sociobiology stirs a controversy over limits of science.

Smithsonian, 11(6):73-81.

RevDate: 2004-11-17
CmpDate: 1981-09-01

Stevens VJ (1977)

Sociobiology, science and human behavior.

Behaviorists for Social Action journal, 1(1):1-4.

RevDate: 2009-11-19
CmpDate: 1982-01-01

Wilson EO (1980)

The attempt to suppress human behavioral genetics.

The Journal of general education, 29(4):277-287.

RevDate: 2002-11-20
CmpDate: 1982-01-01

Bates WR (1976)

The disturbing political implications of 'sociobiology'.

Science forum, 9(5):23-24.

RevDate: 2017-02-14
CmpDate: 1982-01-01

Albury WR (1980)

Politics and rhetoric in the sociobiology debate.

Social studies of science, 10(4):519-536.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 1982-01-01

Lewin R (1981)

Genes, mind and Edward O. Wilson.

New society, 56(963):176-178.

RevDate: 2019-10-27
CmpDate: 1982-03-01

Brownstein L (1978)

Sociobiology: the investigation of the biological aspects of social behavior and organization.

Sociology, 12(2):360-368.

RevDate: 2004-11-17
CmpDate: 1981-06-01

Shannon TA (1980)

Ethical implications of developments in genetics.

The Linacre quarterly, 47(4):346-368.

RevDate: 2019-10-27
CmpDate: 1981-06-01

Browning DS, B Lyon (1979)

Sociobiology and ethical reflection.

Theology today (Princeton, N.J.), 36(2):229-238.

RevDate: 2002-11-20
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

Lewin R (1976)

The course of a controversy.

New scientist (1971), 70(1000):344-345.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

British Society for Social Responsibility in Science. Science as Ideology Group (1976)

The new synthesis is an old story.

New scientist (1971), 70(1000):346-348.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 1979-04-01

Lewin R (1977)

Biological limits to morality.

New scientist (1971), 76(1082):694-696.

RevDate: 2004-11-18
CmpDate: 1979-06-01

Friedeman H (1978)

Criminal research prompts Dutch sociobiology debate.

New scientist (1971), 78(1104):494-495.

RevDate: 2008-11-21
CmpDate: 1979-10-01

Wilson EO (1978)

The nature of human nature.

New scientist (1971), 80(1123):20-22.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 1979-10-01

Hull D (1978)

The sociology of sociobiology.

New scientist (1971), 79(1121):862-865.

RevDate: 2019-11-20

Mysterud I (2001)

Triumph of Sociobiology.

Trends in cognitive sciences, 5(12):550.

RevDate: 2013-11-21
CmpDate: 2001-12-31

Lehmann FO (2001)

Matching spiracle opening to metabolic need during flight in Drosophila.

Science (New York, N.Y.), 294(5548):1926-1929.

The respiratory exchange system of insects must maximize the flux of respiratory gases through the spiracles of the tracheal system while minimizing water loss. This trade-off between gas exchange and water loss becomes crucial when locomotor activity is increased during flight and metabolic needs are greatest. Insects that keep their spiracles mostly closed during flight reduce water loss but limit the flux of oxygen and carbon dioxide into and out of the tracheal system and thus attenuate locomotor performance. Insects that keep their spiracles completely open allow maximum gas exchange but face desiccation stress more quickly. Experiments in which water vapor was used as a tracer gas to track changes in the conductance of the respiratory system indicated that flying fruit flies minimize potential water loss by matching the area of the open spiracles to their gas exchange required for metabolic needs. This behavior maintained approximately constant pressure for carbon dioxide (1.35 kilopascals) and oxygen (19.9 kilopascals) within the tracheal system while reducing respirometric water loss by up to 23% compared with a strategy in which the spiracles are held wide open during flight. The adaptive spiracle-closing behavior in fruit flies has general implications for the ecology of flying insects because it shows how these animals may cope with environmental challenges during high locomotor performance.

RevDate: 2019-10-25
CmpDate: 2002-02-28

Lehmann FO (2001)

The efficiency of aerodynamic force production in Drosophila.

Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology, 131(1):77-88.

Total efficiency of aerodynamic force production in insect flight depends on both the efficiency with which flight muscles turn metabolic energy into muscle mechanical power and the efficiency with which this power is converted into aerodynamic flight force by the flapping wings. Total efficiency has been estimated in tethered flying fruit flies Drosophila by modulating their power expenditures in a virtual reality flight simulator while simultaneously measuring stroke kinematics, locomotor performance and metabolic costs. During flight, muscle efficiency increases with increasing flight force production, whereas aerodynamic efficiency of lift production decreases with increasing forces. As a consequence of these opposite trends, total flight efficiency in Drosophila remains approximately constant within the kinematic working range of the flight motor. Total efficiency is broadly independent of different profile power estimates and typically amounts to 2-3%. The animal achieves maximum total efficiency near hovering flight conditions, when the beating wings produce flight forces that are equal to the body weight of the insect. It remains uncertain whether this small advantage in total efficiency during hovering flight was shaped by evolutionary factors or results from functional constraints on both the production of mechanical power by the indirect flight muscles and the unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in flapping flight.

RevDate: 2019-09-16
CmpDate: 2002-03-08

Segerstrale U (2001)

World views and Trojan horses in the sociobiology debate.

Journal of biosciences, 26(5):549-554.

RevDate: 2019-09-16
CmpDate: 2002-05-09

Schwartz J (2002)

Population genetics and sociobiology: conflicting views of evolution.

Perspectives in biology and medicine, 45(2):224-240.

This article explores the tension between the population genetics and sociobiological approaches to the study of evolution. Whereas population geneticists, like Stanford's Marc Feldman, insist that the genetic complexities of organisms cannot be overlooked, sociobiologists (many of whom now prefer to call themselves "behavioral ecologists") rely on optimization models that are based on the simplest possible genetics.These optimization approaches have their roots in the classical result known as the fundamental theorem of natural selection, formulated by R. A. Fisher in 1930. From the start there was great uncertainty over the proper interpretation of Fisher's theorem, which became confused with Sewall Wright's immensely influential adaptive landscape concept. In the 1960s, a new generation of mathematical biologists proved that Fisher's theorem did not hold when fitness depended on more than one locus. Similar reasoning was used to attack W. D. Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory. A new theory, known as the theory of long-term evolution, attempts to reconcile the rigorous population genetics approach with the long-standing sociobiological view that natural selection acts to increase the fitness of organisms.

RevDate: 2021-12-03
CmpDate: 2002-11-19

Gebo E (2002)

A contextual exploration of siblicide.

Violence and victims, 17(2):157-168.

This article contextualizes the exploration of sibling homicide, or siblicide, a phenomenon that traditionally has received very little attention within the academic literature. Siblicide is examined in relation to other family homicides and other known homicides. Given the traditional frequency, duration, and intensity of youthful sibling relationships, juvenile homicides are disaggregated from adult homicides to reveal whether there are any differences. Although previous research has questioned the use of the Supplementary Homicide Reports for this type of analysis (Daly, Wilson, Salmon, Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, & Hasegawa 2001), the utility of the data set is demonstrated. The results of this exploration suggest that siblicide may be examined within the theoretical contexts of sociobiology and routine activities theory.

RevDate: 2022-03-18
CmpDate: 2002-11-19

Peters J, Shackelford TK, DM Buss (2002)

Understanding domestic violence against women: using evolutionary psychology to extend the feminist functional analysis.

Violence and victims, 17(2):255-264.

Evolutionary psychologists such as Wilson and Daly (1993b) hypothesize that one goal of male-perpetrated domestic violence is control over female sexuality, including the deterrence of infidelity. According to this hypothesis, domestic violence varies with women's reproductive value or expected future reproduction, declining steeply as women age. We tested this hypothesis with a sample of 3,969 cases of male-perpetrated partner-abuse reported to a single police precinct in a large urban area over a 14-year period. Results show that (a) rates of domestic violence decrease as women age, (b) younger men are at greatest risk for perpetrating domestic violence, (c) younger, reproductive age women incur nearly 10 times the risk of domestic violence as do older, post-reproductive age women, and (d) the greater risk of domestic violence incurred by reproductive age women is not attributable solely to mateship to younger, more violent men. Discussion addresses theoretical implications of these findings and suggests a refinement of the feminist hypothesis of domestic violence against women.

RevDate: 2024-03-14
CmpDate: 2002-08-02

Julian GE, Fewell JH, Gadau J, et al (2002)

Genetic determination of the queen caste in an ant hybrid zone.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 99(12):8157-8160.

The question of how reproductives and sterile workers differentiate within eusocial groups has long been a core issue in sociobiology because it requires the loss of individual direct fitness in favor of indirect or group-level fitness gains. The evolution of social behavior requires that differentiation between workers and female reproductives be environmentally determined, because genetically determined sterility would be quickly eliminated. Nevertheless, we report clear evidence of genetic caste determination in populations of two seed harvester ant species common to the southwestern USA, Pogonomyrmex rugosus and Pogonomyrmex barbatus. The genetic differentiation between workers and queens is found only in areas of sympatry of the two species, and thus appears to arisen from hybridization. Our data suggest that this hybridization has had a profound historical effect on the caste determination systems and mating patterns of each of these species.

RevDate: 2026-01-28
CmpDate: 2003-02-05

Seeley TD, Kühnholz S, RH Seeley (2002)

An early chapter in behavioral physiology and sociobiology: the science of Martin Lindauer.

Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 188(6):439-453.

The fields of behavioral physiology and sociobiology enjoyed spectacular success in post World War II Germany. One of the major contributors to this blossoming in behavioral science was Martin Lindauer, who furthered the research approach of his mentor (Karl von Frisch), made numerous seminal discoveries, and nurtured a strong next generation in the area of neurobiology and behavior. We review the scientific development of Martin Lindauer within the German academic system in the years surrounding World War II, examine his research approach and achievements, and discuss his unusually successful methods of scientific pedagogy.

RevDate: 2026-01-28
CmpDate: 1994-06-02

Mumtaz S (1992)

Comments on "Cultural Perceptions and the Productive Roles of Rural Pakistani Women".

Pakistan development review, 31(4 Pt 2):1305-1307.

RevDate: 2006-11-15
CmpDate: 1994-10-05

Braeckman J (1992)

[The population explosion in sociobiological perspective].

Tijdschrift voor sociale wetenschappen, 37(3):292-304.

The author uses the assertions of Anne and Paul Erlich regarding population growth as a basis for his analysis of whether the field of sociobiology offers hope that humans can control reproduction effectively. He notes that "sociobiology is rather pessimistic about this since it is the essence of human nature to reproduce and multiply. In spite of this there are reasons to believe that humankind is able to achieve...a declining birth rate, and this thesis...takes account of the genetic or natural and the cultural make-up of human beings." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

RevDate: 2007-01-19
CmpDate: 2002-12-17

Patzig G (2002)

Can moral norms be rationally justified?.

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English), 41(18):3353-3358.

RevDate: 2019-11-06
CmpDate: 1989-01-12

Granberg D, BW Granberg (1985)

A search for gender differences on fertility-related attitudes: questioning the relevance of sociobiology theory for understanding social psychological aspects of human reproduction.

Psychology of women quarterly, 9(4):431-437.

RevDate: 2006-11-15
CmpDate: 1995-04-05

Begossi A (1993)

[Human ecology: an overview of man-environment relationships].

Interciencia, 18(3):121-132.

RevDate: 2006-11-15
CmpDate: 2003-04-01

Puppe B (2002)

[The development of the relationship between sow and piglet in the domestic pig--a sociobiological observation].

Berliner und Munchener tierarztliche Wochenschrift, 115(11-12):445-452.

The nursing and suckling behaviour of the domestic pig is a complex social behavioural interaction aimed to ensure the milk flow from the sow to the piglets. Ultimately caused theoretical frameworks from basic ethology and/or sociobiology are increasingly used to explain such social behavioural patterns. The present paper gives a short survey of ethophysiological aspects of the nursing and suckling behaviour in domestic pigs and, thereafter, discusses the development and consequences of some parts of the suckling behaviour and the maternal lactation performance in terms of a possible parent-offspring and weaning conflict. It is concluded that--additional to proximately caused mechanisms--the ontogeny of domestic pigs can be interpreted with such principles. In housing systems allowing the animals more control over their behaviour (e.g. their investment) ultimate causes should be more considered. Especially the pathways on which the ultimate strategies become effective via proximate mechanisms do not seem to be understood in total and require specific research. However, it is suggested that effective improvements of welfare, health and productivity can only be reached with the knowledge and integration of both ultimate and proximate causes of behaviour.

RevDate: 2019-11-06
CmpDate: 2003-01-17

McLoughlin G (2002)

Is depression normal in human beings? A critique of the evolutionary perspective.

International journal of mental health nursing, 11(3):170-173.

To the evolutionary biologist human beings at every stage of their development represent 'compromises' in their continual adaptation to their changing environments. Using a neo-Darwinian perspective, evolutionary psychiatrists such as Randolph Nesse (Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan) argue that while natural selection does not shape disease itself, it does shape human traits and therefore vulnerability to disease. Accordingly, for him, depression is a human emotion which may represent a surviving positive response and is therefore not always pathological. This critique examines Nesse's principal arguments and reveals a number of weaknesses in those arguments. The article concludes with a review of the therapeutic and preventive implications of his evolutionary perspective on depressive states as well as some implications for mental health nurses.

RevDate: 2018-11-30
CmpDate: 2003-03-28

Dornhaus A, Brockmann A, L Chittka (2003)

Bumble bees alert to food with pheromone from tergal gland.

Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 189(1):47-51.

Foragers of Bombus terrestris are able to alert their nestmates to the presence of food sources. It has been supposed that this happens at least partially through the distribution of a pheromone inside the nest. We substantiate this claim using a behavioral test in which an alerting signal is transmitted from one colony to another by long distance air transport, so excluding all other modalities of information exchange. We then investigated the source of the pheromone and were able to show that a hexane extract from tergites V-VII of bumble bee workers elicits higher activity, like a successful forager does. Extracts from other glands, such as the mandibular, labial, hypopharyngeal, and Dufour's gland as well as extracts from other parts of the cuticle had no effect. This suggests that bumble bees possess a pheromone-producing gland, similar to the Nasanov gland in honey bees. Indeed, an extract from the honey bee Nasanov gland also proved to alert bumble bee workers, suggesting a possible homology of the glands.

RevDate: 2019-05-13
CmpDate: 2003-09-08

Schwarz MP, Bull NJ, SJ Cooper (2003)

Molecular phylogenetics of allodapine bees, with implications for the evolution of sociality and progressive rearing.

Systematic biology, 52(1):1-14.

Allodapine bees have long been regarded as providing useful material for examining the origins of social behavior. Previous researchers have assumed that sociality arose within the Allodapini and have linked the evolution of sociality to a transition from mass provisioning to progressive provisioning of brood. Early phylogenetic studies of allodapines were based on morphological and life-history data, but critical aspects of these studies relied on small character sets, where the polarity and coding of characters is problematic. We used nucleotide sequence data from one nuclear and two mitochondrial gene fragments to examine phylogenetic structure among nine allodapine genera. Our data set comprised 1506 nucleotide positions, of which 402 were parsimony informative. Maximum parsimony, log determinant, and maximum likelihood analyses produced highly similar phylogenetic topologies, and all analyses indicated that the tropical African genus Macrogalea was the sister group to all other allodapines. This finding conflicts with that of previous studies, in which Compsomelissa + Halterapis formed the most basal group. Changing the basal node of the Allodapini has major consequences for understanding evolution in this tribe. Our results cast doubt on the previous hypotheses that progressive provisioning and castelike social behavior evolved among lineages leading to the extant allodapine taxa. Instead, our results suggest that mass provisioning in Halterapis is a derived feature and that social behavior is an ancestral trait for all allodapine lineages. The forms of social behavior present in extant allodapines are likely to have resulted from a long evolutionary history, which may help explain the complexity of social traits found in many allodapine bees.

RevDate: 2022-03-16
CmpDate: 2003-09-08

Danforth BN, Conway L, S Ji (2003)

Phylogeny of eusocial Lasioglossum reveals multiple losses of eusociality within a primitively eusocial clade of bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae).

Systematic biology, 52(1):23-36.

We performed a phylogenetic analysis of the species, species groups, and subgenera within the predominantly eusocial lineage of Lasioglossum (the Hemihalictus series) based on three protein coding genes: mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I, nuclear elongation factor 1alpha and long-wavelength rhodopsin. The entire data set consisted of 3421 aligned nucleotide sites, 854 of which were parsimony informative. Analyses by equal weights parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods yielded good resolution among the 53 taxa/populations, with strong bootstrap support and high posterior probabilities for most nodes. There was no significant incongruence among genes, and parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods yielded congruent results. We mapped social behavior onto the resulting tree for 42 of the taxa/populations to infer the likely history of social evolution within Lasioglossum. Our results indicate that eusociality had a single origin within Lasioglossum. Within the predominantly eusocial clade, however, there have been multiple (six) reversals from eusociality to solitary nesting, social polymorphism, or social parasitism, suggesting that these reversals may be more common in primitively eusocial Hymenoptera than previously anticipated. Our results support the view that eusociality is hard to evolve but easily lost. This conclusion is potentially important for understanding the early evolution of the advanced eusocial insects, such as ants, termites, and corbiculate bees.

RevDate: 2003-11-14
CmpDate: 2003-03-28

Hannonen M, L Sundström (2003)

Sociobiology: Worker nepotism among polygynous ants.

Nature, 421(6926):910.

RevDate: 2018-11-13
CmpDate: 2003-04-04

Oli MK (2003)

Hamilton goes empirical: estimation of inclusive fitness from life-history data.

Proceedings. Biological sciences, 270(1512):307-311.

Hamilton's theory of kin selection is one of the most important advances in evolutionary biology since Darwin. Central to the kin-selection theory is the concept of inclusive fitness. However, despite the importance of inclusive fitness in evolutionary theory, empirical estimation of inclusive fitness has remained an elusive task. Using the concept of individual fitness, I present a method for estimating inclusive fitness and its components for diploid organisms with age-structured life histories. The method presented here: (i) allows empirical estimation of inclusive fitness from life-history data; (ii) simultaneously considers all components of fitness, including timing and magnitude of reproduction; (iii) is consistent with Hamilton's definition of inclusive fitness; and (iv) adequately addresses shortcomings of existing methods of estimating inclusive fitness. I also demonstrate the application of this new method for testing Hamilton's rule.

RevDate: 2019-09-18
CmpDate: 2003-05-13

Wahlqvist ML, ML Wahlqvist (2002)

'Malnutrition' in the aged: the dietary assessment.

Public health nutrition, 5(6A):911-913.

Changing demography towards older populations requires nutritionists to review food--health relationships in regard to older age groups, to the ageing process, to precursors of disability and survival, and to the changeability of health status through diet in later life. Nutritional status in later life may be complex with combined features of under-, over- and disordered nutrition -- dysnutrition. Further, beyond food components (essential nutrients and more), foods themselves, integrals of food intake and the socio-cultural aspects of food intake play a significant role in the health and well-being of the aged and require measurement. Ageing socio-biology provides opportunities and imposes limitations on the usual food intake instruments. However, rapid assessment procedures can be particularly valuable as highlighted in the Food Habits in Later Life project of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences. There are critical issues to which dietary methodology can be applied to the aged: a disappearing knowledge base, relevant health-enhancing strategies and the creation of new food--health opportunities. Many communities now wish to use such information to develop food-based dietary guidelines for their aged members.

RevDate: 2019-11-07
CmpDate: 2003-05-06

Hanson R (2002)

Why health is not special: errors in evolved bioethics intuitions.

Social philosophy & policy, 19(2):153-179.

RevDate: 2018-11-13
CmpDate: 2003-06-03

Kronauer DJ, Gadau J, B Hölldobler (2003)

Genetic evidence for intra- and interspecific slavery in honey ants (genus Myrmecocystus).

Proceedings. Biological sciences, 270(1517):805-810.

The New World honey ant species Myrmecocystus mimicus is well known for its highly stereotyped territorial tournaments, and for the raids on conspecific nests that can lead to intraspecific slavery. Our results from mitochondrial and nuclear markers show that the raided brood emerges in the raiding colony and is subsequently incorporated into the colony's worker force. We also found enslaved conspecifics in a second honey ant species, M. depilis, the sister taxon of M. mimicus, which occurs in sympatry with M. mimicus at the study site. Colonies of this species furthermore contained raided M. mimicus workers. Both species have an effective mating frequency that is not significantly different from 1. This study provides genetic evidence for facultative intra- and interspecific slavery in the genus Myrmecocystus. Slavery in ants has evolved repeatedly and supposedly by different means. We propose that, in honey ants, secondary contact between two closely related species that both exhibit intraspecific slavery gave rise to an early form of facultative interspecific slavery.

RevDate: 2019-08-23
CmpDate: 2003-08-04

Cardoso MH, LD Castiel (2003)

[Collective health, the new genetics, and market eugenics].

Cadernos de saude publica, 19(2):653-662.

Due to constant advances in genetic manipulation, the field of public health is faced with the possible emergence of a reductionist genomic emphasis, beyond socio-cultural influences. Under such circumstances, the main focus of public health interventions would shift towards a genomic approach to "individuals" and their "families", to the detriment of their consecrated object - "populations", thereby moving away from the current central priority of efforts (and resources) aimed at reducing ill-health due to socioeconomic inequalities. Even admitting the benefits of genetic knowledge, a new eugenic practice may emerge from the availability of genetic tests on the marketplace aimed at individuals that can afford to consume them.

RevDate: 2019-06-07
CmpDate: 2003-11-04

Thom C (2003)

The tremble dance of honey bees can be caused by hive-external foraging experience.

The Journal of experimental biology, 206(Pt 13):2111-2116.

The tremble dance of honey bee nectar foragers is part of the communication system that regulates a colony's foraging efficiency. A forager that returns to the hive with nectar, but then experiences a long unloading delay because she has difficulty finding a nectar receiver bee, will perform a tremble dance to recruit additional nectar receiver bees. A forager that experiences a short unloading delay will perform a waggle dance to recruit more nectar foragers. A long unloading delay was until now the only known cause of tremble dancing. However, several studies suggested that factors at the food source may also cause tremble dancing. Here I test whether one of these factors, crowding of nectar foragers at the food source, stimulates tremble dancing because it causes long unloading delays. To do so, I increased the density of nectar foragers at a food source by suddenly reducing the size of an artificial feeder, and recorded the unloading delay experienced by each forager, as well as the dance she performed, if any. A forager's unloading delay was measured as the time interval between entering the hive and either (1) the first unloading contact with a nectar receiver bee, or (2) the start of the first dance, if dancing began before the first unloading contact. I also recorded the unloading delays and dances of nectar foragers that returned from natural food sources. The results show that crowding of nectar foragers at the food source increases the probability of tremble dancing, but does not cause long unloading delays, and that tremble dancers that foraged at natural food sources also often have short unloading delays. When the cause of the tremble dance is not a low supply of nectar receiver bees, the tremble dance may have a function in addition to the recruitment of nectar receiver bees.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 2003-08-19

Greitemeyer T, Rudolph U, B Weiner (2003)

Whom would you rather help: an acquaintance not responsible for her plight or a responsible sibling?.

The Journal of social psychology, 143(3):331-340.

When 2 persons--an acquaintance who could not have avoided a problem and a close relative who is responsible for her own plight--ask for help, attribution theory and sociobiology conflict about who will receive help. Attribution theorists assume that the nonresponsible acquaintance will be supported, but sociobiologists argue that the responsible sibling will receive help. The authors tested the hypothesis that characteristics of the situation affect which theory better predicts help giving. The results confirmed that in situations that do not affect life and death, a nonresponsible acquaintance would receive more help than a responsible sibling. But in life-or-death situations, inasmuch as the reproductive fitness of the person in need is in danger, a responsible sibling would be supported more than a nonresponsible acquaintance.

RevDate: 2019-11-07
CmpDate: 2003-08-27

Badcott D (2003)

The basis and relevance of emotional dignity.

Medicine, health care, and philosophy, 6(2):123-131.

The paper is a preliminary examination of the origin and role of psychological perception or "feeling" of dignity in human beings. Following Ayala's naturalistic account of morality, a sense of emotional dignity is seen as an outcome of processes of natural selection, cultural evolution, and above all a need for social inclusion. It is suggested that the existence of emotional dignity as part of a human species-related continuum provides an explanation of why we treat those in a persistent vegetative state, the severely and hopelessly mentally impaired, the senile demented, cadavers and archaeological remains with dignity and respect. For older Europeans, dissonance between physical and mental abilities, unfamiliarity with social and cultural changes and relative proximity to death may influence their emotional dignity and hence vulnerability.

RevDate: 2019-07-25
CmpDate: 2003-10-07

Amdam GV, SW Omholt (2003)

The hive bee to forager transition in honeybee colonies: the double repressor hypothesis.

Journal of theoretical biology, 223(4):451-464.

In summer, the honeybee (Apis mellifera) worker population consists of two temporal castes, a hive bee group performing a multitude of tasks including nursing inside the nest, and a forager group specialized on collecting nectar, pollen, water and propolis. Elucidation of the regulatory mechanisms responsible for the hive bee to forager transition holds a prominent position within present day sociobiology. Here we suggest a new explanation dubbed the "double repressor hypothesis" aimed to account for the substantial amount of empirical data in this field. This is the first time where both the regular transition and starvation-induced precocious transition are explained within the same regulatory framework. We suggest that the transition is under regulatory control by an internal and an external repressor of the allatoregulatory central nervous system, where these two repressors modulate a positive regulatory feedback loop involving juvenile hormone (JH) and the lipoprotein vitellogenin. The concepts of age-neutrality, fixed and variable response thresholds and reinforcement are integral parts of our explanation, and in addition they are given explicit physiological content. The hypothesis is represented by a differential equations model at the level of the individual bee, and by a discrete individual-based colony model. The two models generate predictions in accordance with empirical data concerning the cumulative probability of becoming a forager, mean age at onset of foraging, reversal of foragers, time window of reversal, relationship between JH titre and onset of foraging, relative representations of genotypic groups, and effects of forager depletion and confinement.

RevDate: 2022-03-10
CmpDate: 1998-11-01

ALTMANN SA (1962)

A field study of the sociobiology of rhesus monkeys, Macaca mulatta.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 102:338-435.

RevDate: 2018-12-01
CmpDate: 1998-11-01

SCHINZEL A (1959)

[Sociobiological consequences of the overloading of the family].

Medizinische Klinik, 54:1775-1778.

RevDate: 2009-11-11
CmpDate: 2003-11-19

Palmer CT, R Thornhill (2003)

Straw men and fairy tales: Evaluating reactions to A Natural History of Rape.

Journal of sex research, 40(3):249-255.

In this paper we respond to two frequent criticisms of our book, A Natural History of Rape (Thornhill & Palmer, 2000). The first criticism portrays the book as little more than a "just-so story" that human rape is an adaptation. We demonstrate that this portrayal is not accurate. The second criticism reflects a common response to the book s challenge of the popular assertion that rapists are not motivated by sexual desire but instead commit these crimes motivated by the urge to power, domination, and violence, and the urge to degrade and humiliate women. We demonstrate that such criticisms of our book are inherently contradictory and illogical. We believe it is important for sex researchers to understand that these sorts of criticisms are seriously flawed so that future research efforts toward understanding the causes of sexual coercion are not stalled.

RevDate: 2019-11-08
CmpDate: 2004-03-02

Biglan A (2003)

Selection by consequences: one unifying principle for a transdisciplinary science of prevention.

Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research, 4(4):213-232.

The principle of selection by consequences is critical to the analysis of a broad range of phenomena in the biological and behavioral sciences from the evolution of species to the selection of cultural practices. This paper reviews the role of that principle in diverse areas of the biobehavioral sciences and discusses how it can provide one dimension along which the diverse disciplines relevant to the prevention of problems of human behavior can be integrated. Such integration should improve the ability of prevention science to reduce the incidence and prevalence of human behavior problems.

RevDate: 2004-11-17
CmpDate: 2003-11-07

Barinaga M (2001)

Life extension--our salvation or our ruin?.

Science of aging knowledge environment : SAGE KE, 2001(1):ns1 pii:2001/1/ns1.

RevDate: 2018-11-08
CmpDate: 2003-12-17

Millon T (2003)

It's time to rework the blueprints: building a science for clinical psychology.

The American psychologist, 58(11):949-961.

The aims in this article are to connect the conceptual structure of clinical psychological science to what the author believes to be the omnipresent principles of evolution, use the evolutionary model to create a deductively derived clinical theory and taxonomy, link the theory and taxonomy to comprehensive and integrated approaches to assessment, and outline a framework for an integrative synergistic model of psychotherapy. These foundations also provide a framework for a systematic approach to the subject realms of personology and psychopathology. Exploring nature's deep principles, the model revives the personologic concept christened by Henry Murray some 65 years ago; it also parallels the interface between human social functioning and evolutionary biology proposed by Edward Wilson in his concept of sociobiology.

RevDate: 2019-11-08
CmpDate: 2004-02-27

Jianhui L, H Fan (2003)

Science as ideology: the rejection and reception of sociobiology in China.

Journal of the history of biology, 36(3):567-578.

The spread of sociobiology in China is not simply an internal event in the development of science. From the day it was introduced to China, its destiny was closely bound up with the development and change of Chinese society. Although it did not create as great disturbance as in America, it did have a significant impact in academic circles. However, scholars have paid little attention to these historical events. Today, sociobiology seems outdated and Wilson's grand agenda seems to have faded with the passing of time, but the mark that he made on the history of science is still striking. A review of the process of reception of sociobiology in China is helpful for understanding this theory as well as the society of China.

RevDate: 2004-11-17
CmpDate: 2004-07-01

Keefe FJ, JA Blumenthal (2004)

Health psychology: what will the future bring?.

Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 23(2):156-157.

This commentary highlights several important themes and trends in this series of articles focusing on the future of health psychology. First, the challenges posed by changes in populations will only be met if health psychologists can develop a contextual competency. Second, with increasing evidence for the efficacy of health psychology interventions comes heightened interest in testing the effectiveness of these interventions. Third, issues of cost-effectiveness of health psychology will become increasingly important. Fourth, the growing integration of technological advances (e.g., telehealth, the Internet) into health psychology has major implications. Finally, the numerous changes outlined in this series of articles will demand that health psychologists extend and refine their theoretical models including the biopsychosocial model.

RevDate: 2023-11-05
CmpDate: 2004-05-10

Groh C, Tautz J, W Rössler (2004)

Synaptic organization in the adult honey bee brain is influenced by brood-temperature control during pupal development.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101(12):4268-4273.

Recent studies have shown that the behavioral performance of adult honey bees is influenced by the temperature experienced during pupal development. Here we explore whether there are temperature-mediated effects on the brain. We raised pupae at different constant temperatures between 29 and 37 degrees C and performed neuroanatomical analyses of the adult brains. Analyses focused on sensory-input regions in the mushroom bodies, brain areas associated with higher-order processing such as learning and memory. Distinct synaptic complexes [microglomeruli (MG)] within the mushroom body calyces were visualized by using fluorophore-conjugated phalloidin and an antibody to synapsin. The numbers of MG were different in bees that had been raised at different temperatures, and these differences persisted after the first week of adult life. In the olfactory-input region (lip), MG numbers were highest in bees raised at the temperature normally maintained in brood cells (34.5 degrees C) and significantly decreased in bees raised at 1 degrees C below and above this norm. Interestingly, in the neighboring visual-input region (collar), MG numbers were less affected by temperature. We conclude that thermoregulatory control of brood rearing can generate area- and modality-specific effects on synaptic neuropils in the adult brain. We propose that resulting differences in the synaptic circuitry may affect neuronal plasticity and may underlie temperature-mediated effects on multimodal communication and learning.

RevDate: 2019-06-16
CmpDate: 2004-03-26

Ekman P (2003)

Emotions inside out. 130 Years after Darwin's "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal".

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1000:1-6.

RevDate: 2006-07-06
CmpDate: 2004-05-06

Kanazawa S (2004)

General intelligence as a domain-specific adaptation.

Psychological review, 111(2):512-523.

General intelligence (g) poses a problem for evolutionary psychology's modular view of the human brain. The author advances a new evolutionary psychological theory of the evolution of general intelligence and argues that general intelligence evolved as a domain-specific adaptation for the originally limited sphere of evolutionary novelty in the ancestral environment. It has accidentally become universally important merely because we now live in an evolutionarily novel world. The available data seem to support the author's contention that intelligent people can solve problems better than less intelligent people only if the problems are evolutionarily novel, and they have no advantage in solving evolutionarily familiar problems. This perspective can also solve some empirical anomalies, such as the "central theoretical problem of human sociobiology" (D. R. Vining, 1986, p. 167) and the geographic distribution of general intelligence throughout the world.

RevDate: 2016-11-24
CmpDate: 2004-09-02

Castro L, MA Toro (2004)

Mutual benefit can promote the evolution of preferential interactions and in this way can lead to the evolution of true altruism.

Theoretical population biology, 65(3):239-247.

We analyse the evolution of the assortment of encounters through active choice of companions among individuals that interact cooperatively in a situation of mutual benefit. Using a simple mathematical model, we show that mutual benefit can favour the evolution of a preference to interact with individuals that are similar to themselves with respect to an arbitrary tag even when both the preference and the tag depend on two independent and unlinked genes. Two necessary requisites to obtain this result are: (i) a small population or a large subdivided metapulation and (ii) an asymmetry between partners in such a way that one of them (donor) proposes the cooperation and elects the partner, whereas the other (receiver) never rejects the offer. We also show that mutual benefit can be the starting point for the evolution of altruistic behaviours as long as there are preferential interactions. This requires that the tag used in the election of partners is the altruistic or selfish behaviour itself.

RevDate: 2022-12-07
CmpDate: 2004-07-30

Wallace R, Wallace D, RG Wallace (2004)

Coronary heart disease, chronic inflammation, and pathogenic social hierarchy: a biological limit to possible reductions in morbidity and mortality.

Journal of the National Medical Association, 96(5):609-619.

We suggest that a particular form of social hierarchy, which we characterize as "pathogenic", can, from the earliest stages of life, exert a formal analog to evolutionary selection pressure, literally writing a permanent developmental image of itself upon immune function as chronic vascular inflammation and its consequences. The staged nature of resulting disease emerges "naturally" as a rough analog to punctuated equilibrium in evolutionary theory, although selection pressure is a passive filter rather than an active agent, like structured psychosocial stress. Exposure differs according to the social constructs of race, class, and ethnicity, accounting in large measure for observed population-level differences in rates of coronary heart disease across industrialized societies. American Apartheid, which enmeshes both majority and minority communities in a social construct of pathogenic hierarchy, appears to present a severe biological limit to continuing declines in coronary heart disease for powerful as well as subordinate subgroups: "Culture"--to use the words of the evolutionary anthropologist Robert Boyd--"is as much a part of human biology as the enamel on our teeth".

RevDate: 2019-09-22
CmpDate: 2004-08-03

Van de Putte B, Matthijs K, R Vlietinck (2004)

A social component in the negative effect of sons on maternal longevity in pre-industrial humans.

Journal of biosocial science, 36(3):289-297.

Due to their effect on maternal testosterone levels, sons are said to have reduced maternal longevity in pre-industrial humans. This analysis, using information from a Flemish agricultural village in the 18th-20th centuries, confirms the presence of a negative effect of sons on maternal longevity. However, the effect is mainly observed for mothers belonging to the least privileged social group and for sons surviving their fifth birthday. Both findings make the above-mentioned biological explanation relative. However, a plausible alternative, social interpretation is male-dominated intra-household resource competition. It is reasonable to assume that only sons above a certain age are able to claim a serious amount of resources and that competition is strongest within the least privileged social group.

RevDate: 2026-01-28
CmpDate: 2004-08-03

Thienpont K, G Verleye (2004)

Cognitive ability and occupational status in a British cohort.

Journal of biosocial science, 36(3):333-349.

The relation between individual trait differences, social mobility and social structure is central to social biology. Because genetic variance underlies phenotypic variance in some of these traits, for example IQ, several mechanisms determine the population variance. Polygenic inheritance is the basic mechanism. Social mobility and assortative partner choice distribute the trait variance within generations. This feedback circle is constrained by sociological conditions at several levels of analysis. Fundamental to this theory of social assortment is the relation between social-biological traits and social class on the one hand, and these traits and social mobility on the other hand. The focus here is on the relation between social class, social mobility and cognitive ability. The National Child Development Study is drawn upon, including the last follow-up (1999-2000). By approaching this relationship through various methods, both social-biological and sociological aspects of this research question can be assessed.

RevDate: 2006-11-15
CmpDate: 2005-01-12

Kronauer DJ, Hölldobler B, J Gadau (2004)

Phylogenetics of the new world honey ants (genus Myrmecocystus) estimated from mitochondrial DNA sequences.

Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 32(1):416-421.

RevDate: 2015-11-19
CmpDate: 2004-10-22

Brody S (2004)

Slimness is associated with greater intercourse and lesser masturbation frequency.

Journal of sex & marital therapy, 30(4):251-261.

I examined the relationship of recalled and diary recorded frequency of penile-vaginal intercourse (FSI), noncoital partnered sexual activity, and masturbation to measured waist and hip circumference in 120 healthy adults aged 19-38. Slimmer waist (in men and in the sexes combined) and slimmer hips (in men and women) were associated with greater FSI. Slimmer waist and hips were associated with rated importance of intercourse for men. Noncoital partnered sexual activity had a less consistent association with slimness. Slimmer waist and hips were associated with less masturbation (in men and in the sexes combined). I discuss the results in terms of differences between different sexual behaviors, attractiveness, emotional relatedness, physical sensitivity, sexual dysfunction, sociobiology, psychopharmacological aspects of excess fat and carbohydrate consumption, and implications for sex therapy.

RevDate: 2024-01-09
CmpDate: 2004-10-14

Sachs JL, Mueller UG, Wilcox TP, et al (2004)

The evolution of cooperation.

The Quarterly review of biology, 79(2):135-160.

Darwin recognized that natural selection could not favor a trait in one species solely for the benefit of another species. The modern, selfish-gene view of the world suggests that cooperation between individuals, whether of the same species or different species, should be especially vulnerable to the evolution of noncooperators. Yet, cooperation is prevalent in nature both within and between species. What special circumstances or mechanisms thus favor cooperation? Currently, evolutionary biology offers a set of disparate explanations, and a general framework for this breadth of models has not emerged. Here, we offer a tripartite structure that links previously disconnected views of cooperation. We distinguish three general models by which cooperation can evolve and be maintained: (i) directed reciprocation--cooperation with individuals who give in return; (ii) shared genes--cooperation with relatives (e.g., kin selection); and (iii) byproduct benefits--cooperation as an incidental consequence of selfish action. Each general model is further subdivided. Several renowned examples of cooperation that have lacked explanation until recently--plant-rhizobium symbioses and bacteria-squid light organs--fit squarely within this framework. Natural systems of cooperation often involve more than one model, and a fruitful direction for future research is to understand how these models interact to maintain cooperation in the long term.

RevDate: 2019-11-08
CmpDate: 2004-09-21

Allhoff F (2003)

Evolutionary ethics from Darwin to Moore.

History and philosophy of the life sciences, 25(1):51-79.

Evolutionary ethics has a long history, dating all the way back to Charles Darwin. Almost immediately after the publication of the Origin, an immense interest arose in the moral implications of Darwinism and whether the truth of Darwinism would undermine traditional ethics. Though the biological thesis was certainly exciting, nobody suspected that the impact of the Origin would be confined to the scientific arena. As one historian wrote, 'whether or not ancient populations of armadillos were transformed into the species that currently inhabit the new world was certainly a topic about which zoologists could disagree. But it was in discussing the broader implications of the theory...that tempers flared and statements were made which could transform what otherwise would have been a quiet scholarly meeting into a social scandal' (Farber 1994, 22). Some resistance to the biological thesis of Darwinism sprung from the thought that it was incompatible with traditional morality and, since one of them had to go, many thought that Darwinism should be rejected. However, some people did realize that a secular ethics was possible so, even if Darwinism did undermine traditional religious beliefs, it need not have any effects on moral thought. Before I begin my discussion of evolutionary ethics from Darwin to Moore, I would like to make some more general remarks about its development. There are three key events during this history of evolutionary ethics. First, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of the Species (Darwin 1859). Since one did not have a fully developed theory of evolution until 1859, there exists little work on evolutionary ethics until then. Shortly thereafter, Herbert Spencer (1898) penned the first systematic theory of evolutionary ethics, which was promptly attacked by T.H. Huxley (Huxley 1894). Second, at about the turn of the century, moral philosophers entered the fray and attempted to demonstrate logical errors in Spencer's work; such errors were alluded to but never fully brought to the fore by Huxley. These philosophers were the well known moralists from Cambridge: Henry Sidgwick (Sidgwick 1902, 1907) and G.E. Moore (Moore 1903), though their ideas hearkened back to David Hume (Hume 1960). These criticisms were so strong that the industry of evolutionary ethics was largely abandoned (though with some exceptions) for many years. Third, E.O. Wilson, a Harvard entomologist, published Sociobiology: The New Synthesis in 1975 (Wilson E.O. 1975), which sparked renewed interest in evolutionary ethics and offered new directions of investigation. These events suggest the following stages for the history of evolutionary ethics: development, criticism and abandonment, revival. In this paper, I shall focus on the first two stages, since those are the ones on which the philosophical merits have already been largely decided. The revival stage is still in progress and we shall eventually find out whether it was a success.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 2005-03-10

Thompson GJ, BP Oldroyd (2004)

Evaluating alternative hypotheses for the origin of eusociality in corbiculate bees.

Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 33(2):452-456.

We use a likelihood-based statistical test to evaluate the extent to which the available molecular data sets can be used to falsify alternative phylogenetic hypotheses describing the inter-relationship among corbiculate bee tribes. Based on the results of this test, we explore three alternative models of behavioural character state evolution and evaluate the support each model has for single-origin versus dual-origin hypotheses for 'highly' eusocial behaviour. We show that only one of four data sets could statistically reject any of the 15 possible outgroup-rooted phylogenetic hypotheses. However, a cytochrome b data set rejected all but three alternative topologies. Using this information, a simple model of behavioural character state evolution, in which transitions between solitary/communal, 'primitively' eusocial, and 'highly' eusocial are unconstrained, supports single-origin hypotheses for 'highly' eusocial behaviour, in spite of phylogenetic uncertainty. By contrast, an ordered model, in which 'highly' eusocial is constrained to be an evolutionarily terminal state, supports a dual-origins hypothesis. Our results show that the molecular phylogenetic evidence favouring a dual-origins hypothesis for 'highly' eusocial behaviour is, at present, conditional on information from one gene (cyt b) and on specific, though likely realistic, assumptions regarding the nature of eusocial evolution.

RevDate: 2018-11-13
CmpDate: 2005-03-01

Rueppell O, Pankiw T, Nielsen DI, et al (2004)

The genetic architecture of the behavioral ontogeny of foraging in honeybee workers.

Genetics, 167(4):1767-1779.

The initiation of foraging during the life course of honeybee workers is of central interest to understanding the division of labor in social insects, a central theme in sociobiology and behavioral research. It also provides one of the most complex phenotypic traits in biological systems because of the interaction of various external, social, and individual factors. This study reports on a comprehensive investigation of the genetic architecture of the age of foraging initiation in honeybees. It comprises an estimation of genetic variation, the study of candidate loci, and two complementary quantitative trait loci (QTL) maps using two selected, continually bred lines of honeybees. We conclude that considerable genetic variation exists between the selected lines for this central life history component. The study reveals direct pleiotropic and epistatic effects of candidate loci (including previously identified QTL for foraging behavior). Furthermore, two maps of the honeybee genome were constructed from over 400 AFLP markers. Both maps confirm the extraordinary recombinational size of the honeybee genome. On the basis of these maps, we report four new significant QTL and two more suggestive QTL that influence the initiation of foraging.

RevDate: 2019-11-09
CmpDate: 2004-11-09

Levy N (2004)

Cohen and kinds: a response to Nathan Nobis.

Journal of applied philosophy, 21(2):213-217.

RevDate: 2010-11-18
CmpDate: 2004-11-02

Moskowitz AK (2004)

"Scared stiff": catatonia as an evolutionary-based fear response.

Psychological review, 111(4):984-1002.

Catatonia, long viewed as a motor disorder, may be better understood as a fear response, akin to the animal defense strategy tonic immobility (after G. G. Gallup & J. D. Maser, 1977). This proposal, consistent with K. L. Kahlbaum's (1874/1973) original conception, is based on similarities between catatonia and tonic immobility ("death feint") as well as evidence that catatonia is associated with anxiety and agitated depression and responds dramatically to benzodiazepines. It is argued that catatonia originally derived from ancestral encounters with carnivores whose predatory instincts were triggered by movement but is now inappropriately expressed in very different modern threat situations. Found in a wide range of psychiatric and serious medical conditions, catatonia may represent a common "end state" response to feelings of imminent doom and can serve as a template to understand other psychiatric disorders.

RevDate: 2021-12-03
CmpDate: 2005-02-08

Osborne MA, RF Fogarty (2003)

Views from the periphery: discourses of race and place in French military medicine.

History and philosophy of the life sciences, 25(3):363-389.

Numerous authors have interpreted the history of anthropological and medical conceptions of race in nineteenth century France as following a path mapped out by phrenology, anthropometry, and Paul Broca's version of physical anthropology. On balance, this has resulted in an historical narrative centered on Parisian intellectual life and one leaving the impression that by the 1890s anthropological theories had moved away from ethnological and cultural explanations toward more biological views of race. This article, by contrast, examines the world beyond Paris and the literatures of naval and army medicine from about 1830 to 1920. It describes the contours of a medical and anthropological pluralism in matters of race and ethnicity and argues that cultural and ethnological perspectives remained important to theorists of race through World War I.

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In the early 1990's, Robert Robbins was a faculty member at Johns Hopkins, where he directed the informatics core of GDB — the human gene-mapping database of the international human genome project. To share papers with colleagues around the world, he set up a small paper-sharing section on his personal web page. This small project evolved into The Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project.

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In 1995, Robbins became the VP/IT of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. Soon after arriving in Seattle, Robbins secured funding, through the ELSI component of the US Human Genome Project, to create the original ESP.ORG web site, with the formal goal of providing free, world-wide access to the literature of classical genetics.

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This is the book that really started the notion of sociobiology. It came out just as I was starting graduate school and the animal-behavior group organized a discussion group around the book. I was very lucky to have my introduction to in-depth academic discourse be centered around such an interesting book. R. Robbins

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