Do Beetles Have Experiences? How Can We Tell?,
2020
Boston University
Do Beetles Have Experiences? How Can We Tell?, Matt Cartmill
Animal Sentience
We attribute consciousness to other humans because their anatomy and behavior resembles our own and their verbal descriptions of subjective experiences correspond to ours. Nonhuman mammals have somewhat humanlike behavior and anatomy, but without the verbal descriptions. Their sentience is therefore open to Cartesian doubt. Robot "minds" lack humanlike behavior and anatomy, and so their sentience is generally discounted no matter what sentences they generate. Invertebrates lack both neurological similarity and language. Although it may be safest in making moral judgments to assume that some invertebrates are sentient, cogent reasons for thinking so must await an objective causal explanation for …
Avoiding Anthropocentrism In Evolutionarily Inclusive Ethics,
2020
John Carroll University
Avoiding Anthropocentrism In Evolutionarily Inclusive Ethics, Simon Fitzpatrick
Animal Sentience
Mikhalevich & Powell are to be commended for challenging the “invertebrate dogma” that invertebrates are unworthy of ethical concern. However, developing an evolutionarily inclusive ethics requires facing some of the more radical implications of rejecting hierarchical scala naturae and human-centered conceptions of the biological world. In particular, we need to question the anthropocentric assumptions that still linger in discussions like these.
Zones Of Precaution,
2020
London School of Economics and Political Science
Zones Of Precaution, Jonathan Birch
Animal Sentience
My commentary focusses on Mikhalevich & Powell’s criticisms of the Animal Sentience Precautionary Principle. I emphasize the pragmatic nature of my rationale for proposing that, rather than extending the scope of animal welfare protection on a species-by-species basis, we should be willing to protect entire Linnaean orders on the basis of evidence from a single species.
Brain Complexity, Sentience And Welfare,
2020
University of Cambridge
Brain Complexity, Sentience And Welfare, Donald M. Broom
Animal Sentience
Neither sentience nor moral standing is confined to animals with large or human-like brains. Invertebrates deserve moral consideration. Definition of terms clarifies the relationship between sentience and welfare. All animals have welfare but humans give more protection to sentient animals. Humans should be less human-centred.
Invertebrate Cognition, Sentience And Biology,
2020
CNRS, Paris
Invertebrate Cognition, Sentience And Biology, Georges Chapouthier
Animal Sentience
All animal species have adapted for survival and no species is superior overall. For cognitive capacities and sentience, invertebrates such as the octopus, although quite unlike vertebrates, can achieve similar performance levels. So can other invertebrates with small brains; hence they too, as sentient beings, deserve moral consideration from humans. How are we to identify these species? Only though a detailed analysis of their behavior. The decision, which is a moral judgment, depends on biological knowledge that still needs to be acquired.
Convergent Evolution Of Sentience?,
2020
Macquarie University
Convergent Evolution Of Sentience?, Culum Brown Prof.
Animal Sentience
Mikhalevich & Powell make a compelling case that some invertebrates may be sentient and that our moral obligations in the context of welfare should hence extend to them. Although the case is similar to that made for fishes, there is one obvious difference in that examples of invertebrate sentience probably arose independently from vertebrate sentience. We have unequivocal proof that complex cognition arose multiple times over evolutionary history. Given that cognition is our best tool for indirectly quantifying sentience, it seems highly likely that this multiple polygenesis may also have occurred for sentience. In acknowledging this, we must accept that …
Notes On The Diet And Reproduction Of The Bark Scorpion Centruroides Gracilis (Scorpiones: Buthidae) On Utila Island, Honduras,
2020
Marshall University
Notes On The Diet And Reproduction Of The Bark Scorpion Centruroides Gracilis (Scorpiones: Buthidae) On Utila Island, Honduras, Anna M. Davison, Tom W. Brown, Cristina Arrivillaga
Euscorpius
The brown bark scorpion Centruroides gracilis (Latreille, 1804) (Buthidae) is an abundant and widespread species, however, fairly little is known about its ecology and natural history. We include several observations from Utila Island, Honduras, that expand on the known literature regarding the diet and reproductive behavior of C. gracilis. We report several prey items for this opportunistic species, which include invertebrates such as spiders (including tarantulas), centipedes, katydids, and crickets; as well as a case of cannibalism between two adult females C. gracilis. We suggest that such cannibalism may be driven by high population densities and/or strong intraspecific …
Minds, Morality And Midgies,
2020
University of Queensland
Minds, Morality And Midgies, Brian Key, Deborah Brown
Animal Sentience
Mikhalevich & Powell argue that the exclusion of the vast majority of arthropods from moral standing is unwarranted, particularly given the purported evidence for cognition and sentience in these organisms. The implied association between consciousness and moral standing is questionable and their assumption that rich forms of cognition and flexible behavior are dependent on phenomenal consciousness needs to be reconsidered in light of current neuroscientific evidence. We conclude by proposing a neural algorithmic approach for deciphering whether organisms are capable of subjective experience.
A New Lesser Antillean Scorpion Of The Genus Didymocentrus Kraepelin, 1905 (Scorpiones: Diplocentridae),
2020
Marshall University
A New Lesser Antillean Scorpion Of The Genus Didymocentrus Kraepelin, 1905 (Scorpiones: Diplocentridae), Rolando Teruel, Karl Questel
Euscorpius
A new species of the diplocentrid scorpion of the genus Didymocentrus Kraepelin, 1905 is herein described from the Lesser Antillean island of Martinique. It long remained misidentified as Didymocentrus lesueurii (Gervais, 1844), the only species of this genus inhabiting the adjacent island of Saint Lucia. The direct comparison of adults of both sexes from these two islands revealed solid morphological characters, which warrant their recognition as two different taxa. Each one is endemic from a single major island, where it is widespread even in its satellite islets. This addition raises the known composition of the genus to 12 species, 10 …
Six New Species Of Orthochirus Karsch, 1892 From Iran (Scorpiones: Buthidae),
2020
Marshall University
Six New Species Of Orthochirus Karsch, 1892 From Iran (Scorpiones: Buthidae), František Kovařík, Shahrokh Navidpour
Euscorpius
Six new scorpion species from Iran, Orthochirus hormozganensis sp. n. (Hormozgan Province), O. kermanensis sp. n. (Kerman Province), O. kucerai sp. n. (Kerman Province), O. masihipouri sp. n. (Bushehr Province), O. semnanensis sp. n. (Semnan Province), and O. vignolii sp. n. (Yazd Province) are described, compared with other Iranian Orthochirus species, and fully illustrated with color photographs. A key and a distribution map of Orthochirus of Iran, Turkey, and Iraq (18 species) are included.
Using Primary Literature On Sars‐Cov‐2 To Promote Student Learning About Evolution,
2020
Chapman University
Using Primary Literature On Sars‐Cov‐2 To Promote Student Learning About Evolution, Jeremy L. Hsu
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic caused by SARS‐CoV‐2 has caused widespread deaths, illnesses, and societal disruption. I describe here how I pivoted a discussion‐based senior biology capstone course to include a multiweek module surrounding one primary literature paper on the evolution of SARS‐CoV‐2 and the subsequent scientific discourse about the paper. Using a gradual reveal of the paper following the CREATE method (consider, read, elucidate, and think of the next experiment), I challenged students to learn new evolutionary principles and critically analyze the data surrounding the evolution and transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 presented in the paper. I also provide general advice for …
Effects Of Inter-Male Status Challenge And Psychopathic Traits On Sexual Aggression,
2020
University of South Florida
Effects Of Inter-Male Status Challenge And Psychopathic Traits On Sexual Aggression, Amy M. Hoffmann
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Sexual aggression (SA) is a serious social problem that has been linked to a variety of negative physical and mental health outcomes for survivors and produces significant monetary costs to society. In the past five decades, a wealth of research has improved our understanding of the individual and sociocultural factors that contribute to SA perpetration; however, epistemological differences in theoretical approaches to the subject (i.e., evolutionary, feminist) have resulted in gaps in the empirical literature. Informed by both feminist and evolutionary perspectives, this study attempts to examine the ways in which same-gender interpersonal interactions and individual psychopathology interact to produce …
A Macroevolutionary View On Extinction In Aves, Chiroptera, And Odonata,
2020
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
A Macroevolutionary View On Extinction In Aves, Chiroptera, And Odonata, Peter Hasik
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
A central goal of conservation biology is to identify and understand the factors that lead to extinction. The Earth is currently undergoing a 6th mass extinction event, in large part because of human activity. In the last century, rates of extinction have increased anywhere from 8-100 times the background rate of 2 extinctions per 10,000 species every 100 years. However, there remains a debate over whether certain species are predisposed to a higher extinction risk. In particular, it is not known if the macroevolutionary history of a lineage is a major contributor to the probability of extinction, nor is it …
Macronutrient Intake And Simulated Infection Threat Independently Affect Life History Traits Of Male Decorated Crickets,
2020
Illinois State University
Macronutrient Intake And Simulated Infection Threat Independently Affect Life History Traits Of Male Decorated Crickets, Kristin Duffield, Kylie J. Hampton, James Rapkin, John Hunt, Scott K. Sakaluk, Ben M. Sadd, Thomas M. Houslay
Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences
Nutritional geometry has advanced our understanding of how macronutrients (e.g.,proteins and carbohydrates) influence the expression of life history traits and theircorresponding trade-offs. For example, recent work has revealed that reproduc-tion and immune function in male decorated crickets are optimized at very differentprotein:carbohydrate (P:C) dietary ratios. However, it is unclear how an individual'smacronutrient intake interacts with its perceived infection status to determine in-vestment in reproduction or other key life history traits. Here, we employed a fullyfactorial design in which calling effort and immune function were quantified formale crickets fed either diets previously demonstrated to maximize calling effort(P:C = 1:8) or immune …
Metabolomic Differences Between Invasive Alien Plants From Native And Invaded Habitats,
2020
Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway
Metabolomic Differences Between Invasive Alien Plants From Native And Invaded Habitats, Sarah A. Skubel, Xiaoyang Su, Alexander Poulev, Llewellyn C. Foxcroft, Vyacheslav Dushenkov, Ilya Raskin
Publications and Research
Globalization facilitated the spread of invasive alien species (IAS), undermining the stability of the world’s ecosystems. We investigated the metabolomic profiles of three IAS species: Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae) Datura stramonium (Solanaceae), and Xanthium strumarium (Asteraceae), comparing metabolites of individual plants in their native habitats (USA), to their invasive counterparts growing in and around Kruger National Park (South Africa, ZA). Metabolomic samples were collected using RApid Metabolome Extraction and Storage (RAMES) technology, which immobilizes phytochemicals on glass fiber disks, reducing compound degradation, allowing long-term, storage and simplifying biochemical analysis. Metabolomic differences were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) of samples …
A Late Blancan Local Fauna From Northern Idaho,
2020
Eastern Washington University
A Late Blancan Local Fauna From Northern Idaho, Marlena Blua, Jonathon Welch, Neville Magone
2020 Symposium Posters
Mammal specimens from a new Pleistocene-age locality near Priest River, Idaho have been identified from at least nine different taxa including muskrat, beaver, porcupine, deer, horse, pronghorn antelope, canid, lynx and bear. A right mandible containing i1 and m1-m2 is of an Ondatra sp. of muskrat. The m1is significantly shorter, narrower and the L/W ratio smaller than that of extant and extinct O. zebethicus. Yet the m1 length and width are both larger than either O. idahoensis and O. annectens. The beaver is represented by an isolated incisor, two lower molars and one upper molar. All three molars share the …
Scorpions Of Puerto Rico And Its Satellite Islands (Scorpiones: Buthidae, Diplocentridae): An Аnnotated List, Key For Genera, And Bibliography,
2020
Marshall University
Scorpions Of Puerto Rico And Its Satellite Islands (Scorpiones: Buthidae, Diplocentridae): An Аnnotated List, Key For Genera, And Bibliography, Luis De Armas
Euscorpius
An annotated list of the scorpions of Puerto Rico and its satellite islands (mainly Vieques, Culebra, Caja de Muertos, Magueyes, Desecheo, and Mona), a key for the seven genera present in those insular territories, a key for the three species of Microtityus, and the basic bibliography on taxonomy and natural history are provided. Of the 16 confirmed species described from these Greater Antillean islands, four are known only from a single sex and only one or two adult specimens. Seven species (six of them from the genus Tityus), are endemic to the Puerto Rico Island; Vieques has two …
The Evolution Of Bivalve Shell Matrix Proteins,
2020
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
The Evolution Of Bivalve Shell Matrix Proteins, Mark Ira Duhon Ii
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation focuses on the molecular underpinnings surrounding the evolution of the biomineralized shells of marine bivalves. Bivalve molluscs synthesize remarkably complex shells from calcium carbonate and an organic matrix of proteins secreted from the dorsal edge of the mantle. Molecular analyses of shell matrix proteins (SMPs) have suggested high rates of gene turnover despite the conserved nature of the shell itself. Here, I used proteomic and transcriptomic data to identify the SMPs and other biomineralization proteins from seven bivalve species that diverged 3-513 Mya. Contrary to previous studies that identified only a few shared biomineralization transcripts across the Bivalvia, …
Species Dispersal Modes In Amphitropical Plant Species Of North And South America,
2020
Georgia Southern University
Species Dispersal Modes In Amphitropical Plant Species Of North And South America, Samera Lemma Mulatu
Honors College Theses
Amphitropical disjunct plants are species that occur in both North and South America but not in the intermediate equatorial region. How amphitropical species dispersed across the Americas to their current distribution remains uncertain. To explain amphitropical distributions, three hypotheses were developed to test that (1) species dispersed successively through island hopping across the tropical zone in temperate microhabitats (= stepping stones), (2) species came to their current distribution through vicariance, or (3) species dispersed by a single long distance dispersal event. Twenty-five species were studied to infer their historical distributions with species distribution models in MaxEnt. Distribution models for each …
A New Species Of Isometrus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) From Southern India,
2020
Marshall University
A New Species Of Isometrus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) From Southern India, Shauri Sulakhe, Nikhil Dandekar, Shomen Mukherjee, Malay Pandey, Makarand Ketkar, Anand Padhye, Deshabhushan Bastawade
Euscorpius
A new species of Isometrus (Buthidae) is described from India using integrated taxonomic approach. Isometrus kovariki sp. n. is closely related to I. thurstoni, and differs in morphological features and raw genetic divergence of more than 9%.
