How Welfare Biology And Commonsense May Help To Reduce Animal Suffering,
2016
Nanyang Technological University
How Welfare Biology And Commonsense May Help To Reduce Animal Suffering, Yew-Kwang Ng
Animal Sentience
Welfare biology is the study of the welfare of living things. Welfare is net happiness (enjoyment minus suffering). Since this necessarily involves feelings, Dawkins (2014) has suggested that animal welfare science may face a paradox, because feelings are very difficult to study. The following paper provides an explanation for how welfare biology could help to reduce this paradox by answering some difficult questions regarding animal welfare. Simple means based on commonsense could reduce animal suffering enormously at low or even negative costs to humans. Ways to increase the influence of animal welfare advocates are also discussed, focusing initially on farmed …
Why Animal Welfarism Continues To Fail,
2016
The Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy
Why Animal Welfarism Continues To Fail, Lori Marino
Animal Sentience
Welfarism prioritizes human interests over the needs of nonhuman animals. Despite decades of welfare efforts other animals are mostly worse off than ever before, being subjected to increasingly invasive and harmful treatments, especially in the factory farming and biomedical research areas. A legal rights-based approach is essential in order for other animals to be protected from the varying ethical whims of our species.
Independent Origination Of Floral Zygomorphy, A Predicted Adaptive Response To Pollinators: Developmental And Genetic Mechanisms,
2016
Virginia Commonwealth University
Independent Origination Of Floral Zygomorphy, A Predicted Adaptive Response To Pollinators: Developmental And Genetic Mechanisms, Ghadeer Bukhari, Wenheng Zhang
Theses and Dissertations
Observations of floral development indicate that floral organ initiation in pentapetalous flowers more commonly results in a medially positioned abaxial petal (MAB) than in a medially positioned adaxial petal (MAD), where the medial plane is defined by the stem and the bract during early floral development. It was proposed that the dominant MAB petal initiation might impose a developmental constraint that leads to the evolution of limited patterns of floral zygomorphy in Asteridae, a family in which the floral zygomorphy develops along the medial plane and results in a central ventral (CV) petal in mature flowers. Here, I investigate whether …
Clusters Of Alpha Satellite On Human Chromosome 21 Are Dispersed Far Onto The Short Arm And Lack Ancient Layers,
2016
Loyola University Chicago
Clusters Of Alpha Satellite On Human Chromosome 21 Are Dispersed Far Onto The Short Arm And Lack Ancient Layers, William Ziccardi, Chongjian Zhao, Valery Shepelev, Lev Uralsky, Ivan Alexandrov, Tatyana Andreeva, Evgeny Rogaev, Christopher Bun, Emily Miller, Catherine Putonti, Jeffrey Doering
Bioinformatics Faculty Publications
Human alpha satellite (AS) sequence domains that currently function as centromeres are typically flanked by layers of evolutionarily older AS that presumably represent the remnants of earlier primate centromeres. Studies on several human chromosomes reveal that these older AS arrays are arranged in an age gradient, with the oldest arrays farthest from the functional centromere and arrays progressively closer to the centromere being progressively younger. The organization of AS on human chromosome 21 (HC21) has not been well-characterized. We have used newly available HC21 sequence data and an HC21p YAC map to determine the size, organization, and location of the …
Understanding Emotional Suffering,
2016
College of William and Mary
Understanding Emotional Suffering, Barbara J. King
Animal Sentience
In responding to insightful commentaries from 7 scholars, for which I am grateful, I offer new thoughts on whether animals can conceptualize and express signs of grief. I also discuss why I included both weak and strong examples of animal mourning, and how this work may help us think about enhanced welfare for animals, including freedom from emotional suffering.
Pain In Parallel,
2016
CUNY Graduate Center & University of Sydney
Pain In Parallel, Peter Godfrey-Smith
Animal Sentience
Key's (2016) arguments against the view that fish feel pain can be shown to be fallacious by considering some damage-related behaviors in invertebrates. Pain may have different neural bases in different organisms, so the absence in fish of the cortical structures that might underlie pain in mammals does not settle the question of fish pain.
Cortex Necessary For Pain — But Not In Sense That Matters,
2016
University of Pennsylvania
Cortex Necessary For Pain — But Not In Sense That Matters, Adam J. Shriver
Animal Sentience
Certain cortical regions are necessary for pain in humans in the sense that, at particular times, they play a direct role in pain. However, it is not true that they are necessary in the more important sense that pain is never possible in humans without them. There are additional details from human lesion studies concerning functional plasticity that undermine Key’s (2016) interpretation. Moreover, no one has yet identified any specific behaviors that mammalian cortical pain regions make possible that are absent in fish.
Falsifying The Null Hypothesis That “Fish Do Not Feel Pain",
2016
WellBeing International
Falsifying The Null Hypothesis That “Fish Do Not Feel Pain", Brian Key
Animal Sentience
The reader of Animal Sentience may surmise that because the weight of the commentaries on my target article, “Why fish do not feel pain,” is leaning towards not supporting my argument, it follows that the premise "fish do not feel pain" is incorrect. However, science does not prevail by popular opinion. History is plagued with numerous (and often widely accepted) examples of biological phenomena being explained by mysterious forces. In the absence of a mechanistic understanding, the many different guises of vitalism (the principle that life involves a vital energy) are often invoked to explain the unknown. Spurious …
Genome Wide Epigenetic Analyses Of Araptus Attenuatus, A Bark Beetle,
2016
Virginia Commonwealth University
Genome Wide Epigenetic Analyses Of Araptus Attenuatus, A Bark Beetle, Chitra Seshadri
Theses and Dissertations
Phylogeographic studies have relied on surveying neutral genetic variation in natural populations as a way of gaining better insights into the evolutionary processes shaping present day population demography. Recent emphasis on understanding putative adaptive variation have brought to light the role of epigenetic variation in influencing phenotypes and the mechanisms underlying local adaptation. While much is known about how methylation acts at specific loci to influence known phenotypes, there is little information on the spatial genetic structure of genome-wide patterns of methylation and the extent to which it can extend our understanding of both neutral and putatively adaptive processes. This …
Causes And Consequences Of Variation In Female Mate Choice And Its Relation To Sexual Conflict In Drosophila Melanogaster,
2016
Wilfrid Laurier University
Causes And Consequences Of Variation In Female Mate Choice And Its Relation To Sexual Conflict In Drosophila Melanogaster, David Cs Filice
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
Female mate choice is a significant driving force of evolutionary change and can explain the evolution of exaggerated male traits and/or displays, and dimorphism between the sexes. Females are thought to choose mates based on the greatest provision of direct or indirect benefits. Despite this, we often still see substantial individual variation in female mate choice behaviours both within and across populations. Recent studies suggest that female mate choice is a complex decision-making process that involves many context-dependent factors. However, the precise sources of this variation, such as previous mating experience, are not completely understood. In Drosophila melanogaster, mating …
Tests Of Reproductive Isolation Between The Fishes Fundulus Heteroclitus And F. Grandis,
2016
University of North Florida
Tests Of Reproductive Isolation Between The Fishes Fundulus Heteroclitus And F. Grandis, Ruthie E. Barbas
UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The closely related killifishes Fundulus heteroclitus and F. grandis hybridize in a small region where their ranges overlap in coastal northeastern Florida. Hybrids of these species are rare in frequency within the contact zone, suggesting the presence of relatively strong reproductive isolation between these species. The objective of this study was to elucidate barriers to reproduction between F. heteroclitus and F. grandis in the lab, as well as to quantify the relative strengths and contributions of various isolating barriers. Pre-zygotic (mating and fertilization) and post-zygotic (hatching) barriers were investigated by performing a variety of choice and no-choice laboratory mating experiments. …
Exploring How First-Year Experiences In Higher Education Influence Student Acceptance Of Biological Evolutionary Theory,
2016
University of Northern Iowa
Exploring How First-Year Experiences In Higher Education Influence Student Acceptance Of Biological Evolutionary Theory, Lauren A. Winter
Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
In the current study, I investigated whether changes occurred in the acceptance of evolution for students majoring in elementary education during their first semester of college and if so, what factors influenced the change. Thirty participants in their first semester of college completed pre-and post-tests that included the Inventory of Student Evolution Acceptance to measure changes in student acceptance of evolution over the course of one academic semester. Ten of those participants completed interviews to elaborate on those factors that may have affected their acceptance in evolution. Mixed methods analysis utilizing a cognitive constructivist framework revealed that religious beliefs, explicit …
Animal Mourning: Précis Of How Animals Grieve (King 2013),
2016
College of William and Mary
Animal Mourning: Précis Of How Animals Grieve (King 2013), Barbara J. King
Animal Sentience
Abstract: When an animal dies, that individual’s mate, relatives, or friends may express grief. Changes in the survivor’s patterns of social behavior, eating, sleeping, and/or of expression of affect are the key criteria for defining grief. Based on this understanding of grief, it is not only big-brained mammals like elephants, apes, and cetaceans who can be said to mourn, but also a wide variety of other animals, including domestic companions like cats, dogs, and rabbits; horses and farm animals; and some birds. With keen attention placed on seeking where grief is found to occur and where it is absent …
Death In The Family,
2016
WellBeing International
Death In The Family, Maria Botero
Animal Sentience
Barbara King presents grief as the result of the capacity of human and non-human animals for social and affectionate bonds. This is a novel approach that provides a context for interpreting behavioral evidence of grief. The book also offers thought-provoking insights into the relationship between emotion and the expression of emotion. The most surprising element of King’s approach is that, throughout the book, her account of non-human animal grief forces us to reassess the way we treat them.
Considering Animals’ Feelings: Précis Of Sentience And Animal Welfare (Broom 2014),
2016
University of Cambridge
Considering Animals’ Feelings: Précis Of Sentience And Animal Welfare (Broom 2014), Donald M. Broom
Animal Sentience
The concept of sentience concerns the capacity to have feelings. There is evidence for sophisticated cognitive concepts and for both positive and negative feelings in a wide range of nonhuman animals. All vertebrates, including fish, as well as some molluscs and decapod crustaceans have pain systems. Most people today consider that their moral obligations extend to many animal species. Moral decisions about abortion, euthanasia, and the various ways we protect animals should take into account the research findings about sentience. In addition, all animal life should be respected and studies of the welfare of even the simplest invertebrate animals should …
Is Sentience Only A Nonessential Component Of Animal Welfare?,
2016
[email protected]
Is Sentience Only A Nonessential Component Of Animal Welfare?, Ian J.H. Duncan
Animal Sentience
According to Broom (2014), animal welfare is a concept that can be applied to all animals, including single-celled organisms that are obviously not sentient. Such a stance makes it difficult to draw a connection between welfare and sentience, and that is the book’s downfall. Some excellent points are made about sentience and there are very good discussions on animal welfare. However, unless sentience is considered the essential component of welfare, any attempt to link the two phenomena will be unsuccessful — and that, indeed, is the case with this book.
Sentience And Animal Welfare: New Thoughts And Controversies,
2016
University of Cambridge
Sentience And Animal Welfare: New Thoughts And Controversies, Donald M. Broom
Animal Sentience
Sentience involves having some degree of awareness but awareness of self is not as complex as some people believe. Fully functioning vertebrate animals, and some invertebrates, are sentient but neither humans nor non-humans are sentient early in development or if brain-damaged. Feelings are valuable adaptive mechanisms and an important part of welfare but are not all of welfare so the term welfare refers to all animals, not just to sentient animals. We have much to learn about what non-human animals want from us, the functioning of the more complex aspects of their brains and of our brains and how we …
Why Fish Do Not Feel Pain,
2016
The University of Queensland
Why Fish Do Not Feel Pain, Brian Key
Animal Sentience
Only humans can report feeling pain. In contrast, pain in animals is typically inferred on the basis of nonverbal behaviour. Unfortunately, these behavioural data can be problematic when the reliability and validity of the behavioural tests are questionable. The thesis proposed here is based on the bioengineering principle that structure determines function. Basic functional homologies can be mapped to structural homologies across a broad spectrum of vertebrate species. For example, olfaction depends on olfactory glomeruli in the olfactory bulbs of the forebrain, visual orientation responses depend on the laminated optic tectum in the midbrain, and locomotion depends on pattern generators …
Why Human Pain Can’T Tell Us Whether Fish Feel Pain,
2016
The Pennsylvania State University
Why Human Pain Can’T Tell Us Whether Fish Feel Pain, Victoria A. Braithwaite, Paula Droege
Animal Sentience
In his target article, Key (2016) reviews the neuroanatomy of human pain and uses what is known about human pain to argue that fish cannot experience pain. We provide three reasons why the conclusions reached by Key are unsupported. They consider (i) why it is not sufficient to conclude that only human neural structures can process conscious pain, (ii) why an understanding of pain in humans and non-human animals needs to be based within a framework of consciousness, and (iii) evidence already exists that fish treated with noxious stimuli lose the ability to perform normal behaviours: This was a behavioral …
Comparative Evolutionary Approach To Pain Perception In Fishes,
2016
Macquarie University
Comparative Evolutionary Approach To Pain Perception In Fishes, Culum Brown
Animal Sentience
Arguments against the fact that fish feel pain repeatedly appear even in the face of growing evidence that they do. The standards used to judge pain perception keep moving as the hurdles are repeatedly cleared by novel research findings. There is undoubtedly a vested commercial interest in proving that fish do not feel pain, so the topic has a half-life well past its due date. Key (2016) reiterates previous perspectives on this topic characterised by a black-or-white view that is based on the proposed role of the human cortex in pain perception. I argue that this is incongruent with our …
