Videos of vampire bats at arkive.org

I love BBC Nature footage! For those of you who don't know, the BBC created a digital "arkive" of photos and videos of animals from around the world. Behold the footage of vampire bats at arkive.org.

Richard Dawkins and good writing

A couple of posts ago, I wrote a review of E. O. Wilson's recent book on the evolution of human and insect cooperation, The Social Conquest of Earth. Someone pointed out to me recently that Richard Dawkins, one of the best science writers alive today, later wrote one himself here. Although we both wrote a negative … Continue reading Richard Dawkins and good writing

Talk on cooperation in nonhuman animals

Frans de Waal gives a fun talk on empathy and cooperation in elephants and nonhuman primates:

Some recent papers on grooming, cooperation, and oxytocin (all open access)

Market Powers Predict Reciprocal Grooming in Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in PloS ONE Grooming Up the Hierarchy: The Exchange of Grooming and Rank-Related Benefits in a New World Primate in PLoS ONE Reciprocal cooperation between unrelated rats depends on cost to donor and benefit to recipient in BMC Evolutionary Biology Oxytocin modulates selection of allies in … Continue reading Some recent papers on grooming, cooperation, and oxytocin (all open access)

Review of “The Social Conquest of Earth” by E. O. Wilson

While passing Prof. Charles Fenster on campus a few weeks ago, I mentioned to him that I was reading The Social Conquest of Earth by E.O. Wilson. He suggested (I think facetiously) that I should write a review of it on my blog (at the time I did not have a blog). E. O. Wilson's made some rather abrasive and … Continue reading Review of “The Social Conquest of Earth” by E. O. Wilson