The expression of the emotions in man and animals

The expression of the emotions in man and animals

…2009 has seen an explosion of articles celebrating two hundred years since the birth of Charles Darwin (1809-1882). November’s book of the month focuses on The expression of the emotions in man and animals, the final text in his “great evolutionary cycle of writing”.¹ The Expression is a fascinating work: one of Darwin’s most accessible and readable studies, it was one of the first scientific works to use photographic illustrations, and it was a bestseller in its day. Yet, it has been long neglected by academics and the general public alike and today remains one of Darwin’s less recognised titles.

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Title page of the Expression

The Expression was an original and, for many contemporaries, a controversial book. It formed the final part of a series that had started with On the Origin of Species and had controversially peaked the previous year with the Descent of Man. The former, published in 1859, laid out Darwin’s theory of descent with modification through natural selection in animals and plants: the notion that randomly occurring variation within a population, if conferring a breeding or survival advantage, tends to be preserved, leading over time to divergence. The Descent, in which he extended the theory to humans, appeared more than a decade later in 1871, its publication delayed by a reticent Darwin.

An engraving of a sulking chimpanzee (Fig. 18) by Thomas William Wood (fl. 1855-1872)

Sentiments in the mid 19th century were very different from now. For many – even those willing to concede evolution in animals – extending the thesis to humans was a step too far. Many of the author’s contemporaries pointed to human rationality, spirituality and civilization as sufficient proof of divine creation. For such critics, the dawn of humanity was a matter for theologians, not a legitimate area of study for naturalists.²

To convince the sceptics, it was important for Darwin to accumulate as much evidence for humans’ and animals’ shared roots as possible. The Expression was intended to do just that. Prior to its publication, the benchmark work on the human face was written by the creationist Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842). Bell believed that human facial muscles were divinely created to express uniquely human emotions. Darwin refuted this; he was sure that inner feelings of humans and animals were outwardly manifested in similar ways.³ For example, in both humans and animals, lips purse during concentration, anger leads to eye-muscle contraction and teeth exposure, while mouths hang agape when listening intently.⁴ He believed that such expressions must have developed through common evolutionary mechanisms, and that they were “daily, living proof of [our] animal ancestry”.⁵ …

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Wildlife returns to abandoned Contra Costa County subdivisions

By Hilary Costa
Contra Costa Times

Posted: 11/08/2009 05:36:42 PM PST

Updated: 11/09/2009 03:35:36 AM PST

Click photo to enlarge

Scott Artis looks over an undeveloped patch of land near his home where animals are reclaiming...

Just like any residential street in Antioch, Gateway Drive has sidewalks, a paved road, retaining walls separating yards and sewer pipes. What it doesn't have is residents.

Not human ones, anyway.
Instead, it's burrowing owls, coyotes, jackrabbits and kestrels that have moved in.
This tract of land on the edge of development in Southeast Antioch has stood primed for new houses for more than two years, since the housing market collapsed and construction halted.
Now, native species have reclaimed the land — a reminder that until recently this part of Contra Costa County, now blanketed with development, was habitat for wildlife.
"Just little by little they started turning up," said Scott Artis, a nearby resident who has taken an interest in protecting the burrowing owls.
This abandoned construction site is not the only one in the East Bay that has been repopulated by wild species since the building boom went bust.
Seth Adams, director of land programs for Save Mount Diablo, said wildlife has returned to land once trod by bulldozers in sidelined subdivisions in Clayton and Pittsburg. A visit to the Delta Coves subdivision in Bethel Island found shorebirds by the dozens perched on the boat launches that were supposed to back up to more than 400 homes.
And at Trilogy in Brentwood, Shea Homes' Dan O'Brien said his engineers check for critters every time they start construction on a parcel where building

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has been delayed. "It's happening all over the place," Adams said. "You can point to just about anywhere on the edge of cities."
In Antioch, Artis has made sure local conservation groups know about the presence of burrowing owls in the abandoned subdivision, so they're not harmed when development there eventually resumes.
Shea Family, a division of Shea Homes, developed the first phase of the neighborhood but sold the parcel to Kiper Homes when the housing market turned, according to a Shea representative. Officials at Kiper did not return calls seeking a comment.
Artis has monitored the owl population in the stalled subdivision for two years during regular walks. Last week, he tallied 11 owls in the area, including four pairs. That doesn't count the fledglings that hatched last spring and since have left their nests.
Burrowing owls are on the California Department of Fish and Game's list of Species of Special Concern, meaning their numbers are shrinking.
"As we build out toward agricultural lands, their habitat is sort of becoming our habitat more and more," said Mike Lynes, conservation director for Golden Gate Audubon. "We sort of have to pay more attention to them now."
Burrowing owls are abundant in East Contra Costa's grassy hills and have been on Antioch's radar for years, since residents pushed for protections for those displaced by the community center at Prewett Park. In response, the city set up designated habitat for the birds protected by deed.
"Antioch is the first (city) in the East Bay that has done something like this," said resident Dee Vieira, who spearheaded the effort.
For his part, Artis says he'll continue to watch over, and raise awareness of, his nonhuman neighbors.
"A lot of people see the owls, but they don't necessarily know about the owls," he said.

Giraffe numbers rise thanks to human tolerance

…from the BBC: 

Niger's giraffes stage a comeback

By Martin Plaut BBC Africa analyst

Giraffes have been threatened by poaching and loss of habitat

The giraffe population of Niger, which was on the verge of extinction just 10 years ago, is now on the rise and moving into new habitats.

From a herd of 50 animals, careful conservation supported by Niger's government has seen their numbers rise to around 200.
Once, thousands of giraffes roamed across tracts of West Africa from the deserts of Chad to the Atlantic coast.
They are a specific sub-species of giraffe that only inhabit the region.
These endangered animals are now only to be found in a tiny area close to Niger's capital, Niamey.
Remarkable synergy
Julian Fennessy, of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, says they live side by side with farmers just 60km (37 miles) from the city.
"You can see them cross the fields," he says.
"They are drinking from the same water pans as cattle. It is quite a remarkable synergy that the people have with the giraffe, and it is the last wildlife left in this whole area."
As their numbers rise, the giraffes are on the move.
They are looking for fresh ranges and keeping track of them is vital.
Conservationists have been given a grant to buy collars for the animals to monitor their movements.
The government of Niger has banned all hunting and believes the giraffes will help build the country's tourism industry.
From these herds it is hoped that the animals, which grow to up to 6m (19ft) tall, will rebuild the population of the region.

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Does a bear sulk in the woods?

Does a bear sulk in the woods?

Do animals, grieve? Love? Hate? Do they feel fear, rage, pride, remorse, happiness, shame, envy, jealousy, sadness and all those other emotions that add texture and confusion to our lives.

You betcha, Marc Bekoff says in his Psychology Today blog, Animal Emotions.

“There is no doubt that many animals experience rich and deep emotions. It’s not a matter of if emotions have evolved in animals but why they have evolved as they have,” he writes. “We must never forget that our emotions are the gifts of our ancestors, our animal kin. We have feelings and so do other animals.”

The piece goes on to present some compelling examples.

Sea lion mothers, watching their babies being eaten by killer whales, wail pitifully. Dolphins have been seen struggling to save a dead infant and mourn afterward. What appears to be grief has been observed in elephants when a member of the family, a non-relative, or even a member of another species succumbs.

Bekoff cites the case of Gana, a captive gorilla, clearly grieved the loss of her infant in the famous image of her carrying her dead baby. Jane Goodall observed Flint, a young chimpanzee, withdraw from his group, stop eating, and die of a broken heart after the death of his mother, Flo.

Gorillas are known to hold wakes for dead friends, Bekoff adds, recapping the story of a female gorilla, Babs, who died of cancer Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo ten years ago. Babs’ mate was observed howling and banging his chest, according to a zoo staff member, then picking up a piece of her favorite food — celery — putting it in her hand and trying to get her to wake up.

“Why do animals grieve and why do we see grief in different species of animals?” writes Bekoff , the author of “The Emotional Lives of Animals” and Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado. “… Some theorize that perhaps mourning strengthens social bonds among the survivors who band together to pay their last respects. This may enhance group cohesion at a time when it’s likely to be weakened.

“Grief itself is something of a mystery, for there doesn’t seem to be any obvious adaptive value to it in an evolutionary sense. It does not appear to increase an individual’s reproductive success. Whatever its value is, grief is the price of commitment, that wellspring of both happiness and sorrow.”

Choices and Challenges 2009: The Inner Life of Animals

Darwin event poses 'challenges' for Tech

Wednesday, November 4, 2009; 9:52 PM 

by Dan Waidelich, features reporter

Human attitudes toward animals have changed greatly throughout history, and members of the Virginia Tech faculty are exploring the shift in thinking.

Choices and Challenges 2009: The Inner Life of Animals is an in-depth look at the workings of the animal mind.

The study of animal behavior is a recent development in the scientific community with many of its beginnings linked to the work of Charles Darwin, whose work is celebrating its 150-year anniversary this month.

“Darwin began the modern scientific study of behavior,” said event organizer Eileen Crist, an associate professor of science and technology in society.

“The evolutionary context, the relatedness of all animals including people, is a big context to understand the whole study of (the) animal mind,” Crist said.

The Inner Life of Animals will use the evolutionary context to stage a panel that will explore how animals think and feel. Experts from around the country were invited to appear as panelists.

“It’s a sterling cast,” Crist said. “They are very well-known people in the fields of biology, science studies and animal welfare. Everything is in line for it to be a really good panel.”
Moderating the event is author Eugene Linden, who has written several books about animal intelligence and behavior. Linden has been a journalist writing about science and technology for decades, Crist said.

The panel is the centerpiece of the event, but Tech faculty, including Crist, will be contributing lectures and various background presentations.

Mark Barrow, an associate professor of history at Tech, will present “Animal Images,” an exploration of society’s treatment of animals and the natural world throughout history.
Early humans lived as part of nature and did not necessarily separate themselves from animals, Barrow said. He argues that the development of ideas such as the creation of humans by God distanced society from a connection with animals and nature.
The re-establishment of a connection between animals and humans began with the acceptance of Darwin’s research, Barrow said.

“Darwinian evolutionary theory permeates our culture in all kinds of ways,” Barrow said. “Our notions of competition between different nations are in terms of social Darwinism. It’s basically all over the place.”

The modern study of animal thought and behavior has its roots in evolutionary science, but the appeal reaches across academic disciplines.

The Choices and Challenges project was originally established in 1985 to explore topics in science and technology that have a broad influence on society. The project is sponsored by Tech’s science and technology in society program and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Guests are invited to attend presentations at the Graduate Life Center for background on animal behavior issues. The main panel will take place at the Lyric at 1 p.m.
“Virginia Tech has stood behind Choices and Challenges all these years,” Crist said. “It’s about education and outreach. That’s Virginia Tech’s primary stake in this."

Schedule:
9:30 - 10:45 a.m. background sessions at the Graduate Life Center
11 a.m. - 1 p.m. main panel at the Lyric
1 - 2 p.m. lunch break
2:30 - 3:45 p.m. follow-up sessions at the GLC
4 - 5 p.m. reception at Gillies

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