evolutionary-biology   13

Word of the Month: Myrmecomorphy | EvoEcoLab, Scientific American Blog Network
"Part of the fun in natural history is playing word detective! Naturalists speak in greek and latin and love mashing together parts of these languages to create new, yet often very descriptive, words. This month, I want to talk a little about an awesome word – MYRMECOMORPHY.

This beauteous etymological wonder is derived from from the root words myrmex, meaning ant, and morphos, meaning form. Soooooooo, myrmecomorphy is ant-mimicking! This is a form of Batesian mimicry, which occurs between two, often very different, species are very similar in appearance. The caveat is that the initial species is usually toxic, spiny or otherwise unpleasant to eat, while the mimic is a fraud and only appears to be dangerous."
biology  mimicry  evolutionary-biology  ecology  natural-philosophy-rawks 
september 2011 by Vaguery
Stringent Response: Systems biology approach to stringent response
"All this results in bacteria gambling all the time: some react to stimulus, some don't, some produce more proteins in response to it, some less. This leads to so called phenotypic heterogeneity, when otherwise (genetically) identical bacteria become very different in terms of their responses.

This could be a good thing and also could be a bad thing. Having a collection of different bugs instead of a clone army will provide certain versatility: some are ready for one conditions, and some are ready for others. For instance, some are ready to grow and divide right away and some are slower and more cautious. Both types of cells can be beneficial in different conditions: the active ones will drive the population growth, but will be sensitive to the antibiotic treatment, and the passive ones will wait until the treatment is over and then they will come to life. Sounds like a good strategy (and it has a name, this strategy - "bed hedging") and I guess it is exactly the reason why clone armies never caught on."
diversity  systems-biology  evolutionary-biology  game-theory  emergent-design 
june 2011 by Vaguery
Is There Anything Good About Men (Roy F. Baumeister)
WAW stands for “Women Are Wonderful.” Both men and women hold much more favorable views of women than of men.

[at] the bottom of society instead, one finds mostly men there too… Most cultures have tended to use men for these high-risk, high-payoff slots

classical music… women can play instruments beautifully, superbly, proficiently … Yet in jazz, where the performer has to be creative while playing, there is a stunning imbalance: hardly any women improvise. (YM: vgl neue Wege ausprobieren)

Today’s human population is descended from twice as many women as men … maybe 80% of women but only 40% of men reproduced … For women, the optimal thing to do is go along with the crowd, be nice, play it safe. The odds are good that men will come along and offer sex and you’ll be able to have babies.

[Men] specialize in the less important, less satisfying kind of relationship. (YM: vgl Facbeook!) Women don’t hit strangers.

to be a man, you have to produce more than you consume
waw-effect  gender  men  women  psychology  improvisation  jazz  music  motivation  evolutionary-biology  sex  social-psychology  wow!  socialnetworking  consume-less-create-more 
october 2010 by yangmeyer
BBC News - Space is the final frontier for evolution, study claims
competition doesn't push -- opportunity sucks. competition applies a suppressing force in most cases.
evolutionary-biology  darwin  ecology  competition  evolution 
august 2010 by escoles
Man's Voice Reveals His Fighting Ability : Discovery News
The findings put men on vocal par with red deer, common loons, baboons, croaking gourami fish, owls and other animals whose calls also directly communicate body strength and fighting ability.
fighting  men  evolutionary-biology  evolution  voice  aggressiveness  virility 
june 2010 by yangmeyer
The Biological Basis of Morality - 98.04 - E. O. Wilson
1998 article by Edward O Wilson on the biological basis of morality -- re-surfaced c. 2008-10-18 by Andrew Sullivan.
e-o-wilson  evolutionary-biology  ethosphere 
october 2008 by escoles
Obsidian Wings: E. O. Wilson On Biology And Morality
A critique of Wilson's Atlantic article, proceeding from premises Wilson doesn't accept. Interesting in terms of demonstrating what he's up against.
evolutionary-biology  e-o-wilson 
october 2008 by escoles
Let a Thousand Orgasms Bloom! by David P. Barash
The topic is straight-forward enough: why do women experience orgasm? The male counterpart is easy enough for evolutionists to explain, but - despite an abundance of theorizing - no one has yet demonstrated a clear-cut fitness benefit that accrues to orga
female-orgasm  orgasm  evolutionary-biology 
september 2005 by actionpotential

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