An article in the November-December issue of American Scientist caught my eye for a couple of "popuot" lines:

Mirror Mirror: Evidence that psychology, like biology, is conserved between human and nonhuman species augurs a shake-up for science and society, G. A. Bradshaw, Robert M. Sapolsky

The article starts off with:

Back in 1974, an unusual report from Jane Goodall at the Gombe Stream Wildlife Research Centre in Tanzania caught the public eye. Chimpanzees had committed infanticide and were engaging in war. Not only were they acting in unanticipated ways, chimpanzees were acting like humans. Goodall's discovery bridged the divide between Homo sapiens and other species.

The article continues with the argument that there is little in the way of a real dividing line separating animals from humans. There are differences in "quality" and "quantity," but little difference in "kind," for emotions and behaviour as well as for physical characteristics. This requires an adjustment in how animal (and human) behaviour is studied.

The article is accessible for reading, but the "interesting" comments were more like side notes:

We now recognize that species other than humans engage in an array of behaviors that bring variety and depth to life: dolphins teach cultural customs to their young, octopi demonstrate diverse personalities, and rats show a sense of humor.

I've heard reports of all that, but:

… This is one of the reasons that chimpanzee homicide, laughing mice and empathetic sheep are considered newsworthy: …

I once knew an old farmer whose eyes got sort of misty when he spoke of a nanny goat that had died a few years before, but I don't know if she reciprocated the tenderness. A separate book review (not web accessible) asserted that elephants bury their dead, defend the gravesite, and return on their annual migrations to "grieve" at the burial site. The same book asserts that elephants buried one young man whom they had "killed out of necessity" and defended his grave from those who attempted to collect the body as if he was one of their own …

But I think the "empathetic sheep" demands comment, and I'm not sure I can provide an appropriate one, as I can't recall a specific reference to this characteristic. Perhaps, if it's true that the some of our members¹ are the authorities here, we should invite some opinions … .

Like, did anyone ever feel she was just using them, or did she really care? Or maybe she just felt sorry for … ?


John

¹Ducking, weaving, bobbing, and running as fast as possible