Re: [ECOLOG-L] Exclusive homosexuality
Female maternal relatives of gay men have higher fecundity, thus providing a genetic mechanism for the inclusive fitness hypothesis. See the work of Andrea Camperio Ciani and others: for example: Factors associated with higher fecundity in female maternal relatives of homosexual men. The Journal of Sexual Medicine 2012. From: Culliney, Thomas W - APHIS thomas.w.culli...@aphis.usda.gov To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 1:07 PM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Exclusive homosexuality Not every trait need be for some purpose (i.e., an adaptation). Human sexuality is complex, and homosexuality is a facet of it. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that humans are sexually receptive at all times and engage in sex not only for procreation, but also for recreation. Tom Culliney -Original Message- From: Mitch Cruzan [mailto:cru...@pdx.edu] Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 12:31 PM To: Culliney, Thomas W - APHIS Cc: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Exclusive homosexuality This neglects that fact that homosexuality is not an accident of history or just a artifact of modern human societies. This trait is too widespread and occurs at too high a frequency in human populations to be explained by chance - there must have been a selective advantage in the past. The widespread nature of this trait across human populations suggests that it must have been present in the human lineage by at least the time of the second major migration of hominids out of Africa around 60,000 ybp. The inclusive fitness argument mentioned several times by contributors to this listserve is probably the best explanation for the maintenance of homosexuality in human populations. Mitch Cruzan On 3/28/2013 7:46 AM, Culliney, Thomas W - APHIS wrote: I was referring to strict homosexuality in humans. Granted, there probably are cases in which children of a (perhaps deceased) sibling or other close relative would be raised by a homosexual, thus raising his or her inclusive fitness, but such cases would be rare. The Darwinian fitness of a strict homosexual is, as a rule, zero. Helpers at the nest do forgo their own reproduction to help relatives raise offspring, but, as far as I know, there is no requirement for them to be homosexual. Tom Culliney From: Jonathan Colburn [mailto:col...@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 10:05 AM To: Culliney, Thomas W - APHIS Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Exclusive homosexuality Hi Tom, Respectfully, the Darwinian fitness sounds like inclusive fitness, which is often measured by reproductive success. However, reproductive success of a homosexual is not always a good measure of their inclusive fitness (e.g. helpers at the nest). Ultimately, any action that staves off fixation of alleles to zero is about as close as we can come to determining that something is inclusively fit... On Mar 28, 2013 9:20 AM, Culliney, Thomas W - APHIS thomas.w.culli...@aphis.usda.govmailto:thomas.w.culli...@aphis.usda.gov wrote: I note that the albatross article mentioned the words natural and normal. Homosexuality certainly is natural, as it occurs in nature, in animals from groups ranging from arthropods to mammals (who knows what goes on in the plant kingdom?). In all cases, there appears to be an adaptive reason for the behavior. However, in its reproductive consequences, exclusive or strict homosexuality, as exhibited in humans, cannot be considered normal sexual behavior. The Darwinian fitness of homosexuals is zero. To the extent that there is a genetic component to the behavior in humans, with their diverse sexuality, the trait undoubtedly persists in the population largely through the actions of bisexual individuals leading to the production of offspring. The above is an argument strictly from a biological perspective, and is not a moral judgment. What two consenting adults do in private is their own business and no one else's. Tom Culliney -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDUmailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Kristen Dybala Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 10:55 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDUmailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Expedition notice and question Laysan albatrosses are a fairly well-known example. Here's a (lengthy) article describing it: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04animals-t.html?pagewanted =all -Kristen On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 6:53 PM, Merav Vonshak merav...@gmail.commailto:merav...@gmail.com wrote: This story reminds me of a similar story - a male pair of Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus). They incubated eggs and reared other pairs' youngs as part of a breeding in captivity effort in Israel some years ago. Merav Merav Vonshak Postdoctoral Fellow Gordon Laboratory Department of
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Jordan's rule
this appears to be the source: Jordan, D.S. (1891) Temperature and vertebrae: a study in evolution. Wilder-Quarter Century Books, New York. From: Lyndell Bade lyndell.b...@gmail.com To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 1:35 PM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Jordan's rule I agree with Dr. Resetarits. It seems to me that it would be associated with David Starr Jordan. Please see: http://vertebrates.si.edu/fishes/ichthyology_history/ichs_colls/jordan_david.html http://www25-temp.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/davidstarrjordan.html (The wikipedia page on him does not appear to be complete and needs editing. I caught some mistakes just scrolling through it.) Best, Lyndell On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 11:13 AM, Resetarits, William william.resetar...@ttu.edu wrote: I have no direct info on this, but it seems the most likely scenario is a connection to the famous Ichthyologist and Evolutionary biologist David Starr Jordan. William J. Resetarits, Jr Professor Department of Biological Sciences Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas 79409-3131 Phone: (806) 742-2710, ext.300 Fax (806) 742-2963 On 8/29/12 9:25 AM, Jan Ygberg jygb...@gmail.com wrote: Dear all Maybe this one? : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_algebra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascual_Jordan Cheers Jan H. N. Ygberg Public Relations Resident Naturalists Programme Coordinator EXPLORER'S INN in the TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE A PERUVIAN SAFARIS ECO LODGE A LODGE WITH A DIFFERENCE Since 1976 A SHOWCASE OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST Peruvian Safaris S.A Alcanfores 459 - Miraflores Lima 18 - Peru Phone: (51 1) 447 Fax: (51 1) 241 8427 E-mail: safa...@amauta.rcp.net.pe / sa...@explorersinn.com Web Site: http://www.explorersinn.com/ Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/explorerslodge Twitter: @explorersinn 2012/8/28 Philippe Golay g...@geneva-link.ch Dear all, do you know who coined the expression « Jordan¹s rule » or « Jordan¹s law » (fish species develop more vertebrae in a cold environment than in a warm one) ? Thank you in advance. Truly yours. Philippe Philippe GOLAY elapsoïdea 21, chemin du Moulin CH 1233 Bernex tel : +41(0)22 7771131 mail : g...@geneva-link.ch L¹autre jour, au fond d¹un vallon, Un serpent piqua Jean Fréron. Que pensez-vous qu¹il arriva? Ce fut le serpent qui creva.. (Voltaire, Poésies mêlées) --
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Are ecologists the problem?
Here is a recent and relevant study: Harold J Marlow, William K Hayes, Samuel Soret, Ronald L Carter, Ernest R Schwab and Joan Sabaté. (2009) Diet and the environment: does what you eat matter? Am J Clin Nutr 89: 1699S-1703S. From: malcolm McCallum malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 4:07:02 PM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Are ecologists the problem? Wayne, You nailed it. I doubt if anyone has, but, I suspect that there would just be different environmental problems not a reduction. It is inevitable that every action has a reaction. (also, the previous post was not a response to your email, I just posted on your thread!) M On Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 12:37 AM, Wayne Tyson landr...@cox.net wrote: Ecolog: What would the actual effect on species diversity of universal vegetarianism? Has anyone done the math? WT - Original Message - From: James J. Roper jjro...@gmail.com To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 11:58 AM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Are ecologists the problem? A well-known statistic is that there are as many domestic animals bred for food for people as there are people in the world, or more. If we consider a 10% conversion of food to mass of the consumer, the logic is undeniable that if all ate lower on the food chain, we could use less land to do it with. Also, we could do it with less energy. Another detail is that more land is used to grow food for those animals than to grow food for people. Just switching the land to grow food for people instead of animals would mean that we could do this on much less land. Habitat loss is one of the driving forces of extinctions world wide. But also, pollution from high efficiency animal production is another huge issue (pigs and chickens). Not to mention land degradation due to grazing. Also well known - vegetarian diets can provide all the nutrients that normal people need. QED - a vegetarian diet would be better for the planet (and we would have much smaller problems with obesity!). Cheers, Jim malcolm McCallum wrote on 09-Sep-09 0:50: I tend to believe that any absolute answer that is declared an end all answer is probably not the answer. For example, I'm not convinced that everyone jumping into a vegetarian diet is going to suddenly or even slowly save the world. Especially, considering that some of these stats are based on unrealistic estimates. For example, suggesting that x acres of corn would feed x number of cows and that would feed x number of people whereas the x acres of corn would feed way more people is flawed. Humans cannot survive on a corn diet. Even if we expanded this to grains and soybeans, humans cannot survive on a corn-soybean diet. Why? because vegetables in general are low in two or three essential amino acids that humans must get in their diet. those amino acids are produced by animals and so you must ultimately get them from animals or artificially produced products. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.91/2363 - Release Date: 09/11/09 09:15:00 -- Malcolm L. McCallum Associate Professor of Biology Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology Texas AM University-Texarkana Fall Teaching Schedule: Vertebrate Biology - TR 10-11:40; General Ecology - MW 1-2:40pm; Forensic Science - W 6-9:40pm Office Hourse- TBA 1880's: There's lots of good fish in the sea W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
[ECOLOG-L] Polgar Fellows sought
The Hudson River Foundation is developing a directory of Tibor T. Polgar Fellows. If you are a past participant, please email Helena: hel...@hudsonriver.org or call 212-483-7667. If you know any former Fellows, please pass on this information. Thank you.
[ECOLOG-L] Postdoc position: Research in ecology education/curriculum design, New Jersey
The Rutgers University Graduate School of Education is seeking to fill a postdoctoral position in ecology education/curriculum design. This position is part of a 3 year IES funded project: “Systems and Cycles: Using Structure-Behavior-Function Thinking as a Conceptual Tool for Understanding Complex Natural Systems in Middle School Science.” This is an interdisciplinary project across the Graduate School of Education and School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University and the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. Responsibilities include taking a leadership role in designing and packaging curriculum units, developing teacher materials and professional development, and coordinating classroom research and data analysis. This individual will be a collaborator on our research team who will be fully involved in research and writing. The successful candidate will have demonstrated success in research and scholarly publication in the areas of science education and curriculum design. Qualifications: PhD required. Must have experience with curriculum design and technology-enhanced learning environments. Strong background in biology or environmental science preferred. Start date: June 1, 2009 Interested candidates should send a letter of inquiry and CV to Dr. Cindy Hmelo-Silver (cindy.hmelo-sil...@gse.rutgers.edu) or Dr Rebecca Jordan (rebeccacjor...@yahoo.com).
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Freeware for undergrad ecology course?
Have you tried Populus? http://www.cbs.umn.edu/populus/index.html ~David Howe Rutgers University Lecturer, Department of Ecology, Evolution, Natural Resources Educational Technologist, Program in Science Learning - Original Message From: Schlosser Jacqueline (seal) s...@zhaw.ch To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Sent: Thursday, February 5, 2009 10:56:23 AM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Freeware for undergrad ecology course? Dear Ecologger I'm looking for a free and easy to use software to use in my ecology course. For one lab exercice, my students have to fill in cohort tables (survivorship, mortality, fecundity etc.) to draw different survivorship curves. To make this exercice more interesting and applied, I'd like to find a program that would allow the students to enter this data and get a graph back, that shows them the popultation increas/decrease over the next 100-200 years. With this program they could play with the data and see what implications different management decisions (ie protecting early life stage vs. late life stages) would have for this population. Does anyone know of such a free/shareware? I appreciate your help. Sincerely, __ Jacqueline Schlosser, Ph.D. ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences Institut of Natural Resource Sciences Grüental, Postfach 335 CH-8820 Wädenswil Telefon +41 (0)58 934 5792 Fax +41 (0)58 934 5853 www.cascadesystems.ch www.unr.ch www.lsfm.zhaw.ch
