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- Oldsters, it turns out, matter. They matter a lot. And not just in human families. I've been reading a new book called The Once and Future World, by J. B. MacKinnon, which points out that when we humans hunt game, when we fish the sea, we often prize the biggest animals because they have the biggest tusks, or the most protein, so they're the ones we kill first. But in many species, the biggest animals are also the oldest, and if we eliminate too many grandpas and grandmas, pulling them out of the mix can unravel the social order around them — often with totally surprising consequences. But — restore those elders to their proper place, and things can get better. Here's an example. It's an elephant story. (Tomorrow, I'll talk about fish, but today is Elephant Day.)
stuffypillow · 4054 days ago · link ·
I think people have not completely grasped how important social learning is for animals. We tend to think of natural selection or evolution when we think about changing behavior patterns. However very many important behaviors, like staying away from roads with vehicles, is socially learned. Evolution cannot really help animals respond to changes that have happened in the last 100- 50 years in human society. I really like the follow up article about fish (http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/12/19/255242237/findi...) also!