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Zebras: Immer der Erinnerung nach

By Guest PostJune 16, 2017Naturechloe bracis, erinnerung, modell zebras, thomas mueller, zebras

Zebras folgen ihrer Erinnerung, um auf der alljährlichen Wanderung während der Regenzeit ihr Ziel zu erreichen. Entscheidend für ihre Route ist die Erinnerung daran, wie die Vegetation am Zielort durchschnittlich in der Vergangenheit ausgesehen hat. Die unterwegs vorgefundende Vegetation und deren kurzfristige Wahrnehmung spielt für die Richtung eine untergeordnete Rolle. Das berichtet ein Senckenberg-Forscherteam ¬im Fachmagazin „Proceedings of the Royal Society B“. Die Wanderrouten großer Landsäugetiere wie Zebras könnten daher weniger flexibel sein, als bisher angenommen wurde. (more…)

‘Ancient Bipedal Hominid Dubbed ‘Nutcracker Man’ Preferred Grass to Nuts’

By Guest PostMay 3, 2011Scienceafrican landscape, ancestors of humans, bipedal hominid, c3 photosynthetic, c4 photosynthetic pathway, carbon isotopes, emma mbua, hard fruit, hominid, huge molars, matt sponheimer, meave leakey, northern kenya, nutcracker man, nuts, paranthropus, paranthropus boisei, powerful jaws, savannah grasses, seeds, teeth, thure cerling, tropical environments, university of colorado boulder, zebras

An ancient, bipedal hominid sporting a set of powerful jaws and huge molars that earned it the nickname “Nutcracker Man” likely didn’t crack nuts at all, preferring instead to slurp up vast quantities of grasses and sedges, says a new study.

The hominid, known as Paranthropus boisei, ranged across the African landscape more than 1 million years ago and lived side-by-side with direct ancestors of humans, said University of Colorado Boulder anthropology Professor Matt Sponheimer, a study co-author. It was long assumed Paranthropus boisei favored nuts, seeds and hard fruit because of its huge jaws, powerful jaw muscles and the biggest and flattest molars of any known hominid in the anthropological record, he said. (more…)

Are Your Values Right or Left? The Answer Is More Literal Than You Think

By Guest PostApril 19, 2011Sciencebrain-injured patients, daniel casasanto, dexterity test, linguisti tropes, mental metaphors, optimistic, putative, zebras

Up equals good, happy, optimistic; down the opposite. Right is honest and trustworthy. Left, not so much. That’s what language and culture tell us. “We use mental metaphors to structure our thinking about abstract things,” says psychologist Daniel Casasanto, “One of those metaphors is space.”

But we don’t all think right is right, Casasanto has found. Rather, “people associate goodness with the side they can act more fluently on.” Right-handed people prefer the product, job applicant, or extraterrestrial positioned to their right. Lefties march to a left-handed drummer. And those linguistic tropes? They probably “enshrine the preferences of the right-handed majority.” (more…)

Tag Archives: zebras

Zebras: Immer der Erinnerung nach

‘Ancient Bipedal Hominid Dubbed ‘Nutcracker Man’ Preferred Grass to Nuts’

Are Your Values Right or Left? The Answer Is More Literal Than You Think