Author: Denyse O'Leary
There Is No Such Thing as a Fossil Mind
We are free to accept ad hoc evo psych explanations if we wish. Like astrology and palm reading, they make good conversation pieces.
Did Minimal Consciousness Drive the Cambrian Explosion?
Eva Jablonka’s team makes the daring case, repurposing Hungarian chemist Tibor Gánti’s origin of life studies.
Can Crabs Think? Can Lobsters Feel?
What about shrimp? Their brains turn out to have memory and learning centers, which has triggered an evolution squabble.
Octopuses Get Emotional About Pain, Research Shows
The smartest of invertebrates, the octopus, once again prompts us to rethink what we believe to be the origin of intelligence.
Across Species, Animal Adoptions Pose an Evolutionary Conundrum
Animals don’t have reason or moral accountability but there is abundant evidence that mammals and birds have feelings. And feelings often follow their own rules.