Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Nature red in tooth and claw

Yet another lovely example of horrifying savagery in the natural world:
When Douglas W. Mock of the University of Oklahoma began studying egrets in Texas three decades ago, he knew that the bigger babies in a clutch would peck the smaller ones to death. Still, Dr. Mock was caught off guard by what he saw — or failed to see. He had assumed that the murderous attacks would surely take place while Mom and Dad egret were out fishing. ...

Instead, Dr. Mock witnessed utter parental indifference. The mother or father would stand by the side of the nest, doing nothing as one chick battered its sibling bloody. "The parent would yawn or groom itself and look completely blasé," said Dr. Mock... "In the 3,000 attacks that I witnessed, I never saw a parent try to stop one. It's as though they expect it to happen."

One researcher watched a nest of African black eagles for three days as the larger eaglet alternated between tirelessly stabbing at its sibling and taking food from its solicitous mother's mouth. There was prey to spare, but the mother did not bother feeding the second, abused baby. When the eaglet's poor, tattered body was finally tossed to the ground, the researcher calculated that it had been pecked 1,569 times.
Another reason to hesitate before too eagerly making the analogy between the "positive" results generated by natural selection and by pure, unfettered market forces.

PS: It also adds yet more to the "problem of evil" flaw in "intelligent design" - why on earth would God design hatchlings to kill each other by pecking? Surely the mother could at least have been designed to slip the unwanted hatchlings a bit of painless poison.

29 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Best regards.

sex shop -

sex shop -

sex shop -

seks shop -

seks shop -

seks shop -

erotik shop -

erotik shop -

penis büyütücü -

penis büyütücü -

penis büyütücü -

erotik shop -

seks shop -

sex shop -
erotik shop -
erotik market -

vidrom.com -

video share -

file upload -
free file -

image upload -

erotik market -
erotic market -
erotik market -
erotik market -
erotic shop -
erotic shop -
erotic shop -

alışveriş -

12 taksit

Kozmetik
Shopseks.com
Hepzinde.com
penis büyütücü -
penis büyütücü -
virility pills -
elektronik sigara -
virility pills -
penis büyütücü -
penis büyütücüler -
bayan iç giyim -
virility pills -
elektronik sigara

12/30/2007 09:10:00 AM  
Anonymous wow guides for beginners said...

hehe thanks!

4/02/2010 03:59:00 PM  
Blogger Mie84 said...

Nice post..

have fun,
wusthof culinar set

6/02/2010 01:43:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello again and again abother great post of you mate. It's very interesting to read you. As I can see, a lot of people here knows much about ED treatment maybe they can help me. For a long time I can't decide what is better: to buy viagra, to buy cialis or to buy levitra? I found this Canadian pharmacy no prescription to buy all this things, so can somebody help me to make a decision? IMHO I should buy viagra online at this online pharmacy no prescription

6/08/2010 09:28:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The latter, Web 2.0, is not defined as a static architecture. Web 2.0 can be generally characterized as a common set of architecture and design patterns, which can be implemented in multiple contexts. bu sitede en saglam pornolar izlenir.The list of common patterns includes the Mashup, Collaboration-Participation, Software as a Service (SaaS), Semantic Tagging (folksonomy), and Rich User Experience (also known as Rich Internet Application) patterns among others. These are augmented with themes for software architects such as trusting your users and harnessing collective intelligence. Most Web 2.0 architecture patterns rely on Service Oriented Architecture in order to function

11/03/2010 01:06:00 PM  
Anonymous buy viagra online said...

Hello,
This is an interesting information found here, Keep posting such an awesome blog post. Thanks very much!

5/25/2011 06:21:00 AM  
Anonymous Buy Caliplus anti impotence pills said...

Sorry to say but the content couldn't have been so bitter to understand.

8/15/2011 08:04:00 PM  
Anonymous Niagra herbal aid for impotence said...

It's very interesting to read you. As I can see, a lot of people here knows much about ED treatment maybe they can help me.

9/01/2011 06:50:00 AM  
Anonymous Viagra Online said...

I really enjoyed reading what you had to say.You have lots of good ideas.This is really great stuff.Keep going.Thanks for sharing.

9/30/2011 07:46:00 AM  
Anonymous Davis said...

Hard to figure. Nature is cruel. I just found out that Prairie Dogs, my favorite animal, eat their young. All of these cruelties, of course, are designed to keep populations at manageable levels. Something humans are going to have to figure out.

10/05/2011 03:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Vimax penis enlargement pills said...

This is remarkably useful and important blog. I recommend every one to visit this blog.

12/10/2011 05:10:00 AM  
Anonymous Male Extra enhancement pills said...

This is very incredible.I want this at my home. Truly it was funny:)

12/21/2011 07:17:00 PM  
Anonymous Instant Performer penis enhancement gel review said...

Generally characterized as a common set of architecture and design patterns, which can be implemented in multiple contexts.

12/23/2011 06:33:00 AM  
Anonymous Provillus stop scalp hair loss fast said...

if you love those other moments, you need to listen to the string quartets -- especially the viola part in the 2nd (or is it the 3rd) movement of the the Third String Quartet.

1/30/2012 12:11:00 PM  
Anonymous Buy Maxocum sperm pills said...

I feel very grateful to come across you blog !

2/02/2012 03:28:00 PM  
Anonymous Best Charcoal Smokers Review said...

You are doing a great job man. I hope you'll have more and more visitors because you write so good and you really deserve it.

2/10/2012 06:01:00 PM  
Anonymous Vigaplus said...

Presentation is really out of the world.This is truly very good description.

2/14/2012 02:04:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

4/30/2014 06:17:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Awesome!Thanks for taking the time and sharing this information with us. On being straight and point, it was really very useful and insightful. I hope you have more visitors because you write very well and you really are worth it.

Accounting Finance SPSS Assignment Writing
Student Assignment Help
Assignment Help allUK,USA,Australia Adelaide

5/07/2018 12:02:00 PM  
Blogger Sophie Grace said...

This is a magnificent awakening article. I am for all intents and purposes happy with your awesome work. You put amazingly particularly pleasing information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Planning to scrutinize your next post. pikdo

10/12/2018 05:03:00 AM  
Blogger Jack Jonas said...

Thanks for this post.

Study Help Online

1/30/2019 07:00:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am taniya and I offer the services that you want from a long time. Now you can enjoy an Indian girl in your city Dubai. I am the first choice of everymen in this world. I am 22 years old Indian beauty.

Dubai Escorts
Dubai Independent Escorts
Indian Escorts In Dubai
Dubai Call Girls
Dubai Escort

10/16/2019 08:45:00 AM  
Anonymous Elvira Madigan said...

If you need to buy essay it is the best place to avail high quality writing assistance online. Nursing Assignment Help has helped out their thousands of clients for their assignments.

11/12/2019 03:36:00 PM  
Blogger Ducat said...

This is a great article and a great read for me. It's my first visit to your blog, and I have found it so useful and informative especially this article.cloud computing training in noida

7/06/2020 10:18:00 AM  
Blogger Andy Alvin said...

Interesting article! Thank you for sharing them! I hope you will continue to have similar posts to share with everyone! I believe a lot of people will be surprised to read this article!
Get the best business law assignment help and stats homework help via the best online essay writer at MyAssignmentHelp.
Find geography homework help with the best essay writers online for free. Gear up your exam game and get a boost in all subjects online at MyAssignmentHelp.

7/07/2020 08:51:00 AM  
Blogger Admin said...

I want to find out is myassignmenthelp legit? I believe myassignment help is a genuine service.

7/09/2020 01:34:00 PM  
Blogger Najaf Qureshi said...

Are you searching for Capital Smart City? You want any type of information about this project? Do not worry we are here to help you. Just visit our website or call us on given number.
Call/WhatsApp : +92 331 7627888

Capital Smart City

Nova City Islamabad

6/13/2021 10:05:00 AM  
Blogger pablojay said...

This blog has given me all the information I have been looking for, and I want to say thank you. I wish you more knowledge to do more of this. For related post, click here to see unilorin cut off mark

10/18/2021 09:34:00 AM  
Blogger Unlimited Redemption NewYork said...

Unlimited Redemption has bottles and can return centers at more than 11 locations in New York State. You can check location bottle can return center Albany, Bottle can return center Coxsackie, Bottle can return center Wynantskill, Bottle can return center Amsterdam, Bottle can return center Saugerties, Bottle can return center Kingston by visiting We offer redemption for glass bottles, plastic bottles, aluminum cans (with NY 5 cents or NY 5¢ labels). You can visit recycle counters at your nearest Beer Universe Store.

9/16/2024 11:35:00 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home