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1	Revisiting Sexual Selection: An Exaggerated Signal of Fertility in the Amboseli Baboons Fitzpatrick, Courtney January 2012 (has links) <p>Sexual selection has long been accepted as a widespread force of evolution shaping male traits across taxa. In recent years, biologists have begun to investigate the extent to which sexual selection may also shape traits among females. However, current models of sexual selection have largely been developed using assumptions that--while generally met in males--often do not apply to females. Thus, attempts to apply these contemporary models to the study of sexual selection in females reveal weaknesses in the theoretical framework for sexual selection research. One consequence of this for empirical research is that researchers often infer the action of sexual selection upon evidence of male mate choice. Although male mate choice is increasingly common, it is much less likely to exert selection pressure than its female counterpart. I begin by proposing a conceptual framework that explicitly accounts for ...Next, I investigate a female trait that has recently become an iconic example of sexual selection in females; that is the exaggerated estrous swellings of cercopithecine primates. By combining morphological data collected with a non-invasive photographic method and observational behavioral data with longitudinal ecological and demographic data from the ongoing Amboseli Baboon Research Project, I examine the sources of variance in this exaggerated signal of fertility. Finally, I test the hypothesis that male baboons prefer females with larger sexual swellings because those females have higher fitness. I find no evidence to support this hypothesis. Instead, my results suggest that mate choice among male baboons has evolved to detect, not the intrinsic quality of the female as has typically been proposed, but the quality of a reproductive opportunity.</p> / Dissertation Biology Animal behavior male mate choice Papio cynocephalus sexual selection sexual swellings
2	Helgonet med ett hundhuvud,en symbol-analys av Sankt Kristoffer : En djupdykning i meningen med forntida monster i ett kristet sammanhang Nesi, Alexander January 2024 (has links) This essay studies the historical phenomenon of dog-headed men (cynocephaly) andSaint Christopher who is in eastern-orthodox iconography depicted as a dog headedman. The study argues that a symbolic and phenomenological perspective is preferredto understand mythical figures with “unnatural” depictions. In order to reach aconclusion about the symbolic meaning behind dog-headed men and SaintChristopher, the human experience of dogs and their role in our world is examined indetail to construct a theory concerning their symbolism. The theory is then applied todepictions of dogs and dog-headed men in religious stories and images as well ashistorical accounts to see if the theory fits the facts.The study concludes that dog-headed men and Saint Christopher symbolize a kind of“guardian of the border”. What it means to guard the border has different implicationsdepending on if the dog-headed man is depicted in a Christian or non-Christiancontext. When reading the story of Saint Christopher with this pattern in mind, thereason for his legendary depiction is revealed. The conclusion is supported bycomparing Saint Christopher to stories from the bible which symbolize “the rolewhich the border can play as a part of the whole”. The dog-headed men of history, thesaint and the biblical stories all reinforce the symbolism of each other, revealing thedeeper meaning behind the wild, peripheral side of Christianity. Saint Christopher dogheaded cynocephali symbolism christianity orthodox saint old testament bible esotericism symbolic analysis armenia synaxarion the golden legend Sankt Kristoffer hundhuvud cynocephalus symbolik kristendom ortodox helgon gamla testamentet bibeln esoterisk symbolanalys armenien synaxarion den gyllene legenden History of Religions Religionshistoria

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Revisiting Sexual Selection: An Exaggerated Signal of Fertility in the Amboseli Baboons

Helgonet med ett hundhuvud,en symbol-analys av Sankt Kristoffer : En djupdykning i meningen med forntida monster i ett kristet sammanhang