#animal culture

[acti-veg]

So animals have culture?

Cultural practices in non-human animals have been observed for decades, the only reason it isn't more widely recognised is because of the anthropocentrism that is so prevalent in the sciences. Many animals have been observed mourning, creating art, giving gifts, decorating their spaces, establishing and adhering to fashions, enjoying music, developing language, using tools and engaging in ritualistic behaviours, all of which are clear indicators of culture.

It isn't just mammals either, such behaviours are commonly observed across the animal kingdom, including birds, reptiles and many invertebrates; particularly cephalopods. Non-human animals often behave in ways that bare striking resemblance to our own cultural practices, especially around mourning, we have just always dismissed these as 'instinctive' under the false assumption that culture is unique to the human animal.

Of course, we also have a significant vested interest in denying animal intelligence, emotion and culture. The more animals resemble us and the more complex they are, the harder it is to justify exploiting them, even under existing ethical systems that don't generally consider animals who aren't pets to be very important. It's harder to eat a pig when you have seen them decorate their barn with flowers, as has been observed in sanctuaries.

If you'd like to read more about this, I'd recommend checking out The Emotional Lives of Animals. You can find a few good articles below as well:

New Scientist

Science.org

Science.org 2

Psychology Today

[covenawhite66]

The streams of clicks are divided into what are called “codas” and the calls are known as sperm whale “songs” — although they’re not very musical and can sound a bit like hammering and squeaking.

Seven ancient “clans” of sperm whales live in the vast Pacific Ocean, proclaiming their cultural identity by distinctive patterns of clicks within their songs, according to a new study.

Bioacoustician Taylor Hersh, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen in the Netherlands and lead author of the study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said that sperm whales often exchange streams of loud clicks with each other when they’re resting near the surface between dives into deeper waters — sometimes more than a mile down — for prey like squid and fish.

[nerdy-arty]

Venezuelan Miku!!

[dial-p-for-placey]

A little late to the party but after seeing so many Mikus in other cultures decided to do one from my own and well I’m from Pittsburgh and let me tell you our culture is road rage

[exilley]

I do sort of wish western anime fans would analyze anime and manga from a framework of japanese historical and cultural context. Specifically a lot of works from the 90s being influenced by the general aimlessness and ennui that a lot of people were experiencing due to the burst in the bubble economy and the national trauma caused by the sarin terrorist attack. I think in interacting with media that’s not local to our sociocultural/sociopolitical sphere it’s easy to forget that it’s influenced and shaped by the same kinds of factors that influence media within our own cultural dome and there ends up being this baseline misalignment of perception between the causative elements of a narrative and viewer interpretation of those elements. It’s a form of death of the author that i think, in some measure, hinders our ability to fully understand/come to terms with creator intent and the full scope of a work’s merits

[blessedscavengers]

blessed be the scavengers

terfs fuck off

made in 2024

[53v3nfrn5]

The female goat herders of Hadhramaut, Yemen

Goat herding is traditionally done by females in Eastern Yemen. The women cover all their skin from the heat and sun, protecting themselves from dehydration and skin damage, the socks and gloves keep their hands and feet soft despite the unforgiving desert sun. The hats, made from dried palm leaves, serve an important role to insulate air on top of their heads thus keeping them cool, besides providing the obvious shade. The layered clothing also helps with the desert changing mood, where it can shift from hot days to cold nights.

[eizaamkc]

POLISH HATSUNE MIKU?! 🇵🇱🦅🔥

[icryink]

WELCOME TO CRINGETOBER!

I wanted to post the prompt list a month in advance so people have time to work on it :)

There are no hard rules; it's just a fun art exercise to draw things that are considered "cringe" by popular culture. Don't stress if you miss a day!!

Even if you don't participate, it would mean the world to me if you just shared the prompt list because it took me a while to make it lol.

I hope you have fun with it!!!

[thiswildcuriosity]

Just like us, animals have culture-group behaviours that we learn from each other. I took a look at what animal culture looks like and why it's important.

Wild About Animal Culture

[canisalbus]

✦ Rainy day apartment details ✦

[getmotherd]

Alces alces | Moose

[musiclovingmoth]

and when i say "specimens" i don't mean taxidermied mounts made to look lifelike for exhibit, i'm talking about the thousands to millions of specimens lying in drawers and shelves like this:

asking because i didn't know this until i was in high school. reblogs greatly appreciated, i want to reach as far out of science nerd tumblr as possible!

[cabysoft]

traditional welsh dress miku and a celtic warrior miku too :D

[malartifex]

Minnesota State Fair Miku

[specimentality]

Check out this plush artist!