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Functional Explanations (functional + explanation)
Selected AbstractsMixed species groups in mammalsMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 3-4 2003EVA STENSLAND ABSTRACT 1.,Mixed species groups have long been noted in birds, but they also occur among different species of mammals ranging from closely related species to species from different orders. Mixed species groups of mammals occur in many different habitats, e.g. ungulates on the savannah, primates in various types of forests and cetaceans in the oceans. Mixed species groups are very different in their duration, frequency, predominant activity and structure depending on the species interacting and the habitat they occur in. 2.,Functional explanations for mixed species groups usually fall within two categories: foraging advantages and predator avoidance. However, there could also be other social and reproductive advantages of mixed species groups that could contribute to their formation and stability. The advantages do not have to be equally distributed between the participating species and can also vary according to season and the presence of predators. 3.,It is important that all investigators of mixed species groups take their studies one step further after the naturalistic description and test the function and benefits of mixed species groups in order to give more strength to their conclusions. In this paper we review and discuss the function of mixed species groups in mammals and suggest an approach on how to investigate the function of such groups. [source] Sexual selection and animal personalityBIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, Issue 2 2010Wiebke Schuett Consistent individual behavioural tendencies, termed "personalities", have been identified in a wide range of animals. Functional explanations for personality have been proposed, but as yet, very little consideration has been given to a possible role for sexual selection in maintaining differences in personality and its stability within individuals. We provide an overview of the available literature on the role of personality traits in intrasexual competition and mate choice in both human and non-human animals and integrate this into a framework for considering how sexual selection can generate and maintain personality. For this, we consider the evolution and maintenance of both main aspects of animal personality: inter-individual variation and intra-individual consistency. [source] Explanation in Information SystemsINFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 1 2008Dirk S Hovorka Abstract., Explanation of observed phenomena is a major objective of both those who conduct and those who apply research in information systems (IS). Whereas explanation based on the statistical relationship between independent and dependent variables is a common outcome of explanatory IS research, philosophers of science disagree about whether statistical relationships are the sole basis for the explanation of phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an expanded concept of explanation into the realm of IS research. We present a framework based on the four principle explanation types defined in modern philosophy: covering-law explanation, statistical-relevance explanation, contrast-class explanation and functional explanation. A well-established research stream, media richness, is used to illustrate how the different explanation types complement each other in increasing comprehension of the phenomenon. This framework underlies our argument that explanatory pluralism can be used to broaden research perspectives and increase scientific comprehension of IS phenomena above and beyond the methodological and ontological pluralism currently in use in IS research. [source] Nutritional significance of the selective ingestion of Albizia zygia gum exudate by wild chimpanzees in Bossou, GuineaAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2006Kazunari Ushida Abstract The selective ingestion of plant gum exudates by chimpanzees has been frequently observed at various study sites. At Bossou, Guinea, chimpanzees also frequently ingest Albizia zygia gum exudate. A functional explanation for this behavior is lacking, so we evaluated its possible contribution of energy in the form of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) as well as minerals. An in vitro fermentation study of A. zygia gum using the fecal bacteria of a Bossou chimpanzee showed that carboxylic acids were produced with a 6-hr lag phase up to 44 mmol/l by 18 hr of incubation. Acetate was the most abundant acid produced, followed by lactate and propionate. The energy supplied from the fermentation of a piece of gum exudate (20,30 g) was negligible in comparison with the estimated daily energy requirements of chimpanzees in the wild. However, A. zygia gum exudate (20,30 g) can supply sufficient amounts of calcium, manganese, magnesium, and potassium to fulfill the daily requirements for these minerals in chimpanzees. Am. J. Primatol. 68:143,151, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] EVOLUTION OF SCAPULA SIZE AND SHAPE IN DIDELPHID MARSUPIALS (DIDELPHIMORPHIA: DIDELPHIDAE)EVOLUTION, Issue 9 2009Diego Astúa The New World family Didelphidae, the basal lineage within marsupials, is commonly viewed as morphologically conservative, yet includes aquatic, terrestrial, scansorial, and arboreal species. Here, I quantitatively estimated the existing variability in size and shape of the Didelphidae scapula (1076 specimens from 56 species) using geometric morphometrics, and compared size and shape differences to evolutionary and ecologic distances. I found considerable variation in the scapula morphology, most of it related to size differences between species. This results in morphologic divergence between different locomotor habits in larger species (resulting from increased mechanical loads), but most smaller species present similarly shaped scapulae. The only exceptions are the water opossum and the short-tailed opossums, and the functional explanations for these differences remain unclear. Scapula size and shape were mapped onto a molecular phylogeny for 32 selected taxa and ancestral size and shapes were reconstructed using squared-changed parsimony. Results indicate that the Didelphidae evolved from a medium- to small-sized ancestor with a generalized scapula, slightly more similar to arboreal ones, but strikingly different from big-bodied present arboreal species, suggesting that the ancestral Didelphidae was a small scansorial animal with no particular adaptations for arboreal or terrestrial habits, and these specializations evolved only in larger-bodied clades. [source] The Ideal Explanatory Text in History: A Plea for EcumenismHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 3 2004Tor Egil Førland ABSTRACT This article presents Peter Railton's analysis of scientific explanation and discusses its application in historiography. Although Railton thinks covering laws are basic in explanation, his account is far removed from Hempel. The main feature of Railton's account is its ecumenism. The "ideal explanatory text," a central concept in Railton's analysis, has room for not only causal and intentional, but also structural and functional explanations. The essay shows this by analyzing a number of explanations in history. In Railton's terminology all information that reduces our insecurity as to what the explanandum is due is explanatory. In the "encyclopedic ideal explanatory text," different kinds of explanation converge in the explanandum from different starting points. By incorporating pragmatic aspects, Railton's account is well suited to show how explanations in historiography can be explanatory despite their lack of covering laws or tendency statements. Railton's account is also dynamic, showing how the explanatory quest is a never-ending search for better illumination of the ideal explanatory text. Railton's analysis is briefly compared to, and found compatible with, views on explanation presented by David Lewis, C. Behan McCullagh, and R. G. Collingwood. Confronted with Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutics and Donald Davidson's insistence on the indeterminacy of interpretation, the essay suggests that the objectivity of the ideal explanatory text should be regarded as local, limited to the description under which the action is seen. [source] The problem of similarity: analysis of repeated patterns of microsculpture on gastropod larval shellsINVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2004Carole S. Hickman Abstract. The problem of similarity is one of explaining the causes of striking resemblances between patterns and architectural themes that recur in organisms at various scales of biological organization. Classical explanations that have considered only the alternatives of homology and analogy overlook similarities of form that are primarily a consequence of fabrication, conveying little information about evolutionary relationships or functional role. When viewed at successively higher magnifications and when mapped onto a phylogeny, patterns of delicate cancellate microsculpture and granular microprotuberances on the surfaces of larval shells of marine gastropods fail to meet the predictions of exclusively historical or exclusively functional explanations, but are shown to be rich in fabricational information. Similar patterns suggest that early biomineralization of the initial organic shell is under weaker biological control than the processes that modulate assembly of the multi-layered, hierarchically-organized composite materials of the adult shell. Some patterns suggest remote biomineralization, without direct influence of living tissue. Scanning electron microscopy of larval shell features reveals previously undetected variation on basic themes that may have implications for the traditional disciplines of systematics, functional morphology, and fabricational morphology. The integration of the approaches of the traditional divisions of biology is required for full explanation of similarity and to generate a unified set of principles for the analysis of form in living and fossil organisms. [source] Negation , An Overview of Typological ResearchLINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2007Matti Miestamo This article is an overview of the current state of typological research on negation. Structures expressing standard negation , the negation of declarative verbal main clauses , can be classified on the basis of the status of the negative marker, or on the basis of the structure of the negative clause as a whole. Structural similarities and differences (symmetry and asymmetry) between negatives and affirmatives can be observed and classified into different types which can then be offered functional explanations. Negative strategies used in imperatives, existentials and nonverbal clauses often differ from standard negation; these differences are exemplified and discussed. The interaction between negative indefinite pronouns and standard negation shows interesting cross-linguistic variation in terms of whether the latter co-occurs with the indefinite and whether the indefinite is inherently negative. Some cross-linguistic observations on diachronic developments and on the interaction between negation and modality and negation and focus are also briefly discussed. [source] | |||||||||||||