[Taxacom] empathy in animals

[Frederick W. Schueler]

On 25-Dec.-19 10:38 a.m., Kenneth Kinman via Taxacom wrote:

>  In this brief time of celebration and people trying to put aside bad emotions for a while, I was thinking about empathy in other animal species.  It is certainly now recognized that many social mammals can exhibit empathy (elephants, many primates, social carnivores, etc.), but is empathy as common in birds (parrots are a familiar example).  And if so, did some dinosaurs exhibit some empathy (beyond relationships with their offspring and other family group members)?  I can't think of any other reptiles that might exhibit empathy (I wouldn't think that the reptile brain probably has much capacity for empathy).
>         I was also trying to think of any invertebrates that might have some capacity for empathy.   The only possible example I could think of was the octopus (or other cephalopods).  Very intelligent, but are they social enough to exhibit much empathy?   I guess it depends on how broadly one defines empathy.

* lots of things are coming out about Corvids. Here's a report on 
empathy among Ravens: 30 June 2015 - Canada: New Brunswick: 
Northumberland County: Grand Lodge, Popple Depot. (100m site), 21O/7, 
47.39900° N 66.51330° W TIME: 1040. AIR TEMP: circa 16°C, light 
overcast, breezy. HABITAT: riverside lawn-surrounded lodge. OBSERVER: 
Frederick W. Schueler, Aleta Karstad Schueler. 2015/180/z, Corvus corax 
(Raven) (Bird). 2 adult, juvenile, heard, seen, poem. juvenile calls 
from one flying by, adult calls from across river.

"I'm starving!" is the baby Raven's only form of speech
"Grk, over here," the parent says, "there's food down on the beach."
"I cannot leave this tree - groawrrrrk - it would be too much trouble."
"O, little one you cannot live your life within a bubble."

"Scholarly tones and song" the Raven says onto his wife
"Are surely interrupted by this reproductive strife."
"Wait until September, dear, when we'll fly upside down,
and say 'gluk' to each other in the Pine tree's topmost crown."

seasonally,

fred.
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          Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
          Fragile Inheritance Natural History
Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills - https://www.facebook.com/MudpuppyNight/
'Daily' Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/
4 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
   on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain  44.87156° N 75.70095° W
(613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/
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