cl@lgc.com (Cameron Laird) (06/01/91)
I have unreliable images in my mind that seals (in zoos, circuses, television programs) clap their flippers. Why? I'm looking for a structural-functional answer along the lines of, Seals don't, but adult male sea lions do; it's an easy behavior to train, in its similarity to the territorial display ... or They make a motion like that when chasing mackerel, and ... or It's part of the stereotypical response of infants who are trying to attract their mothers' attention when ... Anyone know? -- Cameron Laird +1 713-579-4613 cl@lgc.com (cl%lgc.com@uunet.uu.net) +1 713-996-8546
colby@bu-bio.bu.edu (Chris Colby) (06/06/91)
In article <1991May31.182707.13229@lgc.com> cl@lgc.com (Cameron Laird) writes: >I have unreliable images in my mind that seals (in zoos, >circuses, television programs) clap their flippers. Why? >I'm looking for a structural-functional answer along the >lines of, I don't know, but I'll be willing to bet someone has put forth a parasite hypothesis (clapping dislodges parasites). That is supposedly why whales breach; and virtually every animal behav- iour that is not understood has a parasite hypothesis that is supposed to explain at least part of it. BTW, if a seal claps in the forest, and there's no one there to hear it... >Cameron Laird +1 713-579-4613 >cl@lgc.com (cl%lgc.com@uunet.uu.net) +1 713-996-8546 Chris Colby email: colby@bu-bio.bu.edu