Weird Genetic Science

AFP reports via Yahoo News about comparative studies of various species of animals, including primates, and especially including people. The issue: to what extent are members of each species violent toward members of their own species?

The Spanish researchers gathered data on more than four million deaths in 1,024 present-day mammal species, as well as 600-plus human populations from the late Stone Age some 50,000-10,000 years ago until today.

The animals sampled represent some 80 percent of mammal families.

The researchers looked specifically at the proportion of deaths caused by lethal violence perpetrated by a member of the same species -- in humans this was war, homicide, infanticide, execution and other intentional killings.

Overall, the researchers found, intraspecies killing was the cause of about 0.3 percent of mammal deaths.

By the time the common human ancestor first appeared around 200,000-160,000 years ago, the rate was about two percent -- similar to that for other primates, the team found.

"This means that humans have phylogenetically inherited their propensity for violence," they wrote.

Commenting on the study, Mark Pagel of the University of Reading said it provided "good grounds for believing that we are intrinsically more violent than the average mammal."

Homo sapiens ... the killer ape. It's logical our favorite pets - cats and dogs - are hunters too.

The article didn't specify whether abortion was included in human "intentional killings." Inclusion certainly would make the findings stronger.