Neural and behavioural analyses have shown that the formation of filial preferences in young, precocial birds involves at least two separate processes. One process is an emerging predisposition to approach stimuli with the characteristics of the natural mother. The other (learning) process of filial imprinting results in chicks preferentially-approaching a stimulus to which they have been expos...

The dynamics of a predator-prey system, where the predator has two stages, a juvenile stage and a mature stage, are modelled by a system of three ordinary differential equations. The mature predators prey on the juvenile predators in addition to the prey. If the mortality rate of juveniles is low and/or the recruitment rate to the mature population is high, then there is a stable equilibrium wi...

Episodes of Palaeolithic cannibalism have frequently been defined as 'nutritional' in nature, but with little empirical evidence to assess their dietary significance. This paper presents a nutritional template that offers a proxy calorie value for the human body. When applied to the Palaeolithic record, the template provides a framework for assessing the dietary value of prehistoric cannibalist...