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Infanticide and adoption have been attributed to sexual selection, where an individual later reproduces with the parent whose offspring it killed or adopted. While sexually selected infanticide is well known, evidence for sexually selected adoption is anecdotal. We report on both behaviors at 346 nests over 27 y in green-rumped parrotlets (Forpus passerinus) in Venezuela. Parrotlets are monogamous with long-term pair bonds, exhibit a strongly male-biased adult sex ratio, and nest in cavities that are in short supply, creating intense competition for nest sites and mates. Infanticide attacks occurred at 256 nests in two distinct contexts: 1) Attacks were primarily committed by nonbreeding pairs (69%) attempting to evict parents from the cavity. Infanticide attacks per nest were positively correlated with population size and evicting pairs never adopted abandoned offspring. Competition for limited nest sites was a primary cause of eviction-driven infanticide, and 2) attacks occurred less frequently at nests where one mate died (31%), was perpetrated primarily by stepparents of both sexes, and was independent of population size. Thus, within a single species and mating system, infanticide occurred in multiple contexts due to multiple drivers. Nevertheless, 48% of stepparents of both sexes adopted offspring, and another 23% of stepfathers exhibited both infanticide and long-term care. Stepfathers were often young males who subsequently nested with widows, reaching earlier ages of first breeding than competitors and demonstrating sexually selected adoption. Adoption and infanticide conferred similar fitness benefits to stepfathers and appeared to be equivalent strategies driven by limited breeding opportunities, male-biased sex ratios, and long-term monogamy.

Defined as the killing of a newborn individual by a conspecific, infanticide by males is widespread in mammals. Results from this paper used genetic analysis to confirm and characterize the first report of non-parental infanticide in giant armadillos. Genetic evidence demonstrates that the killer male is unrelated to the killed infant but is the father of the next offspring. This evidence supports the sexual selection hypothesis, in which infanticide is used to obtain increased access to breeding females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filicide is the act of a parent killing their own offspring. Previous studies indicate that there are both commonalities and distinctions between filicides committed by mothers and fathers. The main objective of this study was to compare maternal and paternal filicide with a major focus on clinical and sociodemographic features of perpetrators, incident details, and victims. Filicide cases were examined at the bedded unit of the Expertise Department of Observation of the Council of Forensic Medicine that were referred by the Turkish Ministry of Justice. A total of 51 perpetrators and 57 victims were analyzed from June 2014 to December 2023. The perpetrators were daily face‐to‐face interviewed by psychiatry and forensic medicine physicians. There were significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric conditions between maternal and paternal cases. Female perpetrators tended to be younger, unemployed, mostly targeted younger victims and used asphyxiation to kill, whereas males tended to target older victims and utilized firearms. The most common primary cause of filicide in maternal cases was "unwanted pregnancy," whereas "spousal revenge" and "anger or impulsivity" were predominant in paternal filicides. All perpetrators who were not criminally responsible were mothers, mostly diagnosed with psychotic depression. Unwanted pregnancy, psychotic depression, and postpartum psychosis should be assessed when evaluating risk for mothers, especially for infanticide. The desire for revenge on a spouse, often seen with personality disorders, impulsivity and anger, access to firearms should be screened for risk of paternal filicide, particularly in older victims. Early recognition of these factors can help in implementing prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infanticide occurs in a diversity of taxa and may provide benefits to the perpetrator through nutritional gain, reduced competition, or increased fitness from mating opportunities through sexually selected infanticide (SSI). Infanticide, however, is rarely observed. We documented a probable infanticide event by a 23-year-old adult male polar bear (Ursus maritimus) on a 3-month-old cub in western Hudson Bay, Canada, during the spring of 2023. We subsequently documented a 21-year-old solitary female who was lactating and in breeding condition with swollen labia, suggesting polar bears return to estrous quickly in the absence of cubs. Using the literature, we examined the relationships among polar bear cub-of-the-year, adult male survival, and the ratio of male/female mortality. We suggest SSI as the plausible explanation for the infanticide event observed and discuss how indirect effects from climate change may affect the prevalence of infanticide as a mechanism regulating polar bear populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many species of animals exhibit caregiving or aggression toward conspecific offspring. The neural mechanisms underlying the infanticide and pup care remain poorly understood. Here, using monogamous mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus), we found that more oxytocin (OT) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) were activated during pup caring than infanticide. Optogenetic activation of OT neurons in the PVN facilitated pup caring in male and female mandarin voles. In infanticide voles, optogenetic activation of PVN OT cells or PVN-medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) OT projection fibers prolonged latency to approach and attack pups, whereas inhibition of these OT neurons or projections facilitated approach and infanticide. Optogenetic activation of PVN OT neuron projections to the mPFC in males shortened the latency to approach and retrieve pups and facilitated the initiation of pup care, but produced no effects on pup-care females. In addition, OT release in the mPFC increased upon approaching and retrieving pups, and decreased upon attacking pups. Intraperitoneal injection of OT promoted pup care and inhibited infanticide behavior. It is suggested that the OT system, especially PVN OT neurons projecting to mPFC, modulates pup-directed behaviors and OT can be used to treat abnormal behavioral responses associated with some psychological diseases such as depression and psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of diagenetic alterations in bone microstructure ('histotaphonomy') as indicators of funerary treatment in the past and for post-mortem interval calculations in forensic cases has received increasing attention in the last decade. Studies have used histological changes to conclude in-situ decomposition, mummification, infanticide and post-mortem interval. There has been very little attempt to experimentally validate the links between decomposition, depositional conditions, time-since-death and microscopic changes in human bone so that meaningful interpretations of archaeological and forensic observations can be made. Here, we address this problem experimentally using the largest sample of human remains from anatomical donors and the longest-term deposition framework to date. This study tests one key assumption of histotaphonomy; that putrefaction during the early stages of decay is reflected in bone microanatomy and composition. Seventeen human donors and six pigs were deposited on the surface in a known Australian environment and left to decompose between 463 and 1238 days. All remains underwent all stages of decomposition reaching skeletonisation. Rib and femur samples were analysed using conventional histological methods and scanning electron microscopy, by applying the Oxford Histological Index, and examining collagen birefringence, microcracking and re- and de mineralisation. Biomolecular changes of the femoral samples were analysed using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The results indicate that bioerosion in human bone does not occur due to putrefaction. There were no correlations between bone histology and the following variables: human vs pigs, season, primary vs secondary deposition, position, fresh vs frozen and time-since-deposition. Furthermore, no trends were observed between biomolecular changes and time-since-deposition. The study also shows that pigs cannot be used as substitutes for human remains for bone biodegradation research. This is the first, controlled, larger scale study of human remains providing a lack of support for a long-assumed relationship between putrefaction and bone histology bioerosion. Using bone degradation as an argument to prove putrefaction, in-situ decomposition and early taphonomic processes cannot be supported based on the experimental human data presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Child homicide is a serious crime, but there is limited local knowledge on its associated factors. Hence, this study aims to describe the profiles of the suspected perpetrators and victims of child homicide and determine the possible associated factors for child homicide in Malaysia. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective secondary analysis of child homicide recorded by the police force in Malaysia. Binary logistic regressions were used to determine the associated factors for child homicide in this country. Results: Of the total 332 cases of child homicide, 294 available data on suspected perpetrators, their demography and victims were analysed. Female victim significantly contributes to a lesser risk for intrafamilial child homicide cases (p=0.551;AOR=0.55;95%CI=0.307;0.988). Young age groups of victims (1 year and below and newborn) increase odds of intrafamilial child homicide. Infanticide is about four times the odds to occur compared to neonaticide (p=0.007;AOR=3.97, 95%CI=1.452;10.857). Chinese ethnicity is less likely to commit intrafamilial child homicide (p=0.043; AOR=0.26;95%CI=0.073;0.959). The analyses indicate that the saddle-shape pattern of age groups of the suspected perpetrators (20 years and below and 41 years and above) is a significant trend of perpetrators for intrafamilial child homicide. Suspected perpetrators aged 41 years and above are four times odds to commit intrafamilial homicide compared to those aged 20 years and below (p=0.006;AOR=4.42;95%CI=1.536;12.700). Conclusion: The findings may assist in providing information for the intervention strategies to eradicate child homicide via effective risk management practices. However, more research is required to ascertain the associated factors for child homicide in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammalian females with unweaned offspring often engage in spatial and temporal segregation to avoid encounters with conspecifics, reducing the risks of infanticide and resource competition. Such behavioral strategies have been reported in bears (Ursus spp.), but knowledge is limited in Asiatic black bears (U. thibetanus). Here, we investigated the temporal segregation of Asiatic black bears with unweaned offspring as a behavioral strategy, using 21 camera traps in Shirakawa Village, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, from June to October 2019. Such a behavioral strategy would be influenced by food abundance, so we also evaluated the production of 6 fruits that are consumed by bears in the study area. Although a direct relationship may not be evident, our findings provided preliminary but suggestive evidence of temporal segregation, with females with unweaned offspring displaying increased daytime activity compared with solitary bears, possibly as an attempt to avoid infanticide and competition for food access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female dominance over males is more frequent in Malagasy lemurs than in other primate clades, but patterns of female–male dominance vary among species, and few data are available for one particularly species‐rich genus, Lepilemur. We investigated the types, temporal distribution, and outcome of female–male agonistic conflicts in the Milne‐Edwards' sportive lemur (Lepilemur edwardsi). Ten L. edwardsi belonging to five social units were equipped with radio collars and observed during 79 focal follows between May and November 1998. We quantified agonistic conflicts, monthly conflict rates, and documented the winner and context for all conflicts. Female–male agonistic conflicts (N = 162) occurred at a mean rate of 0.21 conflicts/hour within groups. Agonistic conflicts peaked during the birth season and occurred mostly in unknown or infant proximity contexts. Females won 96% of all decided agonistic conflicts (N = 154). Other outcomes occurred only when females were with infants during the birth season. In that context, one female sometimes withdrew from her pair partner, and another female withdrew or fled from an extra‐group male whose attacks eventually led to infanticide. Our results suggest female dominance in pair‐living L. edwardsi. We hypothesize that elevated female aggression may convey fitness benefits to female Lepilemur because it generally allows females to intervene quickly and efficiently on behalf of their infants against nonfather males who may approach the newborn infants when they are parked in vegetation. Highlights: Intersexual conflicts occurred on a regular basis (0.21 conflicts/hour) in the nocturnal Lepilemur edwardsi.Conflicts peaked during the birth season and infant proximity was an important behavioral context for conflicts.Females won 97% (n = 134) of all decided conflicts within social units and female dominance is thus suggested for L. edwardsi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender‐based violence (GBV) and, more specifically, violence against women (VAW) are commonly considered a consequence of a patriarchal structure—a social system granting the senior male absolute authority over the family and the community as a whole. Anthropologists have documented that human male dominance is rooted in evolution, with male violent behavior observed among the great apes. Given that evolution is a continuous process, human progress over millennia has modified pre‐existing behavior, demonstrating that humans can move beyond ancestral ways of life over time. Precisely because of the imperative to change and improve, at the global international level as well as in individual countries, strong movements are in action to eliminate GBV/VAW. FIGO has been and continues to be at the forefront of the battle for equality, with initiatives that cover many aspects of this, including the imperative to involve men, who—in the majority of cases—are the perpetrators. Since men are often the root of the problem, they must also be at the forefront of the battle to eradicate it. GBV/VAW comprises many facets, including selective female abortion, infanticide, femicide, honor killing, female genital mutilation, and child marriage. These deeply rooted forms of violence continue to perpetuate gender inequalities, remain major obstacles to health and societal progress, and violate the most basic human rights. Synopsis: Violence against women must be eradicated. To this end, strong movements are in action at the global international level as well as in individual countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caregivers can forget young children in the back of the car, thereby resulting in the tragic circumstance of infant death. The current exploratory study examined whether the public (N = 171) believes a memory explanation when the defendant caregiver relationship to the child is varied and when expert witness testimony is and is not provided regarding the processes by which these memory failures can occur. Adult participants believed that a memory failure played a role when the defendant caregiver was the grandfather as opposed to when the caregiver was the father. Expert witness testimony did not impact this belief. Other memory-related variables impacted perceptions of defendant guilt when defendant guilt was measured continuously but not dichotomously. Numerous non-memory related outcome variables were also studied. Defendant relationship and expert witness testimony impacted different memory-related and non-memory related outcome variables. Results are discussed in terms of age-related forgetting and collective vulnerability versus prospective memory failures. Implications regarding the legal system are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the analysis of the preserved materials of the judicial and investigative cases of Munster in the first half of the XVII century, the article identifies the features of the women’s crime in the city. It is shown that the main types of women’s crimes were witchcraft, infanticide, thefts. The state of the women’s crime was influenced by socio-demographic factors, as well as the lack of financial assistance and the social support from Munster’s authorities. The conclusion is made about the insignificant number of crimes committed by women in the first half of the XVII century compared to men.

"Why the child speaks, or how to talk about violence: The example of the Estonian infanticide ballad “Mareta’s Child”". The lyroepic runosong type “Mareta’s Child” tells the story of a secret sexual encounter between a young unmarried peasant woman and a man of higher social status. The encounter leads to pregnancy and might involve money and/or broken promises. Acting either on his advice or on her own initiative, the woman conceals her pregnancy and abandons the newborn child in the forest, where another woman from the same community finds it. Miraculously, the child starts to speak and reveals its parents. Drawing on the concept of positioning as developed by Rom Harré and Luk van Langenhove, the article explores how the newborn’s preternatural intervention questions and changes, even if temporarily, what can be said about whom, and who can say it. The child speaks so that the female protagonist and the community could address and contemplate breaches that are felt and witnessed but not discussed: powerful men taking sexual advantage of women of lower status, female sexuality and sexual agency, money, infanticide, delusions of social mobility, collective shame and (ir)responsibility. The multivalent poetic language of runosongs is crucial here, as it enables and even encourages multiple interpretations and positions simultaneously. The article also examines the use of direct speech as a marker of decisive moments and turns in the narrative. These formal features, along with the dramatic plot, suggest that “Mareta’s Child” is best approached as a ballad. Rich with characters, conflicts and perspectives, it problematizes the relationship between narrative and violence and highlights the difficulties of discussing acts and experiences of violence.

Abstract Background Filicide, the act of a parent or parental figure killing their child, has been reported in various African countries. However, there is a lack of comprehensive reviews on the prevalence and associated factors of filicide across the African continent, which is characterized by diverse cultural beliefs and practices. This review aims to examine the prevalence and risk factors of filicide in Africa. Methods This review included studies on filicide in Africa, identified through searches in various databases (PubMed, Scopus, Africa Journal Online, and Google Scholar) using relevant keywords. The Mendeley reference manager was used to organize all identified articles and remove duplicate entries. A two-round screening process was conducted by two independent reviewers, with the final set of articles selected through mutual agreement. The quality of the studies was then assessed. Results Out of the 107 retrieved articles, only 15 were included in the review. These studies revealed diverse prevalence rates: 3.7% of total homicides, 1.38% of deaths from family violence, and 13.02% for autopsied children. Various potential risk factors for filicide were identified, including unwanted pregnancies, marital conflicts, family disputes and violence, low socio-economic status, mental health issues in perpetrators, and mental, physical, or neurological vulnerabilities in victims. Cultural beliefs were also recognized as contributing factors to filicide. Conclusion Filicide is a complex and multi-dimensional issue influenced by various individual, familial, and societal factors. The review highlighted a high prevalence of filicide in Africa, shaped by these diverse factors.

Jeremy Bentham is becoming increasingly well-known for his defence of consensual male same-sex relationships on the grounds of an ‘all-comprehensive' sexual liberty. The question arises whether his defence of pæderasty, or ‘the love of boys', and hence of adult-child sexual relationships, on the same principle makes his defence of male same-sex relationships problematic. This paper investigates the extent to which, under Bentham's principle, adults would not be legally punished for having consensual sexual relationships with children, or rather with adolescents. It concludes that Bentham’s position in relation to sexual relationships between adult males and under-age females followed the provisions of the English law of his time, while his position in relation to sexual relationships between adult males and under-age males is little different from the provisions of the law of our own time. Bentham was, moreover, concerned about the reputational damage suffered by unmarried mothers, and hence recommended the decriminalizing of infanticide. In the post-Malthusian age, Bentham, like many of his contemporaries, had become concerned about the potential suffering caused by over-population. His aims in this respect would be met by the forms of contraception and abortion available today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sizeable proportion of child homicides in most African communities is triggered by certain superstitious beliefs and practices such as the so-called “spirit child/children” – children, particularly disabled babies, believed to possess malevolent spirits that cause misfortunes and deaths in their families and the community. Such children are sometimes killed. The present study sought to consolidate and synthesise information on spirit child homicides in African settings to facilitate greater knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon. Utilising the PRISMA guidelines, a literature search for empirical works on spirit child homicides published between 2000 and 2022 was conducted across four databases: Scopus, Web of Science, Journal Storage (JSTOR), and Google Scholar. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The review shows that spirit child homicide occurs largely in rural communities, and that demonophobia, poverty, poor access to health provision, influence of traditional healers, and lack of support for parents of children with disabilities are the major factors that sustain the practice. Because the spirit child belief is deeply entrenched in the culture of the practicing communities, a multi-layered approach will be required to combat spirit child motivated paedicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Filicide, the act of a parent or parental figure killing their child, has been reported in various African countries. However, there is a lack of comprehensive reviews on the prevalence and associated factors of filicide across the African continent, which is characterized by diverse cultural beliefs and practices. This review aims to examine the prevalence and risk factors of filicide in Africa. Methods: This review included studies on filicide in Africa, identified through searches in various databases (PubMed, Scopus, Africa Journal Online, and Google Scholar) using relevant keywords. The Mendeley reference manager was used to organize all identified articles and remove duplicate entries. A two-round screening process was conducted by two independent reviewers, with the final set of articles selected through mutual agreement. The quality of the studies was then assessed. Results: Out of the 107 retrieved articles, only 15 were included in the review. These studies revealed diverse prevalence rates: 3.7% of total homicides, 1.38% of deaths from family violence, and 13.02% for autopsied children. Various potential risk factors for filicide were identified, including unwanted pregnancies, marital conflicts, family disputes and violence, low socio-economic status, mental health issues in perpetrators, and mental, physical, or neurological vulnerabilities in victims. Cultural beliefs were also recognized as contributing factors to filicide. Conclusion: Filicide is a complex and multi-dimensional issue influenced by various individual, familial, and societal factors. The review highlighted a high prevalence of filicide in Africa, shaped by these diverse factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Vandenbergh effect, or male-mediated maturation, occurs when females reach sexual maturation upon exposure to a novel male. Male-mediated maturation is found across mammals, including in geladas, Theropithecus gelada , where it may be an adaptive counterstrategy to infanticide that follows the immigration of a new male; maturing after male immigration maximizes a female's chances of weaning her first offspring before the next infanticidal male immigrates (the 'optimal timing hypothesis'). Alternatively, the nonadaptive 'Bruce effect by-product hypothesis' posits that male-mediated maturation in geladas (and possibly other mammals) is triggered by the same physiological changes that, in pregnant females, produce spontaneous abortion (the Bruce effect). We test both hypotheses using theory and observational data. We show that neither male-mediated maturation nor its associated hormonal changes occur in baboons (Papio cynocephalus × Papio anubis), a primate without the Bruce effect. An individual-based model suggests that male-mediated maturation should not evolve via adaptive evolution in either geladas or baboons. Finally, we derive the selection coefficient for male-mediated maturation and show it is likely to be very small because male-mediated maturation yields only marginal potential benefits unless the system is extremely fine-tuned. We conclude that male-mediated maturation in geladas is a by-product of the Bruce effect and more broadly that the Vandenbergh effect may be nonadaptive. • Male-mediated maturation does not occur in Amboseli baboons (Papio cynocephalus × Papio anubis). • Female Amboseli baboons do not show an endocrinological response to male immigration. • Male-mediated maturation does not evolve in simulations of two primate populations. • Selection for male-mediated maturation is very weak without extreme fine-tuning. • The Vandenbergh effect may be a by-product of the Bruce effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the killing of one's own infant is an undoubtedly harrowing crime, there exists little research exploring attitudes toward these individuals. Such work has focused primarily on depictions of mothers, yet U.K. government data indicate that the majority of infant homicide cases involve paternal suspects. A sample of U.K. residents (n = 245) participated in a mixed-methods design to explore attitudes toward mothers and fathers who have been accused of murdering their infant child and whether parental mental health issues impacted these judgements. Results aligned with the chivalry hypothesis wherein maternal suspects were evaluated more leniently. Qualitative analyses uncovered hidden gender expectations: mothers were ascribed blame when the father was accused of infant homicide, a finding that was not present in the reverse scenario. This suggests that traditional views of motherhood conflict with a shifting social landscape that is seeing an increase in stay-at-home fathers and working mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lyroepic runosong type "Mareta's Child" tells the story of a secret sexual encounter between a young unmarried peasant woman and a man of higher social status. The encounter leads to pregnancy and might involve money and/or broken promises. Acting either on his advice or on her own initiative, the woman conceals her pregnancy and abandons the newborn child in the forest, where another woman from the same community finds it. Miraculously, the child starts to speak and reveals its parents. Drawing on the concept of positioning as developed by Rom Harré and Luk van Langenhove, the article explores how the newborn's preternatural intervention questions and changes, even if temporarily, what can be said about whom, and who can say it. The child speaks so that the female protagonist and the community could address and contemplate breaches that are felt and witnessed but not discussed: powerful men taking sexual advantage of women of lower status, female sexuality and sexual agency, money, infanticide, delusions of social mobility, collective shame and (ir)responsibility. The multivalent poetic language of runosongs is crucial here, as it enables and even encourages multiple interpretations and positions simultaneously. The article also examines the use of direct speech as a marker of decisive moments and turns in the narrative. These formal features, along with the dramatic plot, suggest that "Mareta's Child" is best approached as a ballad. Rich with characters, conflicts and perspectives, it problematizes the relationship between narrative and violence and highlights the difficulties of discussing acts and experiences of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Systematic reviews on child homicide have proliferated recently, making it hard to keep up with their output. Using an umbrella review approach (i.e., a synthesis of systematic reviews), this study aimed to identify what aspects of child homicide have been examined in systematic reviews, synthesize systematic review findings, and discuss the implications for policy, practice, and future primary research. Method: The current study utilized an umbrella review approach to locate systematic reviews of studies on child homicide published in various disciplines. The final sample included fourteen systematic review articles published from 2010 to 2022. Results: The main research questions varied across systematic reviews, but they included risk factors, typology, statistics on incidence and prevalence, and punishment and disposition. Systematic reviewers highlighted the need for a database and monitoring system, multi-disciplinary Child Death Review Teams, parenting education, and women-friendly services and policies. Conclusions: More systematic reviews and meta-analyses need to be conducted, focusing on evidence-informed strategies, to inform child abuse policies and practices. It is also imperative that the child homicide research community establish knowledge dissemination strategies to build large-scale datasets and translate research results into effective risk management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes is the property of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In rodents, oxytocin (Oxt) contributes to the onset of maternal care by shifting the perception of pups from aversive to attractive. Both Oxt receptor knockout (Oxtr -/-) and forebrain-specific Oxtr knockout (FB/FB) dams abandon their first litters, likely due to a failure of the brain to 'switch' to a more maternal state. Whether this behavioral shift is neurochemically similar in virgin females, who can display maternal behaviors when repeatedly exposed to pups, or what neuroanatomical substrate is critical for the onset of maternal care remains unknown. To understand similarities and differences in Oxtr signaling in virgin pup-sensitized Oxtr FB/FB as opposed to post-parturient Oxtr -/- and Oxtr FB/FB dams, maternal behavior (pup-sensitized females only) and immediate early gene activation were assessed. Pup-sensitized Oxtr FB/FB females retrieved pups faster on day one of testing and had reduced c-Fos expression in the dorsal lateral septum as compared to virgin pup-sensitized Oxtr +/+ females. This differs from what was observed in post-parturient Oxtr -/- and Oxtr FB/FB dams, where increased c-Fos expression was observed in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) shell. Based on these data, we then disrupted Oxtr signaling in the NAcc shell or the posterior paraventricular thalamus (pPVT) (control region) of female Oxtr floxed mice using a Cre recombinase expressing adenoassociated virus. Knockout of the Oxtr only in the NAcc shell prevented the onset of maternal care post-parturient females. Our data suggest that a pupsensitized brain may differ from a post-parturient brain and that Oxtr signaling in the NAcc shell is critical to the onset of maternal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Syngnathid fishes often experience a reduction in brood size and an increase in immunity during pregnancy. Researchers have studied the polygamous broad-nosed pipefish (Syngnathus typhle) and revealed that some eggs from low-quality females in the male's brood pouch serve as nurse eggs that are absorbed by the father. It is unclear whether nurse eggs also exist in other syngnathid fishes, especially in monogamous syngnathid fishes. In monogamous syngnathid fishes, the male pouch only carries eggs from a single female. Thus, the question remains: do some eggs of monogamous syngnathid fishes also serve as nurse eggs? And if so, are these nurse eggs impaired eggs, or are they viable eggs that are consumed by the brooding father? In the present study, we used the monogamous lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus) and asked whether nurse eggs exist in this species. We also explored whether nurse eggs potentially originate from viable versus inviable eggs. Using isotope labeling, we found that nutrients from embryos could be transferred to brooding fathers. Furthermore, we also found that brooding fathers with limited food had a higher isotope content and a smaller brood size compared to individuals with sufficient food. These results have demonstrated that nurse eggs exist in the lined seahorse, and also suggested that the brooding fathers actively consume viable embryos to absorb nutrients in response to low food availability. These findings help us better understand parent-embryo conflict, filial cannibalism, and male-only care in teleost fishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review article deals with legal texts prominently inscribed on a city gate of Timnaʿ, the capital of the Ancient South Arabian state of Qataban. Following a sketch of the history of the region and its languages, the reviewer considers the legal texts published in the reviewed volume dealing with homicide, the attribution of tithes, infanticide, and other matters. It is pointed out that their interpretation by the author would have benefited from comparisons with Yemeni anthropological data that have not changed since pre-Islamic times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Belgi Dergisi is the property of Pamukkale University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The text explores the book "Envisioning African Intersex" and its examination of the sex/gender binary and the presence of intersex individuals. It critiques the racist origins of claims about the frequency of Black intersex individuals in South Africa and discusses the current war on intersex and transgender people, with a focus on the US. The text emphasizes the need for feminist studies to challenge binary thinking and recognize intersex as more than exceptional. It also explores the intersections of intersex, race, and colonialism, and the importance of decolonial approaches and affective interventions in understanding and addressing intersex experiences. The text acknowledges the contributions of activists and scholars in advancing intersex visibility and theorizing, and highlights the impact of flawed scholarship and pseudoscience in shaping policies. It concludes by discussing recent efforts in intersex activism and the role of parents in challenging stigma and shame. [Extracted from the article]

We intuit that children would no longer have a childhood. Childhood, commonly regarded as a natural stage of life, would be in the process of disappearing. To examine this intuition, we resort to the studies of Philippe Ariès (1960) about the emergence of the modern childhood feeling and those ones of Neil Postman's (1982) about its current and gradual disappearance. We wonder if there would be a more appropriate feeling of childhood to the development of 'children' than any other. In other words, we question if there would be an 'adapted' childhood. For this, we make use of the conceptual tools of psychoanalysis. We subvert the classic imaginary pairs adult-child and adult-minor, typical of the field of developmental psychologies, and propose to think about the educational process considering the pair of terms old-infants. In so doing, we are leaving aside the idea of a childlike essence, and presenting the thesis of a three-phase childhood operating in the field of word and language. This symbolic operator is responsible for the institution within the educational process of the always-plural childhoods, according to times and geographies, as well as for the childish, no longer understood as a qualifying adjective, but rather as a noun as conceived by Sigmund Freud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh (1856) and Robert Browning's The Ring and the Book (1868-69) have at their centers women who become mothers as the result of acts of sexual violence, but who are nevertheless moved to feats of self-sacrifice and even heroism in defense of what the Pope, in The Ring and the Book, calls the "unborn child." This article examines the representation of attitudes towards the "unborn child" in these poems in the context of changing legal, medical, and social attitudes to abortion and infanticide in themid-nineteenth century, and argues that their emphasis on the importance of motherhood and what Pompilia in The Ring and the Book refers to as the child's "right of life" should not, as the dominant critical tradition suggests, be read as an endorsement of patriarchal ideology but as the product of an essentialist view of gender identity that represents gestation and motherhood as radical challenges to the prevailing social order rather than acts of acquiescence in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filial and sibling cannibalism have never been documented in Black Storks (Ciconia nigra). We gathered information on 34 breeding events in 10 Black Stork nests from Estonia (three nests), Hungary (two nests), Poland (two nests) and Spain (three nests) being monitored with camera surveillance, live streaming webcams or intensive monitoring control of nests. Overall, we recorded 16 cases of filial infanticide and two cases where the nestlings died by natural causes and were later cannibalized by either their siblings or their parents. Four nestlings were killed by their parents without any attempt of cannibalism. In the remaining 12 cases of infanticide (66.7% of the total losses), 8 nestlings were consumed by one of the parents while in 4 cases the parents were not able to swallow the previously killed nestlings. All victimised nestlings were the youngest, weakest or smallest in their brood. Eight of 14 cases were identified as being associated with environmental stress or an exceptional matter during the breeding season. In at least five cases, one of the mates was new to the nest. Females committing filial infanticide swallowed or tried to swallow the chicks in five out of nine episodes where the parent's sex was known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document contains abstracts of papers presented at an academic conference. The papers cover a wide range of topics related to economics, history, and social development. Each paper presents empirical evidence and analysis to shed light on specific phenomena or historical events. The research is conducted using different methodologies and data sources, providing valuable insights into these complex subjects. The summaries provide a brief overview of each paper's main findings and contribute to the understanding of various social and economic phenomena. [Extracted from the article]

In the fall of 2019, a much-publicized court case brought to national attention the issues of patient-doctor confidentiality when it comes to reporting the deaths of newborns in the United States. It is unclear whether the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade will lead to more cases like this. This article discusses issues of countertransference, as well as the ethical and legal implications were it to be a psychiatrist, in active treatment of such a patient, who would be required to make such a report. More specifically, as in the publicized court case, the patient could be a minor at the time, receiving treatment from a child psychiatrist. The implications of such a case include how countertransference affects the perception of fatal child neglect compared to intentional neonaticide; the ethical dilemma of generating a mandated report with the goal of child safety when such a report could lead to real legal consequences for a minor child; and considerations regarding continued treatment of a patient after such a report is made. It is likely that countertransference, shaped by attitudes toward mothers and idealized views on mothering, may play a large role in all these circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal welfare has evolved during the past decades to improve not only the quality of life of laboratory rodents but also the quality and reproducibility of scientific investigations. Bibliometric analysis has become an important tool to complete the current knowledge with academic databases. Our objective was to investigate whether scientific research on cannibalism/infanticide is connected with maternal aggression towards the offspring in laboratory rodents. To carry out our research, we performed a specific search for published articles on each concept. Results were analyzed in the open-source environment RStudio with the package Bibliometrix. We obtained 253 and 134 articles for the first search (cannibalism/infanticide) and the second search (maternal aggression towards the pups) respectively. We observed that the interest in infanticide/cannibalism started in the 1950s, while researchers started showing interest in maternal aggression towards the pups 30 years later. Our analyses indicated that maternal aggression had better citations in scientific literature. In addition, although our results showed some common features (e.g. oxytocin or medial preoptic area in the brain), we observed a gap between cannibalism/infanticide and maternal aggression towards the pups with only 14 published articles in common for both the searches. Therefore, we recommend researchers to combine both concepts in further investigations in the context of cannibalism for better dissemination and higher impact in laboratory rodents' welfare research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to settle the controversy around Kant's notorious discussion of maternal infanticide in the 'Doctrine of Right' of 1797. How should a state punish an unmarried mother who has killed her newborn infant? The text (at DoR VI 335–37) is obscure. Three readings have been defended in the literature: 1. Lenience. Maternal infanticide does not count as murder; so, capital punishment is inappropriate. On this view, the child does not enjoy the full recognition of the law (this is the standard view). 2. Temporary privilege. Lenience should prevail as long as social attitudes are barbaric and treating maternal infanticide like regular cases of murder is perceived to be unjust. The regular punishment for murder will be appropriate once sexual mores have changed. The child will then enjoy the full protection of the law (Hruschka, Varden). 3. No lenience. Capital punishment, though it appears to be unjust, is actually just and ought to be applied. Any child, whether born to married parents or not, enjoys the full protection of the law (Brandt, Uleman). Based on a close examination of the passage and the context of contemporary laws and attitudes, Kant is not, it will be argued, advocating lenience but certain legislative reforms, which are needed to dispel the perception that capital punishment is unjust. Progressive legislation will change social attitudes, not vice versa. Moreover, it will be shown that Kant does not, appearances notwithstanding, endorse the thesis that a child born out of wedlock has been smuggled into the state like 'prohibited goods' or 'contraband merchandise', which would deprive the child of the protection of the state; that is the view with which Kant saddles Cesare Beccaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxytocin neuron projections from two brain regions involved in parental care regulate both parental care and infanticidal behaviors in virgin mandarin voles.

This is the first dedicated study of the long-overlooked Gesta ('deeds') of Austremonius of Clermont, now understood to be a seventh-century composition. Its central focus is the Gesta 's remarkable anti-Jewish emphases, which reinvent this hitherto obscure missionary as an early apostle martyred by Jews. Building upon earlier research on civic factionalism in Merovingian Clermont, it situates this reinvention within the city's competitive political environment, and its fraught recent history of Christian-Jewish confrontation. It further explores the long-term significance of the Gesta 's portrayal of Clermont's Jews as child murderers, perhaps the first of its kind in Latin Europe. A critical translation follows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Infanticide is a significant evolutionary force influencing carnivore behaviours, as it is one of the primary contributors to offspring mortality. Female multimale mating, which creates paternal uncertainty, is known to reduce infanticide. We propose that two crucial steps are needed for this strategy to work in solitary species like brown bears, Ursus arctos. First, after mating, females should choose dens within their mating area (step 1), boosting the chances of encountering potential fathers of cub(s) after den emergence in spring. However, the efficacy of this strategy hinges on males' fidelity to the same mating areas from one year to the next (step 2). Our study confirmed that pregnant females consistently selected dens within their mating areas, with significant overlap (around 90%) between areas used by females with cubs and their mating zones. Males also demonstrated fidelity (over 65%) to mating areas over 2 consecutive years. Infanticide significantly shapes the sociospatial ecology of female brown bears, a phenomenon that can carry nutritional costs for females with cubs, and influence settlement patterns near human shields to increase reproductive success. Additionally, in hunted populations, removing resident males can trigger an influx of potentially infanticidal bears from elsewhere. • Infanticide represents one of the main causes of offspring mortality in carnivores. • Natural selection has favoured several behavioural counterstrategies in females. • Female bear multimale mating reduces infanticide by creating paternal uncertainty. • Males show fidelity to the same mating areas from one year to the next. • Females with cubs remain in the mating area to increase chances of meeting fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]