Key Terms
- animal
- a multicellular organism, either vertebrate or invertebrate, that can breathe, move, ingest, excrete, and sexually reproduce.
- animal empathy
- a human sense of understanding and sensing the feelings of other animals.
- anthropocentrism
- the belief that the human perspective is the most important one; also called human exceptionalism.
- conspecifics
- members of the same species.
- culture hero
- an idealized animal or human figure associated with supernatural feats. A culture hero is particular to their cultural group, exhibiting specific traits, actions, and discoveries that are significant to that group of people
- domestication
- the selective breeding of a species by humans to create animals better suited to human life.
- ecotourism
- an international conservation movement to preserve the flora and fauna of endangered natural environments through conscientious tourism.
- karma
- a Buddhist spiritual principle of cause and effect in which an individual’s words, actions, and deeds in one life affect their conditions in the next life cycle
- multispecies ethnography
- the study of the interactions between humans and other species within their shared environment.
- nature
- a domain defined by cultures as outside or on the margins of human culture.
- neotony
- a tendency for an animal to maintain both physical and social juvenile characteristics into adulthood.
- nomadic pastoralism
- herding that is based on the availability of environmental resources; involves unpredictable movements, as herders decide from day to day where they will go next.
- pastoral societies
- societies in which primary subsistence is based on herding groups of animals.
- pets
- animals, whether domesticated or tamed, with whom humans have a social bond.
- polyspecific
- interaction involving multiple species.
- reincarnation
- rebirth into a new cycle of life, inhabiting a new body of the same or another species.
- symbiosis
- a mutually beneficial relationship between species.
- tame
- a behavioral condition in which humans encourage wild animals to tolerate human proximity and interaction.
- totem
- an animal or plant believed to be spiritually connected to a group of people.
- totemism
- a belief and classification system in which a group of humans claims a spiritual kinship with a plant or animal that serves as the group’s emblem.
- transhumant pastoralism
- herding in a regular, patterned movement from one location to another.
- trickster
- an animal spirit deity who is very lively and clever and gets into trouble through thoughtless or unconventional actions.
- zoonoses
- plural form of zoonosis, singular; diseases transmitted from animals to humans, usually involving a wild animal host. Many zoonoses mutate and become more virulent in their human hosts (e.g., COVID-19, measles, HIV, influenza).