Parrots and People

A Morphodynamic Convergence
Jahrbuch für Goetheanismus 2023, 2023, P.39-65 | DOI: 10.18756/jfg.2023.39

Zusammenfassung:

Die rund 398 lebenden Papageienarten (Aras, Sittiche, Kakadus usw.) bilden eine mehr oder weniger homogene Gruppe von Vögeln, die hauptsächlich in tropischen und subtropi- schen Regionen vorkommen. Keine andere Gruppe von Wildvögeln hat ein so starkes menschliches Interesse auf sich gezogen, und folglich sind Papageien unter den Vögeln die beliebtesten Haustiere auf der ganzen Welt, von den Tropen bis zu den gemäßigten Zonen. Was interessiert uns an Papageien? In diesem Artikel stelle ich die These auf, dass Papageien viele morphologische, Entwicklungs- und Verhaltensmerkmale mit Menschen teilen. Während ihre Intelligenz, ihre Fähigkeit, die menschliche Stimme nachzuahmen und die starken fami- liären Bindungen bekannte Merkmale sind, die mit menschlichen Eigenschaften überein- stimmen, weise ich auf zusätzliche, bisher übersehene menschenähnliche Eigenschaften der Papageien hin, von ihrem kugelförmigen Kopf bis zu ihrer hoch entwickelten Greiffähigkeit. Diese Greiffähigkeit des Papageienfußes – die es den Vögeln ermöglicht, Nahrung handzu- haben und Gegenstände zum Schnabel zu bringen – ist bei modernen Vögeln einzigartig und konvergiert mit der Geschicklichkeit der menschlichen Hand. Darüber hinaus besteht ein- deutig ein Zusammenhang zwischen Intelligenz bzw. kognitiven Fähigkeiten und der Greiffähigkeit. Neben Papageien werden weitere Tierbeispiele in der Arbeit kurz diskutiert. Die schiere Anzahl der Ähnlichkeiten zwischen Papageien und Menschen erfordert eine Neubewertung der evolutionären Dynamik. Dementsprechend ist die Evolution nicht nur das Ergebnis der kumulativen Reaktion und Anpassung des Organismus an sich verändernde äußere Bedingungen der Umwelt, sondern auch der internen Integration und Kohärenz dynamisch interagierender anatomischer, morphologischer Verhaltens- und Entwicklungs- prozesse. Als phänomenologischer und konzeptioneller Rahmen dieser Arbeit ist die kon- vergente Morphodynamik gut geeignet, diese dynamischen Zusammenhänge zu beleuchten.

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