Category archives: Anthropology

History and legend in the origins of Islam (and IV)

History and legend in the origins of Islam (and IV)

AnthropologyHistoryLinguistics

By Jesús Zamora Bonilla

We shall close with this entry our series (I, II, III) about the origins of Islam, indicating some further interesting facts about the Qur’an. 4) By Muhammad’s time, the Arabic alphabet contained no marks for vowels; furthermore, some groups of consonants were written with exactly the same character (e.g., the symbols for sounds b, t […]

When should a man be more interested in caring for his sister’s children than his wife’s?

When should a man be more interested in caring for his sister’s children than his wife’s?

AnthropologyEvolutionGenetics

By César Tomé

From the genetic point of view, when should a man be more interested in caring for his sister’s children than his wife’s? A quantitative analysis of Alan Rogers, University of Utah, shows that this behaviour should be the choice in populations where adultery is common or permitted. In the animal world, males caring for offspring […]