Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2023 February 4

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February 4

Coyotes and badgers

Symbiosis between a coyote and a badger

How does the symbiosis between coyotes and badgers get passed on to the next generation? Am I correct to assume that there is a genetic component for this instinct to hunt together? Viriditas (talk) 09:24, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

Coyotes being the opportunistic predators they are, they are not averse to snacking on young defenceless badgers, but healthy adult badgers can stand their own and will not be hunted by coyotes, and so "the virtual immunity from mutual predation among adults of both species may preadapt these two species to the rapid and radical behavioral transitions necessary for the hunting associations. Both predators preying on a single species in our area may have eased learning-effective interaction and enhanced predatory effectiveness."^{[doi:10.2307/1382201]} In plain English, these authors surmise it is learned behaviour of adult animals.  --Lambiam 10:54, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

Thanks. I was able to download the 1992 article and read it. For some reason, those authors are intent are portraying it as a nonevolved mutualism. The article also seems to focus a lot on competition rather than cooperation, so I’m wondering if there’s a tinge of neo-Darwinist bias. In fact, the authors conclude: "The badger-coyote association probably is neither cooperation nor reciprocal altruism. Cooperation traditionally is restricted to the intraspecific level because each participant potentially shares genes." One wonders if this interpretation still holds up today. A more recent 2020 article in National Geographic cites behavioral ecologist Jennifer Campbell-Smith, which says "it’s not known how the relationship begins, or whether it’s learned behavior from the species’ parents", so it still seems to be a very open question. Viriditas (talk) 22:56, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

The 1992 article notes that badger mothers with young tend to rebuff coyotes. From our article I understand that young American badgers generally leave their mothers just some two weeks after they first emerge from the den. That suggests young badgers have little opportunity to learn cooperative hunting behaviour from their mothers' behaviour.  --Lambiam 09:40, 5 February 2023 (UTC)

resistant starch and starch

i meant to ask this question above was wondering if resistant starch and starch are the same or different in food. 118.210.107.193 (talk) 15:42, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

Have you read our articles on Starch and Resistant starch? Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:48, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

Starch and resistant starch are not the same thing. Starch is a broad category and can be (1) rapidly digestible, which encompasses most processed carbohydrates, (2) slowly digestible, very rare but can occur in unprocessed grains, and (3) resistant starch which resist digestion in the small intestine and reaches the large intestine. Resistant starch refers to the physiological impact, while the broader category of starch refers to the chemical composition. RSWitwer (talk) 18:49, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

I haven't no but I don't understand it was wondering if you could help me understand it.14.203.226.75 (talk) 12:42, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

Read the articles first, then come back with specific questions about what you don't understand. --Jayron32 15:38, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

House Speaker Election (U.S.)

How does the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives take place? Are Members given a ballot where they write the name of the candidate they want to vote for, or does the voting take place differently? Thank you very much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.41.97.54 (talk) 18:07, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives#Selection has some information. ColinFine (talk) 18:38, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

1966 Georgia gubernatorial election

It is a similar request to the one I submitted a few hours ago. I am referring to the gubernatorial election in Georgia in 1966; I read in Wikipedia, that Lester Maddox was elected on the first ballot by the State legislature. Was it a write-in vote or more likely a nominal vote? Thanks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Georgia_gubernatorial_election#cite_note-Atla670111-9 93.41.97.54 (talk) 20:29, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

It would have been a vote of the legislature in session. Is there something that indicates otherwise? --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 01:13, 5 February 2023 (UTC)

If it isn't clear from the article, according to the election law at the time, if no candidate for governor received greater than 50% of the popular vote, it was thrown to the Georgia State Legislature to select the governor from among the top two candidates. The legislature ended up selecting Lester Maddox, even though he came in a close second in the popular vote. The process was challenged in court, but the U.S. Supreme Court eventually confirmed the results. --Jayron32 12:59, 6 February 2023 (UTC)

That method and result parallel how J.Q. Adams won the 1824 United States presidential election. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:15, 6 February 2023 (UTC)