Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History

Adelphophagy is a form of intrauterine cannibalism in which embryos consume their siblings within the womb. This behavior is observed in certain shark species, amphibians, and other animals as a survival strategy to ensure the strongest offspring survive. It allows the developing embryos to gain additional nutrients before birth.

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans, their societies, cultures, and evolutionary development. It encompasses various subfields, including cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. The discipline seeks to understand human diversity, past and present, through comparative and interdisciplinary research, though Schutt notes that the field is not without bias in decades past.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly known as ‘mad cow disease,’ is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects cattle. It causes brain degeneration, resulting in behavioral changes, coordination problems, and eventual death. BSE can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of infected beef, leading to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD).