Welcome to the MedLibrary.org Wikipedia Supplement on Davian behavior -- Please Click to Return to Front Page

Davian behavior is a scientific term of art referring to copulation with a dead conspecific. It was first observed in ground squirrels and was named after an old limerick ("There was an old miner named Dave/ who kept a dead whore in his cave/You have to admit/He hadn't much wit/But look at the money he saved!").¹ Davian behavior has since been observed and published in birds² and anurans. This behavior also occurs in humans, and the fact that there are laws against it, assumes that it must be controlled. Such laws are typically titled "abuse of a corpse." ³

References

1. ^ Dickerman, Robert W. (1960). ""Davian Behavior Complex" in Ground Squirrels". Journal of Mammalogy 41 (3): 403–404. doi:10.2307/1377510. 
2. ^ Lehner, Philip N. (1988). "Avian Davian Behavior". The Wilson Bulletin 100 (2): 293–294, http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v100n02/p0293-p0294.pdf. 
3. ^ Meshaka, Walter E., Jr (1997). "Anuran Davian behavior: a Darwinian dilemma". Florida Scientist 59 (2): 74–75. 

This sexuality-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 26 July 2008, at 09:43.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Davian behavior".

The URL for this specific entry is:

• http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Davian_behavior

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.