cannibalism

Classifiers Filled

Family

Thing Registry

Category

Activities and processes

Entry kind

thing

Plane

ACT

Domain

ACT.ACT

Other names and narrower kinds

worm bagging, cannibalism in animals, adelphophagy, spider cannibalism, Homo antecessor cannibalism, endocannibalism, exocannibalism, cannibalism in poultry, child cannibalism, gastronomic cannibalism, self-cannibalism, filial cannibalism

What it is Filled

The act of an organism eating all or part of another individual of the same species, widespread in animals, including forms the registry aliases name such as sexual cannibalism in spiders and mantises, adelphophagy, where embryos eat siblings in the womb as in sand tiger sharks, and worm bagging, where nematode larvae hatch inside and consume the parent; in humans, cannibalism has occurred in survival situations, in some funerary practices such as endocannibalism among the Fore of Papua New Guinea, linked to the spread of kuru, and possibly in prehistory, as archaeologists interpret cut-marked Homo antecessor bones from Gran Dolina in Spain. Historical accusations of cannibalism were also used to dehumanise peoples and justify colonial violence, and scholars debate many reports, so claims are attributed. It is described here non-graphically; the legality of activities involving human remains depends on the jurisdiction and conduct, and many funerary, medical and research activities are lawful.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent explain cannibalism non-graphically, relay animal ecology, archaeological evidence, anthropological and historical cases and ethical and legal context from biological, anthropological and historical sources with contested claims attributed, describe the named forms, and distinguish cannibalism from predation, necrophagy by other species, ritual symbolism and fictional depictions, without sensational detail.

Distinguishing features Filled

• Same-species consumption
• Common in animals
• Rare and contested in humans
• Used as a dehumanising accusation

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

• Encourage, glorify or give any guidance on human cannibalism.
• Accuse a people or culture of cannibalism without strong evidence.
• Present sensational claims or rumours about cannibalism as fact.
• Name living people as involved in cannibalism without a court finding.

Only with a human decision

• Publishing material about specific human cases that involve identifiable victims.

May

• Describe cannibalism in animals from zoological sources, such as in spiders or sharks.
• Discuss human cannibalism in history, survival cases and anthropology with sources and care.
• Note where historical accusations of cannibalism were used to justify conquest.

Moral aspects Filled

• Accusations of cannibalism have been used to dehumanise colonised and enemy peoples.
• Victims and families in human cases deserve dignity rather than sensationalism.

Who is affected

• Victims and their families
• Peoples falsely accused
• Researchers

Owners Filled

Steward

Nobody owns the behaviour; it is a natural phenomenon and, in humans, a matter for criminal law.

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

• Q14819856 - registry parent class
• Q170430 - registry parent class

related

• feeding behavior - in registry terms
• sexual cannibalism
• kuru - Fore funerary practices
• predation

Sources Filled

1. Wikidata item Q44595: cannibalism - identity and sense of the item
2. Wikipedia: Cannibalism - general description of the item

Open questions

• Should animal and human cannibalism be separate entries?
• How should contested historical reports be attributed consistently?
• Should worm bagging be moved to nematode biology entries?

Machine files

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q44595/spec.json