K nastanku tematske številke sta prispevali dve okoliščini. Prva je povečano antropološko zanimanje za življenjski prostor in druge vrste, ki bivajo v njem. Živali postajajo priljubljen medij in ...merilo človeških odnosov z naravnimi in družbenimi okolji. V zadnjih dveh desetletjih je izšla cela vrsta revij in zbornikov, posvečena vprašanjem pravic živali, njihovega umetniškega upodabljanja, reje in prehrane, organizacije vsakdanjega življenja, vzgoje ipd. Ontološki obrat je prinesel novo specializacijo – t. i. večvrstno etnografijo, ki preizprašuje osrednje mesto ljudi in predstavlja preučevanje neudomačenih (nekoristnih) ali neopaznih živalskih in rastlinskih vrst ter procesov. Izbrani naslov tematske številke revije Svetovi izpostavlja spremembe znanstvene paradigme in jih prenaša v slovensko in evropsko etnologijo ter socialno/kulturno antropologijo. Druga spodbuda za pričujočo tematsko številko je bila priložnostna in domača. V projektu Evropske noči raziskovalcev – Humanistika, to si ti!, ki ga na Univerzi v Ljubljani vodi Filozofska fakulteta, je leta 2022 osrednji tematski fokus povzemal slogan Človek, žival.
Kmetijske (oziroma »koristne«) živali niso deležne povečanega splošnega zanimanja za živali, ki je v družboslovnih in humanističnih vedah dobilo ime »zasuk k živalim« (animal turn). Nasprotno, zdi ...se, da zanimanje za kmetijske živali kljub temu celo usiha in da se to dogaja tudi v etnologiji-antropologiji – vedi, ki je med vsemi temi vedami tradicionalno kazala največ zanimanja zanje. Članek analizira genealogijo, okoliščine in vzroke historičnega procesa postopnega marginaliziranja, izključevanja in izrinjanja kmetijskih živali v bogatih zahodnih družbah ter posveti posebno pozornost tem procesom v antropologiji.
Mleko je izhodišče raziskovanja intenzivnih sonastajanj različnih teles, vrst in stvari; tega, kar običajno imenujejo udomačitev. Mleko je del skupka, ki povezuje živali, hormone, encime, bakterije, ...hrano, gene, tehnologije in materialno kulturo. Ta kompleksna sonastajanja producirajo nove, nepričakovane rezultate in učinke ter spreminjajo vse komponente v skupku udomačitve.
Avtor predstavi tri lastne etnografske raziskave, v katerih so imele vidno mesto divje živali. Ugotavlja, da je vsaka od teh raziskav obravnavala drugačno modalnost živali, in sicer simbolno, ...predstavno in živo žival. S slednjimi so povezana različna razmerja z ljudmi: simbolni živali ustreza pripisano, predstavni zamišljeno, živi pa neposredno razmerje. S temi razmerji oziroma ljudmi v razmerjih pa so povezljivi različni koncepti družbenega razreda, ki jih v prvih dveh primerih lahko povežemo z idejami Webra, v tretjem pa Marxa: pripisano je povezljivo z razredom kot družbenim statusom; zamišljeno z razredom kot izrazom kulturnega kapitala; neposredno pa z razredom, ki je rezultat produkcijskih razmerij. Avtor ta članek razume kot igrivo eksperimentalno antropološko modeliranje ob inavguraciji nove antropološke revije Svetovi/Worlds, ki je pričujočo številko posvetila živalim v človeških svetovih.
Over two thirds of the earth's surface is covered by water, and adaptation to the aquatic habitats dominated the first 150 to 200 million years of vertebrate development. More than half the living ...vertebrates are aquatic. Fish have evolved to colonise almost every type of aquatic habitat, and today they are a hugely diverse group of about 25,000 species. Evolution of this great diversity has resulted in fascinatingly different designs for special modes of life as well as solutions to the problems common to them all. Comparisons help to reveal the biological and physiological compromises fish have to make to satisfy the often conflicting demands on their lives. Today fish are found in almost every imaginable watery habitat, which include the shallows and depths of the oceans, coastal waters and estuaries, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and ephemeral water bodies. Many species inhabit freezing waters in polar regions whilst others thrive in ponds fed by thermal springs. Some have abandoned the water and become air breathers. Tunas in the open oceans swim rapidly and outperform their prey. How do they generate the forces required for high-speed swimming? Study of these fish shows that they have large masses of warmed red muscle, and that the required amounts of oxygen are delivered by unusually efficient respiratory and circulatory systems. Some freshwater carp are able to survive the long periods of very low oxygen levels that periodically occur in some ponds and lakes. How is their metabolism switched from aerobic to anaerobic pathways? The challenges of living in a particular environment are in part met by adaptations of body form and physiological function. Yet there are wider and equally important questions, such as why are these species successful in their particular environments? Answers to such questions may be found in the study of behaviour, in the dynamics of populations, in the ecology of the species and in evolutionary theory.
Prispevek vpeljuje avtoričina premišljanja o istenju ljudi in delovnih volov, še posebej pri telesno napornih opravilih; strnjeno predstavlja proces raziskovanja razmerij med ljudmi in temi domačimi ...živalmi – razmerij, ki so vezi; raziskava pa je umeščena med sorodna premišljanja in teoretske paradigme v širših humanističnih okoljih.
This bilingual scientific monograph with many illustrations presents the Velika Pasica cave, located on the outskirts of the Gornji Ig village on the Krim massif, around 20 km south of Ljubljana, ...Slovenia. The book presents ecological, taxonomical and biodiversity studies, as well as morphological and historical facts referring to the cave. The cave is small for Slovenian standards, as it is only 105 metres long. On the basis of the specimens collected in the cave, 13 new species from terrestrial and aquatic habitats have been described so far. A considerable number, even on the global scale. The cave was first renowned for the rare cave-dwelling beetles, snails as well as other species. In 2000, a rich community of aquatic animals was discovered, which were not expected to be present there. Since 2006, there have been regular measurements of ecological parameters as well as sampling of fauna from four permanent drips. Fauna was washed-out from a thin layer of dolomite, from which the cave roof consists. The measurements include water and air temperature as well as discharge, measured in one hour intervals. Furthermore, 88 analyses of drip water and an equal number of fauna sampling were conducted. The measurements in the cave were being conducted simultaneously with the measurements of the meteorological parameters on the surface, in the immediate vicinity of the cave entrance.