Bestiamorphism;a New Name for an Old Problem

Abstract

Anthropomorphisms, uncritical ascriptions of human traits to animals, and bestiamorphisms, uncritical ascriptions of animal traits to humans, are equally unscientific methods of behavioral attribution and description. Valid interspecies generalizations of behavioral equivalencies ate possible and desirable when and where appropriate, but attending to superficially similar behavior, in an attempt to identify interspecies behavioral analogues, does not necessarily facilitate adequate behavioral descriptions, equivalencies, or comparisons.