Frozen Evolution. Or, that’s not the way it is, Mr. Darwin. A Farewell to Selfish Gene.

In some species, in addition to imitation, other mechanisms of transmission of cultural traits also developed.For example, in humans, this was achieved by symbolic speech and later even by writing, which permits transmission of cultural traits through a nonliving medium.However, the transmission of cultural traits through symbols also exists for other animal species.Information on the dangerousness of a certain predator can be transmitted through warning signals from one individual to another.A very important, although not typical example consists in the transmission of information on sources of food through symbolic speech (dancing) in bees (Frisch 1965; Gadagkar 1996).Some species are even capable of transmitting the relevant information through a nonliving medium.The ethological literature contains an example of denoting edible or poisonous food by excrement in wild rats (Steiniger 1950; Lorenz et al. 1974).When a rat encounters food that makes it unwell, it apparently leaves a pile of its excrement on it.This is a signal to other rats that they should not eat this food and rather should also denote it by a pile of their own excrement in the future.The similarity to a rather vulgar Czech idiom need not be accidental.The main difference compared to writing lies in the fact that, if this food disappears for more than one generation, the particular population also loses any way of preserving the relevant useful information.In contrast, writing allows transmission of the relevant information down through many generations even if the particular instigation does not occur in the environment for a longer period of time.