{{Short description|Ritual behavior in non-humans}} '''Animal faith''' is the study of animal behaviours that suggest proto-religious faith. It is commonly believed that religion and faith are unique to humans,<ref name=newscientist>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126993-100-our-sophisticated-minds-gave-us-religion/ |title=Our sophisticated minds gave us religion |date=March 11, 2009 |access-date=June 1, 2024 |first=Andy |last=Coghlan |url-access=subscription |quote=That a complex mind is required for religion may explain why faith is unique to humans |magazine=New Scientist |publisher=Daily Mail and General Trust |archive-date=June 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601051743/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126993-100-our-sophisticated-minds-gave-us-religion/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=createGod>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126941-700-born-believers-how-your-brain-creates-god/ |title=Born believers: How your brain creates God |date=February 4, 2009 |access-date=June 1, 2024 |first=Michael |last=Brooks |url-access=subscription |magazine=New Scientist |publisher=Daily Mail and General Trust}}</ref><ref name=scienceDaily>{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140117153635.htm |title=Evidence of biological basis for religion in human evolution |date=January 17, 2014 |author=Auburn University |work=Science Daily |access-date=June 1, 2024 |archive-date=April 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420081934/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140117153635.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> as worship, prayer, and belief in gods has not been observed in non-human animals.<ref name=bbcScience>{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/do-any-other-animals-have-religion |title=Do any other animals have religion? |first=Helen |last=Pilcher |access-date=June 1, 2024 |work=BBC Science Focus |date=18 September 2020 |quote=[Animals] don’t worship, pray or believe in gods of any kind |archive-date=June 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601081808/https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/do-any-other-animals-have-religion |url-status=live }}</ref> However, by using a "non-anthropocentric and non-anthropomorphic prototype definition" of religion, such as the one developed by James Harrod in his 2011 work "A Trans-Species Definition of Religion,"<ref name=harrodDefine>{{cite journal |last1=Harrod |first1=JB. |title=A Trans-Species Definition of Religion |journal=Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture |date=2011 |volume=5|issue=3 |pages=327–353 |doi=10.1558/jsrnc.v5i3.327}}</ref> scientists can study animal religious practices and behaviors.
Ritual behaviors are most commonly studied in chimpanzees,<ref name=harrodStudy>{{cite journal |url=https://www.religiousforums.com/data/attachment-files/2019/11/39648_9359ffe995f4fe3b70a509bdf7a5674f.pdf |title=The Case for Chimpanzee Religion |date=June 2014 |first=James B. |last=Harrod |journal=Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=8–45 |doi=10.1558/jsrnc.v8i1.8 |via=religiousforums.com}}</ref> elephants,<ref name=elephantStudy>{{cite journal |url=https://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/8826 |title=Unearthing calf burials among Asian Elephants Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia: Proboscidea: Elephantidae) in northern Bengal, India |date=February 26, 2024 |first1=Parveen |last1=Kaswan |first2=Akashdeep |last2=Roy |journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=24615–24629 |doi=10.11609/jott.8826.16.2.24615-24629 |doi-access=free |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |access-date=June 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522164249/https://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/8826 |url-status=live }}</ref> and dolphins,<ref name=ritter/> but such behaviors have also been observed in other animals, such as magpies,<ref name=bbcScience/> crows<ref name=liveScience/> and orcas.<ref name=cbc/>
==Ritual behaviour in apes== Nancy R. Howell suggests that "chimpanzees and bonobos may have the precursors for culture and spirituality, such as connectedness, interdependence and sociality and a level of 'symbolic capacity{{'"}}.<ref name=harrodStudy/> Primatologist Jane Goodall goes further, noting that some chimpanzees may "dance" at the onset of heavy rain or when they come across a waterfall. She speculates that "their 'elemental' displays are precursors of religious ritual".<ref>{{cite book |first=Jane |last=Goodall |authorlink=Jane Goodall |year=2005 |editor=B. Taylor |title=The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Nature |publisher=Thoemmes Continuum |location=New York |pages=1303–1306 |section=Primate spirituality}}</ref><ref name=atlantic>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/chimpanzee-spirituality/475731/ |title=Seeing Spirituality in Chimpanzees |date=March 29, 2016 |first=Barbara J. |last=King |magazine=The Atlantic |publisher=Emerson Collective |access-date=June 1, 2024 |archive-date=January 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120080957/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/chimpanzee-spirituality/475731/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Funeral rites in animals== While grief is common to many animals, funeral rituals are not. However, they are well documented in African elephants.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/200910/grief-in-animals-its-arrogant-think-were-the-only-animals-who-mourn |title=Grief in Animals |first=Marc |last=Bekoff |date=October 29, 2009 |work=Psychology Today}}</ref> Elephants mainly react to elephant remains, occasionally to those of humans, but for other species they ignore.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Depths of Animal Grief {{!}} NOVA {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/animal-grief/ |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Asian elephants have also been observed to bury their dead calf in a 2024 study.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaswan |first=Parveen |last2=Roy |first2=Akashdeep |date=2024-02-26 |title=Unearthing calf burials among Asian Elephants Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia: Proboscidea: Elephantidae) in northern Bengal, India |url=https://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/8826 |journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa |language=en |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=24615–24629 |doi=10.11609/jott.8826.16.2.24615-24629 |issn=0974-7907|doi-access=free }}</ref>
Both wild and captive chimpanzees engage in ritualized behaviors at the death of a group member. These behaviors begin with group or individual silence, which may last for hours and followed by behaviors such as distinctive vocalizations; grooming the carcass; solemn visitation and gazing at the carcass by group members; displays; and lamentation-like whimpers or hoo-calls of distress.<ref name=harrodStudy/>
Attention to the dead is not unique to elephants or chimpanzees. Dolphins have been known to stay with recently deceased members of their pod for several days, preventing divers from getting close.<ref name=ritter>Ritter, F. (April 2007). [https://m-e-e-r.de/download/wissenschaftliche_publikationen/RTD_Note_MMS_Ritter2007.pdf "Behaviour Responses of Rough-toothed Dolphins to a Dead Newborn Calf"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118205557/https://m-e-e-r.de/download/wissenschaftliche_publikationen/RTD_Note_MMS_Ritter2007.pdf |date=2018-11-18 }}. ''Marine Mammal Science'', pp.429–433.</ref> However, the reasons for this remain obscure. While scientists can observe their actions, the thought processes that motivate them are beyond current study.<ref>Dudzinski KM; Sakai M; Masaki K; Kogi K; Hishii T; Kurimoto M (2003). "Behavioural Observations of Bottle Nose Dolphins Towards Two Dead Conspecifics". ''Aquatic Mammals'' 29.1, pp.108–116.</ref>
Tahlequah (a.k.a. J35), a female orca, carried the carcass of her newborn infant for 17 days.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Darran Simon|date=2018-08-13|title='Tour of grief is over' for killer whale no longer carrying dead calf|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/12/us/orca-whale-not-carrying-dead-baby-trnd/index.html|access-date=2021-03-27|website=CNN|language=en|archive-date=2020-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024070546/https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/12/us/orca-whale-not-carrying-dead-baby-trnd/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Whether this was a "tour of grief" or merely instinct is debated.<ref name=cbc>{{Cite news|title=Grief or instinct: Interpreting a mother orca's actions {{!}} CBC News|language=en-US|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/killers-j35-grief-instinct-message-1.5216705|access-date=2021-03-27}}</ref>
Crows and other corvids also seem to participate in funeral-like ritualistic behavior, including gathering around and holding vigils over the carcass.<ref name=liveScience>{{Cite web|url = https://www.livescience.com/53283-why-crows-hold-funerals.html|title = Why Crows Hold Funerals|website = Live Science|date = 6 January 2016|access-date = 10 February 2021|archive-date = 16 February 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210216114428/https://www.livescience.com/53283-why-crows-hold-funerals.html|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.audubon.org/news/think-crow-funerals-are-strange-wait-until-you-see-wake|title=Think Crow Funerals Are Strange? Wait Until You See the Wake|date=23 July 2018}}</ref>
==Relevance to the study of early modern humans== The ritual lives of animals are of interest to paleoanthropologists, as they provide a convenient insight into how religious belief systems may have developed in our ancestors. "The skeletal remains of Cro-Magnon man are found buried in the fetal position in line with the primitive myth that such a position facilitates rebirth. The study of allied behaviours in non-human animals provides an opportunity to understand their nature and function in man."<ref>Siegal RK (1981). "Accounting for 'Afterlife' Experiences" Psychology Today, January p.4</ref> Indeed, some have seen superficial similarities between the funeral rituals of African elephants and the burial rituals of Neanderthals.<ref>Sapolsky, Robert M. (2006) Monkeyluv: And other Essays on Our Lives as Animals. Scribner Book Co. p.189 {{ISBN|0-743-26015-5}}.</ref>
Evolutionary psychologist Matt Rossano has theorised that religion evolved in three stages: In the pre-Upper Palaeolithic, religion was characterised by ecstatic rituals used to facilitate social bonding. Later, shamanic healing rituals developed in the Upper Palaeolithic. Finally, religious expressions developed over time to include cave art, ritual artefacts, ancestor worship and the development of myth and moral structures.<ref>Rossano MJ (2006). "The Religious Mind and the Evolution of Religion" Review of General Psychology, Vol 10(4) December pp346-364</ref> If this is true, then the behaviour of chimpanzees witnessed by Goodall may be interpreted as similar to pre-Upper Paleolithic Human religion. However, De Waal notes that bonobos show no evidence of ritual behaviour yet are extremely peaceful and demonstrate moral agency. This casts doubt on the co-development of morality and proto-religion.<ref>De Waal, Frans (2013) The Bonobo and the Atheist. W.W. Norton & Co., {{ISBN|978-0-393-07377-5}}</ref>
==See also== {{portal |Animals |Religion}} *Evolutionary ethics *Evolutionary origin of religion *Evolution of morality *''The Origins of Virtue'' *Veneer theory
==References== {{reflist}} {{Ethology}}
Category:Ethology Category:Animal emotions Category:Religious practices Category:Religious studies