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Author |
Nissani, M. |
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Title |
Do Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) apply causal reasoning to tool-use tasks? |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
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Volume |
32 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
91-96 |
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Keywords |
Age Factors; Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Conditioning, Operant; *Decision Making; Discrimination (Psychology); Elephants; Female |
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Abstract |
Two experiments addressed contradictory claims about causal reasoning in elephants. In Experiment 1, 4 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were pretrained to remove a lid from the top of a bucket and retrieve a food reward. Subsequently, in the first 5 critical trials, when the lid was placed alongside the bucket and no longer obstructed access to the reward, each elephant continued to remove the lid before retrieving the reward. Experiment 2, which involved 11 additional elephants and variations of the original design, yielded similarly counterintuitive observations. Although the results are open to alternative interpretations, they appear more consistent with associative learning than with causal reasoning. Future applications of Fabrean methodologies (J. H. Fabre, 1915) to animal cognition are proposed. |
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Departmetn of Interdisciplinary Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. moti.nissani@wayne.edu |
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0097-7403 |
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PMID:16435969 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2763 |
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Author |
Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L. |
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Title |
Meaning and emotion in animal vocalizations |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ann N Y Acad Sci |
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Volume |
1000 |
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Pages |
32-55 |
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Keywords |
Acoustics; *Affect; Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Intention; Posture; Sound Spectrography; *Vocalization, Animal |
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Abstract |
Historically, a dichotomy has been drawn between the semantic communication of human language and the apparently emotional calls of animals. Current research paints a more complicated picture. Just as scientists have identified elements of human speech that reflect a speaker's emotions, field experiments have shown that the calls of many animals provide listeners with information about objects and events in the environment. Like human speech, therefore, animal vocalizations simultaneously provide others with information that is both semantic and emotional. In support of this conclusion, we review the results of field experiments on the natural vocalizations of African vervet monkeys, diana monkeys, baboons, and suricates (a South African mongoose). Vervet and diana monkeys give acoustically distinct alarm calls in response to the presence of leopards, eagles, and snakes. Each alarm call type elicits a different, adaptive response from others nearby. Field experiments demonstrate that listeners compare these vocalizations not just according to their acoustic properties but also according to the information they convey. Like monkeys, suricates give acoustically distinct alarm calls in response to different predators. Within each predator class, the calls also differ acoustically according to the signaler's perception of urgency. Like speech, therefore, suricate alarm calls convey both semantic and emotional information. The vocalizations of baboons, like those of many birds and mammals, are individually distinctive. As a result, when one baboon hears a sequence of calls exchanged between two or more individuals, the listener acquires information about social events in its group. Baboons, moreover, are skilled “eavesdroppers:” their response to different call sequences provides evidence of the sophisticated information they acquire from other individuals' vocalizations. Baboon males give loud “wahoo” calls during competitive displays. Like other vocalizations, these highly emotional calls provide listeners with information about the caller's dominance rank, age, and competitive ability. Although animal vocalizations, like human speech, simultaneously encode both semantic and emotional information, they differ from language in at least one fundamental respect. Although listeners acquire rich information from a caller's vocalization, callers do not, in the human sense, intend to provide it. Listeners acquire information as an inadvertent consequence of signaler behavior. |
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Departments of Psychology and Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. seyfarth@psych.upenn.edu |
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0077-8923 |
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PMID:14766619 |
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refbase @ user @ |
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688 |
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Author |
Ratcliffe, J.M.; Fenton, M.B.; Shettleworth, S.J. |
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Title |
Behavioral flexibility positively correlated with relative brain volume in predatory bats |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Brain, behavior and evolution |
Abbreviated Journal |
Brain Behav Evol |
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Volume |
67 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
165-176 |
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Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/*anatomy & histology/physiology; Chiroptera/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; Organ Size; Predatory Behavior/*physiology |
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Abstract |
We investigated the potential relationships between foraging strategies and relative brain and brain region volumes in predatory (animal-eating) echolocating bats. The species we considered represent the ancestral state for the order and approximately 70% of living bat species. The two dominant foraging strategies used by echolocating predatory bats are substrate-gleaning (taking prey from surfaces) and aerial hawking (taking airborne prey). We used species-specific behavioral, morphological, and ecological data to classify each of 59 predatory species as one of the following: (1) ground gleaning, (2) behaviorally flexible (i.e., known to both glean and hawk prey), (3) clutter tolerant aerial hawking, or (4) open-space aerial hawking. In analyses using both species level data and phylogenetically independent contrasts, relative brain size was larger in behaviorally flexible species. Further, relative neocortex volume was significantly reduced in bats that aerially hawk prey primarily in open spaces. Conversely, our foraging behavior index did not account for variability in hippocampus and inferior colliculus volume and we discuss these results in the context of past research. |
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Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. jmr247@cornell.edu |
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0006-8977 |
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PMID:16415571 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
358 |
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Author |
Cooper, J.J. |
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Title |
Comparative learning theory and its application in the training of horses |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
1998 |
Publication |
Equine veterinary journal. Supplement |
Abbreviated Journal |
Equine Vet J Suppl |
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Issue |
27 |
Pages |
39-43 |
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Keywords |
Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Conditioning (Psychology); Horses/*psychology; *Learning; Reinforcement (Psychology) |
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Abstract |
Training can best be explained as a process that occurs through stimulus-response-reinforcement chains, whereby animals are conditioned to associate cues in their environment, with specific behavioural responses and their rewarding consequences. Research into learning in horses has concentrated on their powers of discrimination and on primary positive reinforcement schedules, where the correct response is paired with a desirable consequence such as food. In contrast, a number of other learning processes that are used in training have been widely studied in other species, but have received little scientific investigation in the horse. These include: negative reinforcement, where performance of the correct response is followed by removal of, or decrease in, intensity of a unpleasant stimulus; punishment, where an incorrect response is paired with an undesirable consequence, but without consistent prior warning; secondary conditioning, where a natural primary reinforcer such as food is closely associated with an arbitrary secondary reinforcer such as vocal praise; and variable or partial conditioning, where once the correct response has been learnt, reinforcement is presented according to an intermittent schedule to increase resistance to extinction outside of training. |
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Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK |
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PMID:10485003 |
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no |
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Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
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846 |
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Author |
Cooper, J.J.; Mason, G.J. |
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Title |
The identification of abnormal behaviour and behavioural problems in stabled horses and their relationship to horse welfare: a comparative review |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
1998 |
Publication |
Equine Veterinary Journal. Supplement |
Abbreviated Journal |
Equine Vet J Suppl |
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27 |
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5-9 |
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*Animal Welfare; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Horses/*psychology; *Housing, Animal/standards; *Stereotyped Behavior |
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Many behaviours in domestic animals, such as the 'stable vices' of horses, are treated because they are considered undesirable for economic or cultural reasons, and not because the activity affects the horse's quality of life. The impact of a behaviour on the human reporter is not a function of its impact on the animal performer, and an understanding of the causes and effects of the particular activity is necessary to assess the costs and benefits of treatment. Where the behaviour is a sign of poor welfare, such as an inadequate environment, treatment can best be achieved by removing these underlying causal factors. Pharmacological or physical prevention of a behaviour can be justified only if the behaviour causes harm to the performer or to others. In these cases, prevention of the behaviour without addressing its causes is no cure and may result in its perseverance in a modified form or the disruption of the animal's ability to adapt to its environment. Where the behavioural 'problem' causes no harm and is not related to poor housing, then the education of the reporter, rather than treatment of the performer, may be the best solution. |
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Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK |
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PMID:10484995 |
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no |
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Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
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1933 |
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Author |
McComb, K.; Clutton-Brock, T. |
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Title |
Is mate choice copying or aggregation responsible for skewed distributions of females on leks? |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
1994 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
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Volume |
255 |
Issue |
1342 |
Pages |
13-19 |
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Keywords |
Animals; Deer/*physiology; Estrus/physiology; Female; Male; Phenotype; Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Territoriality |
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Abstract |
In several lek-breeding populations of birds and mammals, females arriving on leks tend to join males that already have females in their territories. This might occur either because females have an evolved preference for mating with males that are attractive to other females, or because they join groups of other females to obtain greater safety from predation or dangerous harassment by males. We have previously used controlled experiments to show that oestrous fallow deer females join males with established harems because they are attracted to female groups rather than to the males themselves. Here we demonstrate that the preference for males with females over males without females is specific to oestrous females and weak or absent in anoestrous ones, and that it is not associated with a preference for mating with males that have previously been seen to mate with other females. Furthermore, oestrous females given the choice between males that do not already have females with them show no significant preference for antlered over deantlered males or for older males over younger ones. We conclude that female attraction to other females on the lek is likely to be an adaptation to avoiding harassment in mixed-sex herds. In this situation, a male's ability to maintain the cohesion of his harem may be the principal cause of variation in mating success between males. |
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Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, U.K |
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0962-8452 |
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PMID:8153135 |
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no |
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1823 |
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Author |
Johnstone, R.A. |
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Title |
Eavesdropping and animal conflict |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2001 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |
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Volume |
98 |
Issue |
16 |
Pages |
9177-9180 |
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Keywords |
*Aggression; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Conflict (Psychology); Models, Theoretical |
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Abstract |
Fights between pairs of animals frequently take place within a wider social context. The displays exchanged during conflict, and the outcome of an encounter, are often detectable by individuals who are not immediately involved. In at least some species, such bystanders are known to eavesdrop on contests between others, and to modify their behavior toward the contestants in response to the observed interaction. Here, I extend Maynard Smith's well known model of animal aggression, the Hawk-Dove game, to incorporate the possibility of eavesdroppers. I show that some eavesdropping is favored whenever the cost of losing an escalated fight exceeds the value of the contested resource, and that its equilibrium frequency is greatest when costs are relatively high. Eavesdropping reduces the risk of escalated conflict relative to that expected by chance, given the level of aggression in the population. However, it also promotes increased aggression, because it enhances the value of victory. The net result is that escalated conflicts are predicted to occur more frequently when eavesdropping is possible. |
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Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom. raj1003@hermes.cam.ac.uk |
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0027-8424 |
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PMID:11459936 |
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no |
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Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
497 |
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Author |
Thornton, A.; McAuliffe, K. |
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Title |
Teaching in wild meerkats |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Science (New York, N.Y.) |
Abbreviated Journal |
Science |
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Volume |
313 |
Issue |
5784 |
Pages |
227-229 |
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Keywords |
Animals; *Animals, Wild/psychology; Behavior, Animal; *Herpestidae/psychology; *Learning; *Predatory Behavior; South Africa; *Teaching; Vocalization, Animal |
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Despite the obvious benefits of directed mechanisms that facilitate the efficient transfer of skills, there is little critical evidence for teaching in nonhuman animals. Using observational and experimental data, we show that wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta) teach pups prey-handling skills by providing them with opportunities to interact with live prey. In response to changing pup begging calls, helpers alter their prey-provisioning methods as pups grow older, thus accelerating learning without the use of complex cognition. The lack of evidence for teaching in species other than humans may reflect problems in producing unequivocal support for the occurrence of teaching, rather than the absence of teaching. |
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Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. jant2@cam.ac.uk |
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1095-9203 |
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PMID:16840701 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2834 |
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Author |
Weir, A.A.S.; Chappell, J.; Kacelnik, A. |
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Title |
Shaping of hooks in New Caledonian crows |
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Journal Article |
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2002 |
Publication |
Science (New York, N.Y.) |
Abbreviated Journal |
Science |
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Volume |
297 |
Issue |
5583 |
Pages |
981 |
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Keywords |
Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Cognition; Female; Male; Songbirds/*physiology |
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Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK |
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1095-9203 |
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PMID:12169726 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2842 |
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Author |
Chappell, J.; Kacelnik, A. |
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Title |
Selection of tool diameter by New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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Volume |
7 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
121-127 |
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Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Choice Behavior; Discrimination Learning; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Functional Laterality; *Manufactured Materials; *Plant Leaves; *Problem Solving; *Songbirds; Technology |
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Abstract |
One important element of complex and flexible tool use, particularly where tool manufacture is involved, is the ability to select or manufacture appropriate tools anticipating the needs of any given task-an ability that has been rarely tested in non-primates. We examine aspects of this ability in New Caledonian crows-a species known to be extraordinary tool users and manufacturers. In a 2002 study, Chappell and Kacelnik showed that these crows were able to select a tool of the appropriate length for a task among a set of different lengths, and in 2002, Weir, Chappell and Kacelnik showed that New Caledonian crows were able to shape unfamiliar materials to create a usable tool for a specific task. Here we examine their handling of tool diameter. In experiment 1, we show that when facing three loose sticks that were usable as tools, they preferred the thinnest one. When the three sticks were presented so that one was loose and the other two in a bundle, they only disassembled the bundle when their preferred tool was tied. In experiment 2, we show that they manufacture, and modify during use, a tool of a suitable diameter from a tree branch, according to the diameter of the hole through which the tool will have to be inserted. These results add to the developing picture of New Caledonian crows as sophisticated tool users and manufacturers, having an advanced level of folk physics. |
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Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, OX1 3PS, Oxford, UK. jackie.chappell@zoo.ox.ac.uk |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:15069612 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2528 |
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