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Author Tebbich, S.; Seed, A.M.; Emery, N.J.; Clayton, N.S.
Title Non-tool-using rooks, Corvus frugilegus, solve the trap-tube problem Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 225-231
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Crows/*physiology; Female; Male; Problem Solving/*physiology
Abstract The trap-tube problem is used to assess whether an individual is able to foresee the outcome of its actions. To solve the task, an animal must use a tool to push a piece of food out of a tube, which has a trap along its length. An animal may learn to avoid the trap through a rule based on associative processes, e.g. using the distance of trap or food as a cue, or by understanding relations between cause and effect. This task has been used to test physical cognition in a number of tool-using species, but never a non-tool-user. We developed an experimental design that enabled us to test non-tool-using rooks, Corvus frugilegus. Our modification of the task removed the cognitive requirements of active tool use but still allowed us to test whether rooks can solve the trap-tube problem, and if so how. Additionally, we developed two new control tasks to determine whether rooks were able to transfer knowledge to similar, but novel problems, thus revealing more about the mechanisms involved in solving the task. We found that three out of seven rooks solved the modified trap-tube problem task, showing that the ability to solve the trap-tube problem is not restricted to tool-using animals. We found no evidence that the birds solved the task using an understanding of its causal properties, given that none of the birds passed the novel transfer tasks.
Address Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. st281@cam.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (up) PMID:17171360 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2429
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Author Seed, A.M.; Clayton, N.S.; Emery, N.J.
Title Postconflict third-party affiliation in rooks, Corvus frugilegus Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Current biology : CB Abbreviated Journal Curr Biol
Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 152-158
Keywords
Abstract Conflict features in the lives of many animal species and induces social stress mediated by glucocorticoid hormones [1]. Postconflict affiliation, between former opponents (reconciliation) or between former opponents and a bystander (third-party affiliation), has been suggested as a behavioral mechanism for reducing such stress [2], but has been studied almost exclusively in primates [3]. As with many primates, several bird species live in social groups and form affiliative relationships [4]. Do these distantly related animals also use affiliative behavior to offset the costs of conflict? We studied postconflict affiliation in a captive group of rooks. Unlike polygamous primates, monogamous rooks did not reconcile with former opponents. However, we found clear evidence of third-party affiliation after conflicts. Both initiators and targets of aggression engaged in third-party affiliation with a social partner and employed a specific behavior, bill twining, during the postconflict period. Both former aggressors and uninvolved third parties initiated affiliative contacts. Despite the long history of evolutionary divergence, the pattern of third-party affiliation in rooks is strikingly similar to that observed in tolerant primate species. Furthermore, the absence of reconciliation in rooks makes sense in light of the species differences in social systems.
Address Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0960-9822 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (up) PMID:17240341 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 534
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Author Krebs, J.R.; Clayton, N.S.; Hampton, R.R.; Shettleworth, S.J.
Title Effects of photoperiod on food-storing and the hippocampus in birds Type Journal Article
Year 1995 Publication Neuroreport Abbreviated Journal Neuroreport
Volume 6 Issue 12 Pages 1701-1704
Keywords Animals; Birds; Eating/*physiology; Female; Hippocampus/*physiology; Light; Male; *Photoperiod; Seasons; Telencephalon/physiology; Time Factors
Abstract Birds that store food have a relatively large hippocampus compared to non-storing species. The hippocampus shows seasonal differences in neurogenesis and volume in black-capped chikadees (Parus atricapillus) taken from the wild at different times of year. We compared hippocampal volumes in black-capped chickadees captured at the same time but differing in food-storing behaviour because of manipulations of photoperiod in the laboratory. Differences in food-storing behaviour were not accompanied by differences in the volume of the hippocampus. Hippocampal volumes also did not differ between two groups of a non-food-storing control species, house sparrows (Passer domesticus), exposed to the same conditions as the chickadees.
Address Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, Oxford, UK
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0959-4965 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (up) PMID:8527745 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 378
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Author Reboreda, J.C.; Clayton, N.S.; Kacelnik, A.
Title Species and sex differences in hippocampus size in parasitic and non-parasitic cowbirds Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication Neuroreport Abbreviated Journal Neuroreport
Volume 7 Issue 2 Pages 505-508
Keywords Animals; Birds/*physiology; Female; Hippocampus/*anatomy & histology; Male; Nesting Behavior/*physiology; Sex Characteristics; Species Specificity; Telencephalon/anatomy & histology
Abstract To test the hypothesis that selection for spatial abilities which require birds to locate and to return accurately to host nests has produced an enlarged hippocampus in brood parasites, three species of cowbird were compared. In shiny cowbirds, females search for host nests without the assistance of the male; in screaming cowbirds, males and females inspect hosts' nests together; in bay-winged cowbirds, neither sex searches because this species is not a brood parasite. As predicted, the two parasitic species had a relatively larger hippocampus than the non-parasitic species. There were no sex differences in relative hippocampus size in screaming or bay-winged cowbirds, but female shiny cowbirds had a larger hippocampus than the male.
Address Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0959-4965 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (up) PMID:8730816 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4798
Permanent link to this record