1
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Rat-Fischer L, Plunkett K, von Bayern AMP, Kacelnik A. Object play and problem solving in infancy: Insights into tool use. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 244:105957. [PMID: 38805863 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2023] [Revised: 04/12/2024] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Tool use is primarily, but not exclusively, present in species with otherwise advanced cognitive traits. However, the interaction between such traits and conspecific inter-individual variation in the presence, complexity, or intensity of tool use is far from being established. We addressed this matter among human infants, seeking factors that relate to differences in tool use. We examined, both correlationally and experimentally, whether the propensity to engage in object combinations predicts performance in means-end problem-solving tasks involving or not involving the use of a tool. We tested 71 infants aged 15, 18, 21, and 24 months, dividing them into two subgroups: one exposed to an adult demonstrating object-object combinations (i.e., "prompting" infants to combine objects together) and another with comparable social exposure but where the adult demonstrated single-object manipulations. We found a correlation between the combined level of spontaneous and prompted object combinations and problem-solving performance regardless of the involvement of tools in the problem. However, we did not find differences in tool-use performance between the two demonstration subgroups. The correlational analysis suggests that complexity of play, as measured by the frequency of combining objects, is linked to infants' problem-solving skills rather than being specifically associated with tool use, as previously suggested in the literature.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kim Plunkett
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK
| | - Auguste M P von Bayern
- Max-Planck-Institute for Biological Intelligence, Eberhard-Gwinner-Street, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Alex Kacelnik
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK
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2
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Wen C, Wang C, Guo X, Li H, Xiao H, Wen J, Dong S. Object use in insects. INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 31:1001-1014. [PMID: 37828914 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Insects are the most diverse group of organisms in the animal kingdom, and some species exhibit complex social behaviors. Although research on insect object use is still in its early stages, insects have already been shown to display rich object-use behaviors. This review focuses on patterns and behavioral flexibility in insect object-use behavior, and the role of cultural evolution in the development of object-use behaviors. Object use in insects is not widespread but has been documented in a diverse set of taxa. Some insects can use objects flexibly and display various object-use patterns. Like mammals and birds, insects use objects in diverse activities, including foraging, predator defense, courtship, and play. Intelligence, pre-existing manipulative behaviors, and anatomical structure affect innovations in object use. In addition, learning and imitation are the main mechanisms underlying the spread of object-use behaviors within populations. Given that insects are one of the major animal groups engaging in object use, studies of insect object use could provide general insights into object use in the animal kingdom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Wen
- School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Cai Wang
- College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoli Guo
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Forest Pest Control, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Hongyu Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Forest Pest Control, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Haijun Xiao
- School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Junbao Wen
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Forest Pest Control, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Shikui Dong
- School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
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3
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Smirnova AA, Bulgakova LR, Cheplakova MA, Jelbert SA. Hooded crows (Corvus cornix) manufacture objects relative to a mental template. Anim Cogn 2024; 27:36. [PMID: 38683398 PMCID: PMC11058793 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01874-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2024] [Accepted: 04/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
It was recently found that not only tool-specialized New Caledonian crows, but also Goffin cockatoos can manufacture physical objects in accordance with a mental template. That is, they can emulate features of existing objects when they manufacture new items. Both species spontaneously ripped pieces of card into large strips if they had previously learned that a large template was rewarded, and small strips when they previously learned that a small template was rewarded. Among New Caledonian crows, this cognitive ability was suggested as a potential mechanism underlying the transmission of natural tool designs. Here, we tested for the same ability in another non-specialised tool user-Hooded crows (Corvus cornix). Crows were exposed to pre-made template objects, varying first in colour and then in size, and were rewarded only if they chose pre-made objects that matched the template. In subsequent tests, birds were given the opportunity to manufacture versions of these objects. All three crows ripped paper pieces from the same colour material as the rewarded template, and, crucially, also manufactured objects that were more similar in size to previously rewarded, than unrewarded, templates, despite the birds being rewarded at random in both tests. Therefore, we found the ability to manufacture physical objects relative to a mental template in yet another bird species not specialized in using or making foraging tools in the wild, but with a high level of brain and cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna A Smirnova
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninsky Gory, 1, 12, Moscow, 119899, Russia.
| | - Leia R Bulgakova
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninsky Gory, 1, 12, Moscow, 119899, Russia
| | - Maria A Cheplakova
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninsky Gory, 1, 12, Moscow, 119899, Russia
| | - Sarah A Jelbert
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TU, UK
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4
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Shupe E. The irreconcilability of insight. Anim Cogn 2024; 27:16. [PMID: 38429535 PMCID: PMC10907412 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01844-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 09/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
We are said to experience insight when we suddenly and unexpectedly become aware of the solution to a problem that we previously took ourselves to be unable to solve. In the field of comparative cognition, there is rising interest in the question of whether non-human animals are capable of insightful problem-solving. Putative cases of animals demonstrating insight have generally attracted two types of criticism: first, that insight is being conflated with other cognitive capacities (e.g., causal cognition, or mental trial and error); and, second, that the relevant performances merely reflect associative learning-and on the received understanding of insight within comparative cognition, insight necessarily involves non-associative processes. I argue that even if we grant that some cases of animal insight do withstand these two criticisms, these cases of purported animal insight cannot shed light on the nature of insightful problem-solving in humans. For the phenomenon studied by cognitive psychologists under the heading of insight is fundamentally different from that studied in comparative cognition. In light of this impasse, I argue that the reinterpretation of the extant research on animal insight in terms of other high-level cognitive capacities (means-end reasoning in particular) can improve the prospect of a successful comparative research program.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli Shupe
- University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, USA.
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5
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Jo H, McCune KB, Jablonski PG, Lee SI. Long-term memory of experienced jays facilitates problem-solving by naïve group members in the wild. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21593. [PMID: 38062030 PMCID: PMC10703848 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46666-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Long-term memory affects animal fitness, especially in social species. In these species, the memory of group members facilitates the acquisition of novel foraging skills through social learning when naïve individuals observe and imitate the successful foraging behavior. Long-term memory and social learning also provide the framework for cultural behavior, a trait found in humans but very few other animal species. In birds, little is known about the duration of long-term memories for complex foraging skills, or the impact of long-term memory on group members. We tested whether wild jays remembered a complex foraging task more than 3 years after their initial experience and quantified the effect of this memory on naïve jay behavior. Experienced jays remembered how to solve the task and their behavior had significant positive effects on interactions by naïve group members at the task. This suggests that natural selection may favor long-term memory of solutions to foraging problems to facilitate the persistence of foraging skills that are specifically useful in the local environment in social birds with long lifespans and overlapping generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyein Jo
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Kelsey B McCune
- Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
- College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.
| | - Piotr G Jablonski
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Sang-Im Lee
- Laboratory of Integrative Animal Ecology, Department of New Biology, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu, South Korea.
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6
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Mack C, Uomini N. Modulation of behavioural laterality in wild New Caledonian crows ( Corvus moneduloides): Vocalization, age and function. Laterality 2022; 27:379-405. [PMID: 35833319 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2022.2098969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) is known for displaying a unique set of tool-related behaviours, with the bird's bill acting as an individually consistently lateralized effector. However, we still fail to understand how such laterality develops, is modulated or even if its expression is consistent across other behavioural categories. Creating the first ethogram for this species allowed us to examine laterality and vocalisations in a population of wild, free-flying New Caledonian crows using detailed analyses of close-up video footage. We revealed the existence of an overall strong left-sided bias during object manipulation only and which was driven by the adult crows of our focal population, the stabilization of individual preferences occurring during the birds' juvenile years. Individually, at least one crow showed consistent side biases to the right and left within different behavioural categories. Our findings highlight previously unknown variability in behavioural laterality in this species, thus advocating for further investigation. Specifically, we argue that a better understanding of the New Caledonian crow's biology and ecology is required if one wishes to pursue the promising comparative road that laterality could be connected to the evolution of tool-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cyrielle Mack
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Natalie Uomini
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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7
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Cornelius JM. Advance social information allows red crossbills ( Loxia curvirostra) to better conserve body mass and intestinal mass during food stress. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220516. [PMID: 35582792 PMCID: PMC9114945 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals prepare for fluctuations in resources through advance storage of energy, planned reduction in energy costs or by moving elsewhere. Unpredictable fluctuations in food, however, may be particularly challenging if animals cannot avoid negative impacts on body condition. Social information may help animals to cope with unpredictable resources if cues from individuals with low foraging success give advance warning about deteriorating conditions. This study investigates the impact of social information on behaviour and physiology of food-restricted captive red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra). Birds were restricted to two short feeding periods per day to simulate a decline in resources and were given social information from food-restricted neighbours either before (i.e. predictive) or during (i.e. parallel) the food-restriction period. Focal birds better conserved body mass during food restriction if social information was predictive of the decline in resources. Crossbills with predictive information ate more food, had larger intestinal mass and better conserved pectoral muscle size at the end of the restriction period compared to those with parallel social information. These data suggest that birds can use social information to alter behavioural and physiological responses during food shortage in ways that may confer an adaptive advantage for survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. M. Cornelius
- Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
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8
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Social behavior mediates the use of social and personal information in wild jays. Sci Rep 2022; 12:2494. [PMID: 35169186 PMCID: PMC8847367 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-06496-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The factors favoring the evolution of certain cognitive abilities in animals remain unclear. Social learning is a cognitive ability that reduces the cost of acquiring personal information and forms the foundation for cultural behavior. Theory predicts the evolutionary pressures to evolve social learning should be greater in more social species. However, research testing this theory has primarily occurred in captivity, where artificial environments can affect performance and yield conflicting results. We compared the use of social and personal information, and the social learning mechanisms used by wild, asocial California scrub-jays and social Mexican jays. We trained demonstrators to solve one door on a multi-door task, then measured the behavior of naïve conspecifics towards the task. If social learning occurs, observations of demonstrators will change the rate that naïve individuals interact with each door. We found both species socially learned, though personal information had a much greater effect on behavior in the asocial species while social information was more important for the social species. Additionally, both species used social information to avoid, rather than copy, conspecifics. Our findings demonstrate that while complex social group structures may be unnecessary for the evolution of social learning, it does affect the use of social versus personal information.
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9
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Hämäläinen L, M. Rowland H, Mappes J, Thorogood R. Social information use by predators: expanding the information ecology of prey defences. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Hannah M. Rowland
- Max Planck Inst. for Chemical Ecology Jena Germany
- Dept of Zoology, Univ. of Cambridge Cambridge UK
| | - Johanna Mappes
- Research Programme in Organismal&Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Helsinki Helsinki Finland
- Dept of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Finland
| | - Rose Thorogood
- Research Programme in Organismal&Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Helsinki Helsinki Finland
- HiLIFE Helsinki Inst. of Life Science, Univ. of Helsinki Helsinki Finland
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10
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Lockman JJ, Tamis-LeMonda CS. Young Children's Interactions with Objects: Play as Practice and Practice as Play. ANNUAL REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 3:165-186. [PMID: 37859666 PMCID: PMC10586717 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-devpsych-050720-102538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Objects permeate human culture and saturate the imagination. This duality offers both opportunity and challenge. Here we ask how young human children learn to exploit the immense potential afforded by objects that can exist simultaneously in both physical and imaginary realms. To this end, we advance a new framework that integrates the presently siloed literatures on manual skill and play development. We argue that developments in children's real and imagined use of objects are embodied, reciprocal and intertwined. Advances in one plane of action influence and scaffold advances in the other. Consistent with this unified framework, we show how real and imagined interactions with objects are characterized by developmental parallels in how children a) gradually move beyond objects' designed functions, b) extend beyond the self, and c) transcend the present to encompass future points in time and space. As well, we highlight how children's real and imagined interactions with objects are intertwined and reciprocally influence each other throughout development: Play engenders practice and skill in using objects, but just the same, practice using objects engenders advances in play. We close by highlighting the theoretical, empirical and translational implications of this embodied and integrated account of manual skill and play development.
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11
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Liedtke J, Fromhage L. Should dispersers be fast learners? Modeling the role of cognition in dispersal syndromes. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:14293-14302. [PMID: 34707855 PMCID: PMC8525168 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Both cognitive abilities and dispersal tendencies can vary strongly between individuals. Since cognitive abilities may help dealing with unknown circumstances, it is conceivable that dispersers may rely more heavily on learning abilities than residents. However, cognitive abilities are costly and leaving a familiar place might result in losing the advantage of having learned to deal with local conditions. Thus, individuals which invested in learning to cope with local conditions may be better off staying at their natal place. In order to disentangle the complex relationship between dispersal and learning abilities, we implemented individual-based simulations. By allowing for developmental plasticity, individuals could either become a 'resident' or 'dispersal' cognitive phenotype. The model showed that in general residents have higher learning abilities than dispersers. Dispersers evolve higher learning ability than residents when dispersers have long life spans and when dispersal occurs either early or late in life, thereby maximizing the time in one habitat patch. Time is crucial here, because the longer an individual resides in a location where it can use its learned knowledge or behavior, the more often it profits from it and thus eventually obtains a net benefit from its investment into learning. Both, longevity and the timing of dispersal within lifecycles determine the time individuals have to recoup that investment and thus crucially influence this correlation. We therefore suggest that species' life history will strongly impact the expected cognitive abilities of dispersers, relative to their resident conspecifics, and that cognitive abilities might be an integral part of dispersal syndromes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jannis Liedtke
- Department of Biological and Environmental ScienceUniversity of JyvaskylaJyvaskylaFinland
- Institute of ZoologyUniversity of HamburgHamburgGermany
- BioConsult SH GmbH & Co., KGHusumGermany
| | - Lutz Fromhage
- Department of Biological and Environmental ScienceUniversity of JyvaskylaJyvaskylaFinland
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12
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The effects of food limitation on behavior, corticosterone, and the use of social information in the red crossbill (Loxia curvirostra). Anim Cogn 2021; 24:1305-1317. [PMID: 34047864 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01520-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Meeting metabolic demands through foraging is a basic animal need that drives the evolution of foraging adaptations. The use of social information is one adaptation that could improve foraging success and fitness if it helps animals locate food when conditions are challenging. It is unknown if food limitation-or the glucocorticoid hormones that are often released when food is limited-can influence the extent to which animals use social information or their ability to learn novel foraging techniques. We explored the effects of limited access to food on activity levels, corticosterone secretion, and social information use in red crossbills, a highly social songbird species adapted to cope with high degrees of resource unpredictability. Using an observer/demonstrator paradigm, food limited or well fed observers were allowed to watch demonstrators solve a novel feeding puzzle before being allowed to attempt the puzzle themselves across repeated trials. Our findings suggest that food limitation transiently increased activity levels but did not result in long-term elevations of corticosterone and did not increase the speed at which red crossbills utilized social information to solve the novel foraging task. However, food limitation may have increased the value of using socially acquired information, as foraging technique performance improved faster in food limited birds relative to controls. Social learning was further demonstrated by the red crossbills in this study when naïve observers overwhelmingly learned a socially-demonstrated task over an undemonstrated task when tested on a two-task foraging board.
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13
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Parishar P, Mohapatra AN, Iyengar S. Investigating Behavioral Responses to Mirrors and the Mark Test in Adult Male Zebra Finches and House Crows. Front Psychol 2021; 12:637850. [PMID: 33935888 PMCID: PMC8082158 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Earlier evidence suggests that besides humans, some species of mammals and birds demonstrate visual self-recognition, assessed by the controversial “mark” test. Whereas, there are high levels of inter-individual differences amongst a single species, some species such as macaques and pigeons which do not spontaneously demonstrate mirror self-recognition (MSR) can be trained to do so. We were surprised to discover that despite being widely used as a model system for avian research, the performance of zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata) on the mark test had not been studied earlier. Additionally, we studied the behavioral responses of another species of passerine songbirds (Indian house crows; Corvus splendens) to a mirror and the MSR mark test. Although a small number of adult male zebra finches appeared to display heightened responses toward the mark while observing their reflections, we could not rule out the possibility that these were a part of general grooming rather than specific to the mark. Furthermore, none of the house crows demonstrated mark-directed behavior or increased self-exploratory behaviors when facing mirrors. Our study suggests that self-directed behaviors need to be tested more rigorously in adult male zebra finches while facing their reflections and these findings need to be replicated in a larger population, given the high degree of variability in mirror-directed behaviors.
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14
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Liedtke J, Fromhage L. The joint evolution of learning and dispersal maintains intraspecific diversity in metapopulations. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jannis Liedtke
- Dept of Biological and Environmental Science, Univ. of Jyvaskyla Jyvaskyla Finland
- Inst. of Zoology, Univ. of Hamburg Hamburg Germany
| | - Lutz Fromhage
- Dept of Biological and Environmental Science, Univ. of Jyvaskyla Jyvaskyla Finland
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15
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Martina C, Cowlishaw G, Carter AJ. Individual differences in task participation in wild chacma baboons. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.11.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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16
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Dussex N, Kutschera VE, Wiberg RAW, Parker DJ, Hunt GR, Gray RD, Rutherford K, Abe H, Fleischer RC, Ritchie MG, Rutz C, Wolf JBW, Gemmell NJ. A genome-wide investigation of adaptive signatures in protein-coding genes related to tool behaviour in New Caledonian and Hawaiian crows. Mol Ecol 2020; 30:973-986. [PMID: 33305388 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Very few animals habitually manufacture and use tools. It has been suggested that advanced tool behaviour co-evolves with a suite of behavioural, morphological and life history traits. In fact, there are indications for such an adaptive complex in tool-using crows (genus Corvus species). Here, we sequenced the genomes of two habitually tool-using and ten non-tool-using crow species to search for genomic signatures associated with a tool-using lifestyle. Using comparative genomic and population genetic approaches, we screened for signals of selection in protein-coding genes in the tool-using New Caledonian and Hawaiian crows. While we detected signals of recent selection in New Caledonian crows near genes associated with bill morphology, our data indicate that genetic changes in these two lineages are surprisingly subtle, with little evidence at present for convergence. We explore the biological explanations for these findings, such as the relative roles of gene regulation and protein-coding changes, as well as the possibility that statistical power to detect selection in recently diverged lineages may have been insufficient. Our study contributes to a growing body of literature aiming to decipher the genetic basis of recently evolved complex behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Dussex
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.,Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Centre for Palaeogenetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Verena E Kutschera
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, Solna, Sweden
| | - R Axel W Wiberg
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.,Department of Environmental Sciences, Evolutionary Biology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Darren J Parker
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.,Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Gavin R Hunt
- University of Auckland, Science Centre 302, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Russell D Gray
- University of Auckland, Science Centre 302, Auckland, New Zealand.,Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Kim Rutherford
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Hideaki Abe
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.,Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Robert C Fleischer
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Michael G Ritchie
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Jochen B W Wolf
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Neil J Gemmell
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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17
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Kaplan G. Play behaviour, not tool using, relates to brain mass in a sample of birds. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20437. [PMID: 33235248 PMCID: PMC7687885 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76572-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Play behaviour and tool using in birds, two well-delineated and amply researched behaviours, have generally been associated with cognitive abilities. In this study, these behaviours were related to relative brain mass in a sample of Australian native birds. Despite suggestive research results so far between cognition and tool using, this study found no significant difference in relative brain mass or in lifespan between tool-using birds and non-tool users. By contrast, in play behaviour, subdivided into social players and non-social players, the results showed statistically very clear differences in relative brain mass between social, non-social and non-players. Social play was associated with both the largest brain mass to body mass ratios and with the longest lifespans. The results show that play behaviour is a crucial variable associated with brain enlargement, not tool using. Since many of the tool using species tested so far also play, this study suggests that false conclusions can be drawn about the connection between tool using and cognitive ability when the silent variable (play behaviour) is not taken into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gisela Kaplan
- School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia.
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18
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Laumer IB, Jelbert SA, Taylor AH, Rössler T, Auersperg AMI. Object manufacture based on a memorized template: Goffin's cockatoos attend to different model features. Anim Cogn 2020; 24:457-470. [PMID: 33113033 PMCID: PMC8128754 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01435-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Although several nonhuman animals have the ability to recognize and match templates in computerized tasks, we know little about their ability to recall and then physically manufacture specific features of mental templates. Across three experiments, Goffin cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana), a species that can use tools in captivity, were exposed to two pre-made template objects, varying in either colour, size (long or short) or shape (I or L-shaped), where only one template was rewarded. Birds were then given the opportunity to manufacture versions of these objects themselves. We found that all birds carved paper strips from the same colour material as the rewarded template, and half were also able to match the size of a template (long and short). This occurred despite the template being absent at test and birds being rewarded at random. However, we found no evidence that cockatoos could carve L-shaped pieces after learning that L-shaped templates were rewarded, though their manufactured strips were wider than in previous tests. Overall, our results show that Goffin cockatoos possess the ability to physically adjust at least the size dimension of manufactured objects relative to a mental template. This ability has previously only been shown in New Caledonian crows, where template matching was suggested as a potential mechanism allowing for the cumulative cultural transmission of tool designs. Our results show that within avian tool users, the ability to recreate a physical template from memory does not seem to be restricted to species that have cumulative tool cultures.
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Affiliation(s)
- I B Laumer
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, Vienna, 1090, Austria.
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, 375 Portola Plaza, 341 Haines Hall, Box 951553, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
| | - S A Jelbert
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TU, UK
| | - A H Taylor
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - T Rössler
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine (other partner institutions: University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna), Veterinärplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
| | - A M I Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine (other partner institutions: University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna), Veterinärplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
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19
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Rutz C, Hunt GR. New Caledonian crows afford invaluable comparative insights into human cumulative technological culture. Behav Brain Sci 2020; 43:e177. [PMID: 32772983 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x20000187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The New Caledonian crow may be the only non-primate species exhibiting cumulative technological culture. Its foraging tools show clear signs of diversification and progressive refinement, and it seems likely that at least some tool-related information is passed across generations via social learning. Here, we explain how these remarkable birds can help us uncover the basic biological processes driving technological progress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St AndrewsKY16 9TH, ://aviantooluse.org
- Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, CambridgeMA02138
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20
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Tanalgo KC, Monfort N, Hughes AC. Attacked from above and below: new ethological evidence on the predation strategies of corvid and varanid on a cave-roosting bat. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2020.1771773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Krizler Cejuela Tanalgo
- Landscape Ecology Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 666303 Mengla, Yunnan Province, P.R. China (E-mail: )
| | - Norma Monfort
- Philippine Bats for Peace Foundation Inc., 5 Ramona Townhomes, Guadalupe Village, Lanang, 8000 Davao City, The Republic of the Philippines
| | - Alice Catherine Hughes
- Landscape Ecology Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 666303 Mengla, Yunnan Province, P.R. China
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21
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Bräuer J, Hanus D, Pika S, Gray R, Uomini N. Old and New Approaches to Animal Cognition: There Is Not "One Cognition". J Intell 2020; 8:E28. [PMID: 32630788 PMCID: PMC7555673 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence8030028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Revised: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Using the comparative approach, researchers draw inferences about the evolution of cognition. Psychologists have postulated several hypotheses to explain why certain species are cognitively more flexible than others, and these hypotheses assume that certain cognitive skills are linked together to create a generally "smart" species. However, empirical findings suggest that several animal species are highly specialized, showing exceptional skills in single cognitive domains while performing poorly in others. Although some cognitive skills may indeed overlap, we cannot a priori assume that they do across species. We argue that the term "cognition" has often been used by applying an anthropocentric viewpoint rather than a biocentric one. As a result, researchers tend to overrate cognitive skills that are human-like and assume that certain skills cluster together in other animals as they do in our own species. In this paper, we emphasize that specific physical and social environments create selection pressures that lead to the evolution of certain cognitive adaptations. Skills such as following the pointing gesture, tool-use, perspective-taking, or the ability to cooperate evolve independently from each other as a concrete result of specific selection pressures, and thus have appeared in distantly related species. Thus, there is not "one cognition". Our argument is founded upon traditional Darwinian thinking, which-although always at the forefront of biology-has sometimes been neglected in animal cognition research. In accordance with the biocentric approach, we advocate a broader empirical perspective as we are convinced that to better understand animal minds, comparative researchers should focus much more on questions and experiments that are ecologically valid. We should investigate nonhuman cognition for its own sake, not only in comparison to the human model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliane Bräuer
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
- Department of General Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Am Steiger 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Daniel Hanus
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Simone Pika
- Institute of Cognitive Science, Comparative BioCognition, University of Osnabrück, Artilleriestrasse 34, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Russell Gray
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Natalie Uomini
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
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22
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Bandini E, Motes-Rodrigo A, Steele MP, Rutz C, Tennie C. Examining the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of animal tool behaviour. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200122. [PMID: 32486940 PMCID: PMC7336849 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite major advances in the study of animal tool behaviour, researchers continue to debate how exactly certain behaviours are acquired. While specific mechanisms, such as genetic predispositions or action copying, are sometimes suspected to play a major role in behavioural acquisition, controlled experiments are required to provide conclusive evidence. In this opinion piece, we refer to classic ethological methodologies to emphasize the need for studying the relative contributions of different factors to the emergence of specific tool behaviours. We describe a methodology, consisting of a carefully staged series of baseline and social-learning conditions, that enables us to tease apart the roles of different mechanisms in the development of behavioural repertoires. Experiments employing our proposed methodology will not only advance our understanding of animal learning and culture, but as a result, will also help inform hypotheses about human cognitive, cultural and technological evolution. More generally, our conceptual framework is suitable for guiding the detailed investigation of other seemingly complex animal behaviours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Bandini
- Department for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, The University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070, Germany
| | - Alba Motes-Rodrigo
- Department for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, The University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070, Germany
| | - Matthew P Steele
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Claudio Tennie
- Department for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, The University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070, Germany
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23
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24
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Boucherie PH, Blum C, Bugnyar T. Effect of rearing style on the development of social behaviour in young ravens ( Corvus corax). Ethology 2020; 126:595-609. [PMID: 32612316 PMCID: PMC7317586 DOI: 10.1111/eth.13010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Revised: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Early social experiences can affect the development and expression of individual social behaviour throughout life. In particular, early-life social deprivations, notably of parental care, can later have deleterious consequences. We can, therefore, expect rearing procedures such as hand-raising-widely used in ethology and socio-cognitive science-to alter the development of individual social behaviour. We investigated how the rearing style later affected (a) variation in relationship strength among peers and (b) individuals' patterns of social interactions, in three captive groups of juvenile non-breeders consisting of either parent-raised or hand-raised birds, or a mix of both rearing styles. In the three groups, irrespectively of rearing style: strongest relationships (i.e., higher rates of association and affiliations) primarily emerged among siblings and familiar partners (i.e., non-relatives encountered in early life), and mixed-sex and male-male partners established relationships of similar strength, indicating that the rearing style does not severely affect the quality and structure of relationships in young ravens. However, compared to parent-raised ravens, hand-raised ravens showed higher connectedness, i.e., number of partners with whom they mainly associated and affiliated, but formed on average relationships of lower strength, indicating that social experience in early life is not without consequences on the development of ravens' patterns of social interaction. The deprivation of parental care associated with the presence of same-age peers during hand-raising seemed to maximize ravens' propensity to interact with others, indicating that besides parents, interactions with same-age peers matter. Opportunities to interact with, and socially learn from peers, might thus be the key to the acquisition of early social competences in ravens.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christian Blum
- Department of Cognitive BiologyUniversity of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Thomas Bugnyar
- Department of Cognitive BiologyUniversity of ViennaViennaAustria
- Haidlhof Research StationUniversity of Vienna and University of Veterinary Medicine ViennaViennaAustria
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25
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Loretto MC, Schuster R, Federspiel IG, Heinrich B, Bugnyar T. Contextual imitation in juvenile common ravens, Corvus corax. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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26
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Breen AJ, Lovie KE, Guerard C, Edwards SC, Cooper J, Healy SD, Guillette LM. Juvenile socio-ecological environment shapes material technology in nest-building birds. Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Variation in animal material technology, such as tool use and nest construction, is thought to be caused, in part, by differences in the early-life socio-ecological environment—that is, who and what is around—but this developmental hypothesis remains unconfirmed. We used a tightly controlled developmental paradigm to determine whether adult and/or raw-material access in early life shape first-time nest construction in laboratory-bred zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata at sexual maturity. We found that juvenile access to both an unrelated adult and raw material of one color led to a majority preference (75%) by novice builders for this color of material over that for either natal-nest or novel-colored material, whereas a lack of juvenile access to both an unrelated adult and raw material led to a 4- and nearly 3-fold reduction in the speed at which novice builders initiated and completed nest construction, respectively. Contrary to expectation, neither the amount of time juveniles nor their adult groupmate spent handling the raw material appear to drive these early-life effects on zebra finches’ first-time nest construction, suggesting that adult presence might be sufficient to drive the development of animal material technology. Together these data show that the juvenile socio-ecological environment can trigger variation in at least two critical aspects of animal material technology (material preference and construction speed), revealing a potentially powerful developmental window for technological advancement. Thus, to understand selection on animal material technology, the early-life environment must be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis J Breen
- School of Biology, Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
| | - Keren E Lovie
- School of Biology, Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
| | - Chloé Guerard
- School of Biology, Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
- École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, Chemin des Capelles, Toulouse, France
| | - Sophie C Edwards
- School of Biology, Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
| | - Jasmine Cooper
- School of Biology, Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
| | - Susan D Healy
- School of Biology, Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
| | - Lauren M Guillette
- School of Biology, Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK
- Department of Psychology, P445 Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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27
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Osiurak F, Lesourd M, Navarro J, Reynaud E. Technition: When Tools Come Out of the Closet. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2020; 15:880-897. [DOI: 10.1177/1745691620902145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
People are ambivalently enthusiastic and anxious about how far technology can go. Therefore, understanding the neurocognitive bases of the human technical mind should be a major topic of the cognitive sciences. Surprisingly, however, scientists are not interested in this topic or address it only marginally in other mainstream domains (e.g., motor control, action observation, social cognition). In fact, this lack of interest may hinder our understanding of the necessary neurocognitive skills underlying our appetence for transforming our physical environment. Here, we develop the thesis that our technical mind originates in perhaps uniquely human neurocognitive skills, namely, technical-reasoning skills involving the area PF within the left inferior parietal lobe. This thesis creates an epistemological rupture with the state of the art that justifies the emergence of a new field in the cognitive sciences (i.e., technition) dedicated to the intelligence hidden behind tools and other forms of technologies, including constructions.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Osiurak
- Laboratoire d’Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon
- Institut Universitaire de France
| | - Mathieu Lesourd
- Laboratoire de Psychologie, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté
| | - Jordan Navarro
- Laboratoire d’Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon
- Institut Universitaire de France
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28
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Rutz C, Hunt GR, St Clair JJH. Corvid Technologies: How Do New Caledonian Crows Get Their Tool Designs? Curr Biol 2020; 28:R1109-R1111. [PMID: 30253153 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Recent research shows that New Caledonian crows can incorporate information from researcher-made objects into objects they subsequently manufacture. This 'mental template matching' is one of several possible - mutually compatible - mechanisms for the cultural transmission of tool designs among wild crows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK.
| | | | - James J H St Clair
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
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29
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Gallot Q, Gruber T. Spontaneous use and modification of a feather as a tool in a captive common raven. Ethology 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Thibaud Gruber
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences University of Geneva Geneva Switzerland
- Cognitive Science Center University of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Switzerland
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30
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31
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Amodio P, Boeckle M, Schnell AK, Ostojíc L, Fiorito G, Clayton NS. Grow Smart and Die Young: Why Did Cephalopods Evolve Intelligence? Trends Ecol Evol 2018; 34:45-56. [PMID: 30446408 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Revised: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 10/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Intelligence in large-brained vertebrates might have evolved through independent, yet similar processes based on comparable socioecological pressures and slow life histories. This convergent evolutionary route, however, cannot explain why cephalopods developed large brains and flexible behavioural repertoires: cephalopods have fast life histories and live in simple social environments. Here, we suggest that the loss of the external shell in cephalopods (i) caused a dramatic increase in predatory pressure, which in turn prevented the emergence of slow life histories, and (ii) allowed the exploitation of novel challenging niches, thus favouring the emergence of intelligence. By highlighting convergent and divergent aspects between cephalopods and large-brained vertebrates we illustrate how the evolution of intelligence might not be constrained to a single evolutionary route.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piero Amodio
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Markus Boeckle
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Ljerka Ostojíc
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Graziano Fiorito
- Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy
| | - Nicola S Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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32
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Bayern AMPV, Danel S, Auersperg AMI, Mioduszewska B, Kacelnik A. Compound tool construction by New Caledonian crows. Sci Rep 2018; 8:15676. [PMID: 30356096 PMCID: PMC6200727 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-33458-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2018] [Accepted: 09/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The construction of novel compound tools through assemblage of otherwise non-functional elements involves anticipation of the affordances of the tools to be built. Except for few observations in captive great apes, compound tool construction is unknown outside humans, and tool innovation appears late in human ontogeny. We report that habitually tool-using New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) can combine objects to construct novel compound tools. We presented 8 naïve crows with combinable elements too short to retrieve food targets. Four crows spontaneously combined elements to make functional tools, and did so conditionally on the position of food. One of them made 3- and 4-piece tools when required. In humans, individual innovation in compound tool construction is often claimed to be evolutionarily and mechanistically related to planning, complex task coordination, executive control, and even language. Our results are not accountable by direct reinforcement learning but corroborate that these crows possess highly flexible abilities that allow them to solve novel problems rapidly. The underlying cognitive processes however remain opaque for now. They probably include the species' typical propensity to use tools, their ability to judge affordances that make some objects usable as tools, and an ability to innovate perhaps through virtual, cognitive simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- A M P von Bayern
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, Oxford, UK. .,Department II of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany. .,Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, 82319, Seewiesen, Germany.
| | - S Danel
- Department II of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.,Laboratory for the Study of Cognitive Mechanisms, University of Lyon, Bron Rhône-Alpes, 69500, France
| | - A M I Auersperg
- University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210, Wien, Austria.,Messerli Research Institute, Medical University of Vienna, 1010, Wien, Austria.,Messerli Research Institute, University of Vienna, 1090, Wien, Austria
| | - B Mioduszewska
- Department II of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - A Kacelnik
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, Oxford, UK.
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33
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Klump BC, Masuda BM, St Clair JJH, Rutz C. Preliminary observations of tool-processing behaviour in Hawaiian crows Corvus hawaiiensis. Commun Integr Biol 2018; 11:e1509637. [PMID: 30534343 PMCID: PMC6284564 DOI: 10.1080/19420889.2018.1509637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Very few animal species habitually make and use foraging tools. We recently discovered that the Hawaiian crow is a highly skilled, natural tool user. Most captive adults in our experiment spontaneously used sticks to access out-of-reach food from a range of extraction tasks, exhibiting a surprising degree of dexterity. Moreover, many birds modified tools before or during deployment, and some even manufactured tools from raw materials. In this invited addendum article, we describe and discuss these observations in more detail. Our preliminary data, and comparisons with the better-studied New Caledonian crow, suggest that the Hawaiian crow has extensive tool-modification and manufacture abilities. To chart the full extent of the species’ natural tool-making repertoire, we have started conducting dedicated experiments where subjects are given access to suitable raw materials for tool manufacture, but not ready-to-use tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara C Klump
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Bryce M Masuda
- Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, Volcano, Hawaii, USA
| | - James J H St Clair
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
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34
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Lamon N, Neumann C, Gier J, Zuberbühler K, Gruber T. Wild chimpanzees select tool material based on efficiency and knowledge. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:rspb.2018.1715. [PMID: 30305440 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Some animals have basic culture, but to date there is not much evidence that cultural traits evolve as part of a cumulative process as seen in humans. This may be due to limits in animal physical cognition, such as an inability to compare the efficiency of a novel behavioural innovation with an already existing tradition. We investigated this possibility with a study on a natural tool innovation in wild chimpanzees: moss-sponging, which recently emerged in some individuals to extract mineral-rich liquids at a natural clay-pit. The behaviour probably arose as a variant of leaf-sponging, a tool technique seen in all studied chimpanzee communities. We found that moss-sponges not only absorbed more liquid but were manufactured and used more rapidly than leaf-sponges, suggesting a functional improvement. To investigate whether chimpanzees understood the advantage of moss- over leaf-sponges, we experimentally offered small amounts of rainwater in an artificial cavity of a portable log, together with both sponge materials, moss and leaves. We found that established moss-spongers (having used both leaves and moss to make sponges) preferred moss to prepare a sponge to access the rainwater, whereas leaf-spongers (never observed using moss) preferred leaves. Survey data finally demonstrated that moss was common in forest areas near clay-pits but nearly absent in other forest areas, suggesting that natural moss-sponging was at least partly constrained by ecology. Together, these results suggest that chimpanzees perceive functional improvements in tool quality, a crucial prerequisite for cumulative culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noemie Lamon
- Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland .,Budongo Conservation Field Station, Masindi, Uganda
| | - Christof Neumann
- Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Jennifer Gier
- Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Klaus Zuberbühler
- Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.,Budongo Conservation Field Station, Masindi, Uganda.,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JP, UK
| | - Thibaud Gruber
- Budongo Conservation Field Station, Masindi, Uganda .,Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
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35
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Goodman M, Hayward T, Hunt GR. Habitual tool use innovated by free-living New Zealand kea. Sci Rep 2018; 8:13935. [PMID: 30224791 PMCID: PMC6141560 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32363-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2018] [Accepted: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of flexible tool use is rare in the animal kingdom and thought to be largely constrained by either cognitive ability or ecological factors. That mostly birds with a high level of intelligence innovate tool use in captivity is consistent with the former hypothesis. We report here the first documented case of habitual tool use innovated in the wild by a bird species only known to have used tools in captivity. Trap-boxes containing food-bait and snap-trap(s) were installed in the remote Murchison Mountains, New Zealand, from 2002 to catch introduced stoats. Kea tampered with the trap-boxes in various ways. Over approximately 2.5 years, sticks were found inserted into at least 227 different trap-boxes that were up to 27 km apart. Video footage confirmed that the stick insertion was kea tool use. Trap-boxes are unlikely to have provided the only possibility for kea tool use in their habitat given their extractive foraging and skilled object manipulation. We argue that they instead greatly facilitated the opportunity for tool use, thus increasing the chance that kea would invent the behaviour. The innovation of tool use by kea in response to facilitation provides rare field support for the cognitive constraints hypothesis.
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The interplay between psychological predispositions and skill learning in the evolution of tool use. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Fujii JA, Ralls K, Tinker MT. Food abundance, prey morphology, and diet specialization influence individual sea otter tool use. Behav Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arx011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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How New Caledonian crows solve novel foraging problems and what it means for cumulative culture. Learn Behav 2017; 44:18-28. [PMID: 26276368 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-015-0194-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
New Caledonian crows make and use tools, and tool types vary over geographic landscapes. Social learning may explain the variation in tool design, but it is unknown to what degree social learning accounts for the maintenance of these designs. Indeed, little is known about the mechanisms these crows use to obtain information from others, despite the question's importance in understanding whether tool behavior is transmitted via social, genetic, or environmental means. For social transmission to account for tool-type variation, copying must utilize a mechanism that is action specific (e.g., pushing left vs. right) as well as context specific (e.g., pushing a particular object vs. any object). To determine whether crows can copy a demonstrator's actions as well as the contexts in which they occur, we conducted a diffusion experiment using a novel foraging task. We used a nontool task to eliminate any confounds introduced by individual differences in their prior tool experience. Two groups had demonstrators (trained in isolation on different options of a four-option task, including a two-action option) and one group did not. We found that crows socially learn about context: After observers see a demonstrator interact with the task, they are more likely to interact with the same parts of the task. In contrast, observers did not copy the demonstrator's specific actions. Our results suggest it is unlikely that observing tool-making behavior transmits tool types. We suggest it is possible that tool types are transmitted when crows copy the physical form of the tools they encounter.
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The development of support intuitions and object causality in juvenile Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius). Sci Rep 2017; 7:40062. [PMID: 28053306 PMCID: PMC5215467 DOI: 10.1038/srep40062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2016] [Accepted: 11/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Knowledge about the causal relationship between objects has been studied extensively in human infants, and more recently in adult animals using differential looking time experiments. How knowledge about object support develops in non-human animals has yet to be explored. Here, we studied the ontogeny of support relations in Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius), a bird species known for its sophisticated cognitive abilities. Using an expectancy violation paradigm, we measured looking time responses to possible and impossible video and image stimuli. We also controlled for experience with different support types to determine whether the emergence of support intuitions is dependent upon specific interactions with objects, or if reasoning develops independently. At age 9 months, birds looked more at a tool moving a piece of cheese that was not in contact than one that was in direct contact. By the age of 6 months, birds that had not experienced string as a support to hold up objects looked more at impossible images with string hanging from below (unsupported), rather than above (supported). The development of support intuitions may be independent of direct experience with specific support, or knowledge gained from interactions with other objects may be generalised across contexts.
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Ghirlanda S, Lind J. ‘Aesop's fable’ experiments demonstrate trial-and-error learning in birds, but no causal understanding. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.10.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Rutz C, Klump BC, Komarczyk L, Leighton R, Kramer J, Wischnewski S, Sugasawa S, Morrissey MB, James R, St Clair JJH, Switzer RA, Masuda BM. Discovery of species-wide tool use in the Hawaiian crow. Nature 2016; 537:403-7. [DOI: 10.1038/nature19103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2016] [Accepted: 07/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Rutz C, Sugasawa S, van der Wal JEM, Klump BC, St Clair JJH. Tool bending in New Caledonian crows. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160439. [PMID: 27853622 PMCID: PMC5108972 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Accepted: 07/08/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
'Betty' the New Caledonian crow astonished the world when she 'spontaneously' bent straight pieces of garden wire into hooked foraging tools. Recent field experiments have revealed that tool bending is part of the species' natural behavioural repertoire, providing important context for interpreting Betty's iconic wire-bending feat. More generally, this discovery provides a compelling illustration of how natural history observations can inform laboratory-based research into the cognitive capacities of non-human animals.
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Jacobs IF, von Bayern A, Osvath M. A novel tool-use mode in animals: New Caledonian crows insert tools to transport objects. Anim Cogn 2016; 19:1249-1252. [PMID: 27437926 PMCID: PMC5054045 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-1016-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2015] [Revised: 07/02/2016] [Accepted: 07/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) rely heavily on a range of tools to extract prey. They manufacture novel tools, save tools for later use, and have morphological features that facilitate tool use. We report six observations, in two individuals, of a novel tool-use mode not previously reported in non-human animals. Insert-and-transport tool use involves inserting a stick into an object and then moving away, thereby transporting both object and tool. All transported objects were non-food objects. One subject used a stick to transport an object that was too large to be handled by beak, which suggests the tool facilitated object control. The function in the other cases is unclear but seems to be an expression of play or exploration. Further studies should investigate whether it is adaptive in the wild and to what extent crows can flexibly apply the behaviour in experimental settings when purposive transportation of objects is advantageous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivo F Jacobs
- Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3, 22100, Lund, Sweden.
| | - Auguste von Bayern
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, 82319, Seewiesen, Germany
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3PS, Oxford, UK
| | - Mathias Osvath
- Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3, 22100, Lund, Sweden
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Logan CJ. How far will a behaviourally flexible invasive bird go to innovate? ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160247. [PMID: 27429781 PMCID: PMC4929916 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2016] [Accepted: 05/12/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Behavioural flexibility is considered a key factor in the ability to adapt to changing environments. A traditional way of characterizing behavioural flexibility is to determine whether individuals invent solutions to novel problems, termed innovativeness. Great-tailed grackles are behaviourally flexible in that they can change their preferences when a task changes using existing behaviours; however, it is unknown how far they will go to invent solutions to novel problems. To begin to answer this question, I gave grackles two novel tests that a variety of other species can perform: stick tool use and string pulling. No grackle used a stick to access out-of-reach food, even after seeing a human demonstrate the solution. No grackle spontaneously pulled a vertically oriented string, but one did pull a horizontally oriented string twice. Additionally, a third novel test was previously conducted on these individuals and it was found that no grackle spontaneously dropped stones down a platform apparatus to release food, but six out of eight did become proficient after training. These results support the idea that behavioural flexibility is a multi-faceted trait because grackles are flexible, but not particularly innovative. This contradicts the idea that behavioural flexibility and innovativeness are interchangeable terms.
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Klump BC, van der Wal JEM, St Clair JJH, Rutz C. Context-dependent 'safekeeping' of foraging tools in New Caledonian crows. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:20150278. [PMID: 25994674 PMCID: PMC4455803 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Several animal species use tools for foraging, such as sticks to extract embedded arthropods and honey, or stones to crack open nuts and eggs. While providing access to nutritious foods, these behaviours may incur significant costs, such as the time and energy spent searching for, manufacturing and transporting tools. These costs can be reduced by re-using tools, keeping them safe when not needed. We experimentally investigated what New Caledonian crows do with their tools between successive prey extractions, and whether they express tool ‘safekeeping’ behaviours more often when the costs (foraging at height), or likelihood (handling of demanding prey), of tool loss are high. Birds generally took care of their tools (84% of 176 prey extractions, nine subjects), either trapping them underfoot (74%) or storing them in holes (26%)—behaviours we also observed in the wild (19 cases, four subjects). Moreover, tool-handling behaviour was context-dependent, with subjects: keeping their tools safe significantly more often when foraging at height; and storing tools significantly more often in holes when extracting more demanding prey (under these conditions, foot-trapping proved challenging). In arboreal environments, safekeeping can prevent costly tool losses, removing a potentially important constraint on the evolution of habitual and complex tool behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara C Klump
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Jessica E M van der Wal
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - James J H St Clair
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
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Logan CJ, Harvey BD, Schlinger BA, Rensel M. Western scrub-jays do not appear to attend to functionality in Aesop's Fable experiments. PeerJ 2016; 4:e1707. [PMID: 26925331 PMCID: PMC4768697 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.1707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2015] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Western scrub-jays are known for their highly discriminatory and flexible behaviors in a caching (food storing) context. However, it is unknown whether their cognitive abilities are restricted to a caching context. To explore this question, we tested scrub-jays in a non-caching context using the Aesop’s Fable paradigm, where a partially filled tube of water contains a floating food reward and objects must be inserted to displace the water and bring the food within reach. We tested four birds, but only two learned to drop stones proficiently. Of these, one bird participated in 4/5 experiments and one in 2/5 experiments. Both birds passed one experiment, but without attending to the functional differences of the objects, and failed the other experiments. Scrub-jays were not motivated to participate in these experiments, suggesting that either this paradigm was ecologically irrelevant or perhaps their flexibility is restricted to a caching context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corina J Logan
- SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, United States; Current affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Brigit D Harvey
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California , Los Angeles, CA , United States
| | - Barney A Schlinger
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Michelle Rensel
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California , Los Angeles, CA , United States
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Vallentin D, Kosche G, Lipkind D, Long MA. Neural circuits. Inhibition protects acquired song segments during vocal learning in zebra finches. Science 2016; 351:267-71. [PMID: 26816377 DOI: 10.1126/science.aad3023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Vocal imitation involves incorporating instructive auditory information into relevant motor circuits through processes that are poorly understood. In zebra finches, we found that exposure to a tutor's song drives spiking activity within premotor neurons in the juvenile, whereas inhibition suppresses such responses upon learning in adulthood. We measured inhibitory currents evoked by the tutor song throughout development while simultaneously quantifying each bird's learning trajectory. Surprisingly, we found that the maturation of synaptic inhibition onto premotor neurons is correlated with learning but not age. We used synthetic tutoring to demonstrate that inhibition is selective for specific song elements that have already been learned and not those still in refinement. Our results suggest that structured inhibition plays a crucial role during song acquisition, enabling a piece-by-piece mastery of complex tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Vallentin
- NYU Neuroscience Institute and Department of Otolaryngology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA. Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Georg Kosche
- NYU Neuroscience Institute and Department of Otolaryngology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA. Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Dina Lipkind
- Laboratory of Vocal Learning, Department of Psychology, Hunter College, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Michael A Long
- NYU Neuroscience Institute and Department of Otolaryngology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA. Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
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Abstract
The goal of this paper is to provoke debate about the nature of an iconic artifact-the Acheulean handaxe. Specifically, we want to initiate a conversation about whether or not they are cultural objects. The vast majority of archeologists assume that the behaviors involved in the production of handaxes were acquired by social learning and that handaxes are therefore cultural. We will argue that this assumption is not warranted on the basis of the available evidence and that an alternative hypothesis should be given serious consideration. This alternative hypothesis is that the form of Acheulean handaxes was at least partly under genetic control.
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