The 2007 BBC documentary: “Capuchins: The Monkey Puzzle”, captures a pair of capuchin monkeys showing very compelling signs of cooperation and a sense of fairness.
In the first experiment the monkeys work together to solve a problem using tools. On one side of a see-through divide is a box of hazelnuts and on the other is the flint which is needed to open the lid of the box. One monkey has the rock but cannot reach the nuts; the other monkey has the box of nuts, but has no way of getting them out without a rock. In an act of teamwork, one monkey offers the rock to the other, who uses it to open the box and get out the nuts. He then fairly shares the nuts equally, three for himself and three for his teammate. They worked together to successfully solve a puzzle that they could never have done alone.
The second experiment also suggests that capuchin monkeys understand fairness. Two monkeys were first trained to hand over a white chip to receive a food reward. When the two monkeys were given unequal rewards, the monkey receiving the less desirable treat would rather refuse the reward and go hungry on principal than accept anything less than an equal reward.
Check out this amazing video clip:
Source:
BBC Two documentary “Capuchins: The Monkey Puzzle”, 22 September 2007, 18:30.
You may have read the earlier blog about ‘Clever Hans’, the horse who was able to answer difficult mathematical questions, not however by working them out himself, but by reading the subtle signals given off his human handlers. Although being able to respond to human signals was an impressive feat in itself, people were disappointed to learn he was not working out the answers himself as they had initially thought. However, new research suggests that although horses may not be able to answer mathematical questions, they can count!
(c) Compassion/Ed Posposil
As reported in the Daily Telegraph, the story of Clever Hans inspired Dr Claudia Uller, of the University of Essex, to investigate whether horses can count.
Dr Claudia Uller and Jennifer Lewis carried out experiments using 57 untrained horses belonging to local private owners and a local riding school. Before the tests, the horses were allowed to nibble a small piece of real apple in to get them interested in the activity. In the experiments, real apples were replaced with fake apples so that the horses would not be influenced by their sense of smell.
In each test, the horses watched plastic apples being dropped out of sight into buckets. In the first test, two plastic apples were placed in one bucket and three in another. The buckets were held up at head level so that horses could choose one. Eleven out of thirteen horses selected the bucket containing three apples, which suggests that the horses understood which bucket had the larger number of apples in it.
The second experiment followed the same pattern, but this time one bucket contained two small apples and the other contained a single large apple with double the surface area. Again the horses chose the bucket with the greater the number of apples – ten out of the twelve horses tested chose the bucket holding the two apples.
The horses were able to keep a tally of how many apples were going into each bucket, and hold this information in their heads before deciding which bucket to investigate. This tendency to opt for containers holding larger numbers of food items has also been seen in non-human primates such as rhesus macaques and lemurs. Baby chicks of only 3 or 4 days old can add and subtract too. Human babies develop this ability at about ten months of age.
Although horses may not be able to count in the same way that humans do, this study demonstrates that they do understand the concept of ‘greater or fewer’, and that horses are certainly more intelligent than people may have previously thought.
The veined octopus is a truly amazing underwater character. Researchers in Melbourne have discovered that they get up to some surprising antics – using coconut shells.
These octopi collect coconut shells discarded by their human neighbours, gather them under their body and then carry them and walk, rather awkwardly, for up to 20m at a time. The scientists dubbed this as ‘stilt-walking’ due to the unusual way the octopus has to use its legs whilst carrying the shells.
The octopus goes to this considerable effort so he or she has portable ‘armour’. If suddenly under threat the octopus could create instant camouflage and protection by climbing in between two coconut halves.
This is really significant, as use of tools by animals is said to be a sign of higher mental functioning, as is planning for the future. Some people used to believe that only humans had such advanced abilities, but we increasingly find that other animals have so many unsuspected abilities – including a mind of their own. (see Rooks, Pigs).
Here is another shining example of amazing animals and a valuable reminder that animals can have many hidden abilities that we are yet to notice and appreciate.
Horses are great at reading body language, even that of the humans around them – in fact a horse known as ‘Clever Hans’ was able to answer mathematical questions by tapping his hoof, based on the very subtle signals given out by the person asking the question! Even though they didn’t mean to give any secret messages to the horse, he could read small changes in facial expression or intakes of breath – and then work out what the right answer was!
Clever Hans
At the time, people thought he was working out the maths himself, and were disappointed to learn that he was reading their body language instead. But the fact that Hans could answer the questions by this method is in itself amazing. He was seeing small changes in the behaviour of his questioners which people did not see – and it took an extensive experiment for us to find out what Hans knew all along.
Other animals are also more tuned in to us than we might expect. In a previous post about Sociable sheep we found out that sheep preferred the faces of smiling people rather than stressed or angry people.
This leads us to consider, how much do animals really know about what we’re thinking?
Sources: Clever Hans (BBC website)
McGreevy (2004) Equine Behaviour: A Guide for Veterinarians and Equine Scientists.
The ability to co-operate with your companions is believed to show a higher level of thought – and is an ability once thought to be unique to humans. In a recent study hyenas were found to be great team players, with a 100% success rate in a group challenge. They had to work together to reach food from a platform which they couldn’t get to alone. It was even found that when a hyena who had worked out the ‘platform puzzle’ was paired up with one who was new to it, the experienced hyena changed his behaviour – as we would when showing someone a new task.
Team players. Image courtesy of Tim Vickers
Source:
Drea, C. M., Carter, A. N. (2009)
Co-operative problem solving in a social carnivore
Animal Behaviour, 78: 967-977.
Chimps in Japan have been seen helping their companions out, purely on the basis of need. They would hand tools over to chimps in a nearby pen; and most notably this was most likely to happen if the chimp really needed the tool and requested it, rather than if they just wanted it to play with. This shows that chimps care about the welfare of their fellows and will assist them even if there is nothing to be gained themselves.
This helping is not just reserved for other chimps too – in a previous study by Warneken, chimps were also witnessed helping humans in a similar task and handing a stick to them on request. Videos of both of these experiments can be found below.
Chimp helps human- scroll down the page, and play the first video in the list.
Sources:
Yamamoto, S., Humle, T.,Tanaka, M. (2009)
Chimpanzees Help Each Other upon Request
PLoS ONE, 4(10): e7416
Warneken, F., Hare, B., Melis, A. P., Hanus, D., Tomasello, M.
Spontaneous Altruism by Chimpanzees and Young Children
PLoS Biol 5(7): e184
A recent test found that pigs understand mirrors, and can learn where a food bowl is through looking at the reflection. One group of pigs had time to get used to the mirror before they were tested, and another group were only shown a mirror at the beginning of the test. A hidden food bowl was then shown to them in the mirror. The food bowl was empty – so the pigs would not be relying on their sense of smell to locate it.
All but one of the pigs who were familiar with the mirror found the food bowl in less than 23 seconds – whereas the pigs who were new to it looked behind the mirror for the bowl.
Again, we see the amazing capacities of animals to work out their environment and shows the importance of using only high welfare farming systems as pigs easily become bored and frustrated in barren factory farms. At a minimum, all pigs should have access to bedding materials that let them root and explore like their wild ancestors.
Source:
Broom, D. M., Sena, H., Moynihan, K. L. (2009)
Pigs learn what a mirror image represents and use it to obtain information.
Animal Behaviour, Article in Press
If by the word ‘language’ we mean a system of communication, animals have different languages of their own. Hens and chickens have over 30 different calls, which they use to alert their group to food or danger, for example. Chicks start communicating with their mother hen while they are still in the egg and cockerels have a special food call to let the hens know that food has been found. Hens make a gentle crowing sound when they are happy.
Socialising in the village square. (c) Compassion in World Farming/Chi Keung Wong
Pigs are very chatty, communicating with grunts, squeals, snarls and snorts, champing their jaws and clacking their teeth. Sows have a special call for their piglets when it’s time for the piglets to suckle. Sows and piglets keep contact with each other and with their mother by squeals and grunts. If piglets are separated from Mum, they squeal for her. Scientists found that sows responded more strongly to the desperate squeals from cold, hungry piglets than they did to calls from larger, more well-fed piglets.
Animals can also understand each other’s language. For example, some animals can understand the meaning of another’s alarm call.
Dogs and humans have a long history of living together. While dogs are often quick are picking up what humans are saying – perhaps by the tone of voice rather than by all the actual words – we humans often seem to struggle to understand dog ‘bark language.’ In this really interesting video, courtesy of the social networking site Petstreet , dog communication expert John Rogerson helps us decipher what our furry friends are wanting to tell us.
As reported in the Daily Mail, Clyde is blind, and Bonnie leads him “to food or water, and lets him rest his head on her haunches when he feels a bit lost. They are inseparable, and if Bonnie isn’t nearby Clyde refuses to move a paw.”
Bonnie and Clyde were rescued as strays recently and now they happily have a new home. The BBC’s One Show has a special page and film about these two great friends.
Bonnie and Clyde are inseparable border collies. Dogs are social animals so company is very important for them. But this is a bond with a difference: Bonnie is Clyde’s guide dog.
The Daily Mail reports that Bonnie leads Clyde “to food or water, and lets him rest his head on her haunches when he feels a bit lost. They are inseparable, and if Bonnie isn’t nearby Clyde refuses to move a paw.”
Bonnie and Clyde were rescued as strays recently. It appears they were lost in a storm and no-one has come forward for them. Obviously these two have a vital bond and they must be rehomed together.
