Use of visual cover by domestic fowl: a Venetian blind effect?
Cover is a structural feature of the environment that animals can use to conceal themselves from predators or conspecifics or to gain shelter from inclement weather. Cover may also form a physical barrier limiting movement. It was hypothesized that domestic fowl, Gallus gallus domesticus, would use visual cover for concealment. Use of cover was examined […]
Manipulation without mind-reading: information suppression and leakage during food discovery by mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx)
At an ultimate, evolutionary level, manipulation entails behaviour that enhances the fitness of the manipulator even if at times inflicting a cost on the fitness of the manipulated. At a proximate, mechanistic level, mind-reading entails an ability on the part of a manipulator to attribute beliefs to those it manipulates. Both manipulation and mind-reading were […]
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) conceal visual and auditory information from others
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) competed with a human for food. The human sat inside a booth, with 1 piece of food to her left and 1 to her right, which she could retract from her chimpanzee competitor’s reach as needed. In Experiment 1, chimpanzees could approach either side of the booth unseen but then had to […]