Why Are Octopuses Going to Be the ‘Poster Child’ for Invertebrate Welfare?
Animal welfare consideration and actions are generally addressed to animals similar to us, predominantly large mammals. Invertebrates are neglected partly because they are unknown, though new exploration of the oceans has helped with this. Also, we know little about their ecology and welfare. This is gradually changing, and the octopuses are likely to be the […]
General Intelligence as a Domain-Specific Adaptation
General intelligence (g) poses a problem for evolutionary psychology’s modular view of the human brain. The author advances a new evolutionary psychological theory of the evolution of general intelligence and argues that general intelligence evolved as a domain-specific adaptation for the originally limited sphere of evolutionary novelty in the ancestral environment. It has accidentally become […]
How well do dingoes, Canis dingo, perform on the detour task?
The [`]detour task’ assesses spatial problem-solving abilities, requiring the subject to travel around a transparent barrier to obtain a reward. Recent studies have found that domestic dogs, Canis familiaris, generally perform poorly on this task, and fail to improve performance significantly after repeated trials or generalize problem-solving strategies when conditions are reversed. In contrast, wolves, […]
The Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) as a Model System for Study of the Evolution of Intelligence
Large brains and great intelligence are metabolically costly, but the social complexity hypothesis suggests that these traits were favored nonetheless in primates by selection pressures associated with life in complex societies. If so, then cognitive abilities and nervous systems with primatelike attributes should have evolved convergently in nonprimate mammals living in large, elaborate societies in […]
Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) numerical abilities: Addition and further experiments on a zero-like concept
A Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus), able to quantify 6 or fewer item sets (including heterogeneous subsets) by using English labels (I. M. Pepperberg, 1994), was tested on addition of quantities involving 0-6. He was, without explicit training, asked, “How many total X?” for 2 sequentially presented collections (e.g., of variously sized jelly beans or nuts) […]
The Nature and Evolution of Behavioral Needs in Mammals.
Mammals are unique among vertebrates in experiencing a need to carry out behaviours which are not necessary for their immediate survival This poses questions as to the nature of these behavioural needs, how they evolved and their implications for the welfare of mammals in captivity. Evidence is provided to show that mammals carry out daily […]
Spontaneous Tool-Use: An Observation of a Dingo (Canis dingo) Using a Table to Access an Out-of-Reach Food Reward
Opportunities to observe non-human animals exhibiting naturalistic ‘high-order’ behaviour are rare. Examples featuring canids, although often anecdotal and involving captive animals are potentially valuable, as they may provide an opportunity to examine complex problem-solving behaviour not easily observed in free-ranging settings. This paper describes observations of two captive male dingoes (Canis dingo), representing possible examples […]
Into the brains of whales
Whilst studies on cetaceans have focused on a few populations of just a few species, various complex behaviours and social structures that support the notion that cetaceans should be regarded as intelligent animals have been revealed. The evidence to support this is reviewed here and is best developed for some odontocete species, although recent studies […]