A new method for studying problem solving and tool use in stingrays (Potamotrygon castexi) |
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Authors: | Michael J Kuba Ruth A Byrne Gordon M Burghardt |
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Institution: | 1. Institute of Life Sciences, Department of Neurobiology and Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel 2. Abteilung für Rheumatologie, Klinik für Innere Medizin III, Medizinische Universit?t Wien, 1090, Vienna, Austria 3. Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
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Abstract: | Testing the cognitive abilities of cartilaginous fishes is important in understanding the evolutionary origins of cognitive
functions in higher vertebrates. We used five South American fresh water stingrays (Potamotrygon castexi) in a learning and problem-solving task. A tube test apparatus was developed to provide a simple but sophisticated procedure
for testing cognitive abilities of aquatic animals. All five subjects quickly learned to use water as a tool to extract food
from the testing apparatus. The experimental protocol, which gave the animals the opportunity of correcting a wrong visual
cue decision, resulted in four out of five subjects correcting an error rather than making an initial right choice. One of
five subjects reached 100% correct trials in the visual discrimination task. The ability to use water as an agent to extract
food from the testing apparatus is a first indication of tool use in batoid fishes. Performance in the instrumental task of
retrieving food from a novel testing apparatus and the rapid learning in the subsequent discrimination/error correction task
shows that cartilaginous fish can be used to study the origins of cognitive functions in the vertebrate lineage. |
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