Abstract
Little research has been conducted on cognitive abilities in Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus) despite behavioral and social characteristics which suggest that this species would perform well on cognitive tasks and are likely to provide relevant data for comparison to other taxa. Asian small-clawed otters are relatively long-lived and have complex social systems that t involve cooperative breeding, paternal care and reproductive suppression. These life-history characteristics have been associated with highly intelligent behavior, yet little is known about the cognitive abilities of this species. The current study explored spatial memory in Asian small-clawed otters using a modification of the radial arm maze. Performance on all measures improved significantly across sessions. These results provide evidence that Asian small-clawed otters have spatial memory for food locations and illustrate the potential for cognitive testing with this species.
Highlights
Little research has been conducted on cognitive abilities in Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus) despite behavioral and social characteristics which suggest that this species would perform well on cognitive tasks and are likely to provide relevant data for comparison to other taxa
The current study explored spatial memory in Asian small-clawed otters using a modification of the radial arm maze
Asian small-clawed otters live in a wide range of habitats throughout southeast Asia (Sivasothi & Burhanuddin, 1994) and feed primarily on crustaceans, mollusks, fish and frogs
Summary
Little research has been conducted on cognitive abilities in Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus) despite behavioral and social characteristics which suggest that this species would perform well on cognitive tasks and are likely to provide relevant data for comparison to other taxa. Asian small-clawed otters are relatively long-lived and have complex social systems that involve cooperative breeding, paternal care and reproductive suppression These lifehistory characteristics have been associated with highly intelligent behavior, yet little is known about the cognitive abilities of this species. Performance on all measures improved significantly across sessions These results provide evidence that Asian small-clawed otters have spatial memory for food locations and illustrate the potential for cognitive testing with this species. Other species of otter have been reported to use rocks as tools to break open shells (Hall & Schaller, 1964) Given these anecdotal reports about otter intelligence and the behavioral and social characteristics specific to Asian small-clawed otters, we conducted an experiment to test this species’ cognitive ability in the area of spatial memory, which is critical for survival in many species. Learning to avoid feeders that are never baited is considered a measure of reference, or long-term, memory (Olten & Papas, 1979)
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