14. Reptile cognition Flashcards
Why is reptile cognition interesting?
Birds are extremely cognitive
Studying other reptiles could indicate something about dinosaur cognition
What are some cognitive feats of birds?
Tool use and construction (crows, parrots, others)
Episodic-like memory and planning
Problem solving (water displacement, puzzle boxes)
Long-term memory of friendships
Alliances and cooperation between pairs (allopreening)
Comparable to mammals, primates
Why do we assume birds aren’t smart?
Misconception - small brains = less cognitive power
HOWEVER! Birds have more neurons per brain gram (neuron # is better measure)
Birds are actually the smartest reptiles
How do reptiles use spatial learning and memory?
Use of landmarks and path integration
(turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodylians)
How do pond sliders in particular use spatial learning and memory (study)?
Located food in arena using external cues for navigation
If room was fully concealed or cues were transposited, navigation was impossible. Only possible when room only half concealed
Suggest good memory and use of landmarks
How do Anolis lizards solve novel problems?
Associative learning and behavioural flexibility
- Lid removal for food access
- problems solving with novel motor task - Removing correct lid between differently coloured lids
- discrimination and associative learning - Reversal of the baited wells
- behavioral flexibility
In which groups have discrimination and reversal learning also been seen?
Varanids and leopard geckos
- for each reversal, both showed progressively better performances
Tuatara
- flickering light (might be related to heat, so results are unsure)
Red-footed tortoises
- flavoured jelly (mango/apple) under laminated colour sheets
Why are we studying paleognaths?
The earliest extant split from all other birds
Evolutionarily, the neuroanatomy is conserved and plesiomorphic
They are similar to paravian dinosaurs
- fossil endocasts of brain cases
- brain volume to body mass scaling
What does the dinosaur cognition project do?
Compare crocodilians and palaeognath birds
- Motor self-regulation
- Object permanence
- Discrimination and reversal learning
- Memory guided visual inhibition
How was motor self-regulation studied?
Food on one side, animal on other side of an either opaque, mesh or transparent barrier
Ravens (perfect score) > lemurs > placentalia/galloanserae > paleognathae > marsupials > alligators (did awful)
How was object permanence studied?
Either food or barriers moved (40 trials)
Corvids > lemurs > galloanserae > alligators > placentalia/paleognathae > marsupials >
How was memory guided visual inhibition studied?
Keeping preferred food in mind when visually distracted
Condition 1 + 2: Food preference
- Establish a preference
- Establish they can locate preferred hidden food
Condition 3: One of food options is hidden
- if preferred food item is hidden, can they still retrieve it?
- ravens (perfect score) > lemurs > alligators > paleognathae > galloanserae (mammals struggled)
Condition 4: Both are preferred food, one is hidden
- Alligators always chose visible, ravens didnt care
How did alligators do with reversal learning?
Very bad compared to paleognaths
- Less flexible, more consistent
- Many gave up, many had 100+ errors
Are reptiles social?
No?
- Live and hunt alone, aggressive towards conspecifics
BUT sexually reproductive (so have tolerate and be close at times)
Some species form family groups
- Delayed natal dispersal
- Prolonged parent-offspring interactions
- Live birth
- Grouping preferences
When is social learning beneficial?
If proximity to/tolerance for conspecifics occur at any stage
For observational learning / imitation
- experience gain with none of the risk
- replicating another’s behavior saves time and exploratory effort
With individual recognition
- territoriality and courtship
With gaze following
- attention to gaze could lead to food or other items of interest
What is observational learning + which reptile groups demonstrate it (study?)
Learning from observing another individual
Red-footed tortoises and bearded dragons with sliding doors
- all individuals picked demonstrator side in first attempt
- controls never opened door
Why is gaze following important and which groups have been tested?
Attention is usually directed to important things (food, predators)
—> following gaze is therefore advantageous
Red-footed tortoises, bearded dragons, leopard geckos, alligators, birds
What is visual perspective taking?
Following gaze behind obstructed barrier
- More advanced, suggests understanding of others perspective
Which groups demonstrate visual perspective taking?
All paleognaths, but not alligators = There might be a dinosaur origin of visual perspective taking
The old view on reptile cognition
Often considered uninteresting and unintelligent
Believed to have no sociality and this live simple lives
- limited cognitive capacity of reptiles
Believed to be robotic, stimulus driven, inflexible and simple
Novel problems
Problem solving
Associative learning
Behavioral flexibility
Where do we see behavioral flexibility?
In changing and unpredictable environments
- unlearning and relearning flexibly is adaptive
Discrimination and (serial) reversal learning
- switches in stimulus rewards requiring un- and relearning of rewarded stimuli
Conclusion
Reptiles are essential for deep-time evolution of cognition studies
Capable of:
- learning
- object permanence
- memory guided visual inhibition
Social cognition is present in reptiles
- observational learning
- gaze following
Suggests early evolution of many “advanced” cognitive abilities
