动物使用工具行为研究进展北大核心CSCD

使用工具曾被认为是人类独有的能力,然而,在过去的50年中,学界逐渐认识到工具的使用普遍存在于整个动物界。其中,使用工具最多的类群是哺乳类、鸟类和昆虫。动物使用工具有一定目标性,然而大多数动物仅考虑当前的目标,而非长远目标。动物使用工具的行为受到环境因素和动物自身认知能力、生理特点与进化历史的影响,并可能表现出一定的个体差异。有些动物使用工具的行为是与生俱来的,然而大部分高等动物通过试错学习获得使用工具的能力。通过模仿学习,一些使用工具的行为可以传播和演化,从而在种群中广泛分布。工具的使用是动物认知领域的核心概念之一,开展动物使用工具的研究,能够加深对动物认知能力和行为进化的理解。     

爬行动物：动物认知领域的新兴模式生物

20世纪由于非生态相关性的实验设计及不适宜的环境条件限制,爬行动物一直被人们误解为认知能力低下的脊椎动物。自21世纪始,动物认知领域迎来新契机,有关爬行动物认知的研究数量激增。现有的研究发现,爬行动物具有一系列不亚于哺乳动物和鸟类的认知技能,表现出空间记忆、社会学习、数质鉴别甚至工具使用等多方面的能力。近20年来,爬行动物凭借其丰富的物种数量、繁多的生殖策略、社会类群多样等优点逐渐走进研究人员视野,填补了动物认知领域的空白,有希望成为认知领域新的模式生物。本文针对近年来爬行动物认知研究的部分方向进行了总结和梳理,论述了爬行动物在认知研究的空间认知、数质鉴别、社会认知等方面作为模式生物的巨大潜力,并对爬行动物认知研究未来可能的发展方向提出了思考与展望。     

鸟类的认知行为（2）

很多动物与人类一样拥有非凡的"聪明才智"。虽然鸟类与人类的亲缘关系较远,但却与人类共享许多认知特征。研究鸟类的认知行为,有助于理解动物具有什么样的能力,并更好地理解"智慧"的运作和演化。本文从工具使用、心理时间旅行、因果推理、类别认知、语言能力及认知特征演化方面,综述了鸟类认知行为研究的最新成果,探讨了认知演化的可能原因。     

鸟类的认知行为（1）

很多动物与人类一样拥有非凡的"聪明才智"。虽然鸟类与人类的亲缘关系较远,但却与人类共享许多认知特征。研究鸟类的认知行为,有助于理解动物具有什么样的能力,并更好地理解"智慧"的运作和演化。本文从工具使用、心理时间旅行、因果推理、类别认知、语言能力及认知特征演化方面,综述了鸟类认知行为研究的最新成果,探讨了认知演化的可能原因。     

虎皮鹦鹉的认知表现及关联

许多研究认为,不同个体的认知能力存在差异,同一个体的多种认知表现之间可能存在关联。然而,目前对动物认知表现关联的研究结果存在诸多矛盾和争议。本研究以虎皮鹦鹉（Melopsittacus undulatus）为研究对象,通过自我控制、联想学习和反转学习三项认知实验,探究三项表现的联系。实验结果发现,在虎皮鹦鹉中,联想学习表现越好,反转学习亦表现越好。个体对实验装置的新异恐惧（对新环境或新事物的恐惧）越弱,自我控制表现越好。雌、雄个体在三项认知实验中的表现没有显著差异。综上所述,虎皮鹦鹉的一些认知能力存在关联,这暗示了虎皮鹦鹉中可能存在一般认知能力（“g”）。新异恐惧与自我控制表现的强烈相关,说明了勇敢程度可能会影响认知表现。     

动物对松属植物种子的传播作用研究进展

松属植物约110种,根据种子传播方式可分为风传播松和动物传播松。风传播松占绝大多数,种子多具有适应风力的翅。动物传播松大约23种,都具有大、可食用、无翅或短翅的种子,无法借助风力传播。动物传播松的分布生境多为贫瘠的山地,而且多位于高海拔地区。目前已知9种松树的动物传播种类,其余14种可推测为动物传播。动物传播者包括鸦科鸟类和啮齿类动物,动物将获得的种子分散贮藏,未被重取的种子可能萌发,完成传播。动物传播是定向传播,微生境多适合种子萌发。啮齿类的传播距离可达数10 m,而鸦科鸟类的传播距离可达数公里。动物传播的松树会出现树丛和多树干现象,一般由同一贮点内贮藏的多粒种子萌发造成的。动物贮藏的种子大部分被重取,称传播后取食。一些具有大种子的风传播松在种子落地后,啮齿类和鸟类会再次埋藏而形成二次传播,可看做是一个单独的传播类型,即风-动物传播松。动物传播者与依赖传播松树之间可看作是互利共生关系。     

鸟类的飞行与翼的适应性演化

在现生生物中,具有飞行能力的动物无疑只有鸟类、昆虫和蝙蝠。翅膀是鸟类由陆地飞向天空的工具,鸟类特有的飞行运动方式足在神经系统的控制下由骨骼、肌肉和羽片共同完成的。它的结构和运动方式区别于其他两种动物的飞行器。     

非人灵长类的自我觉察能力综述

自我觉察是动物个体通过线索觉察到镜像与自己的联系,并利用线索来验证镜像与自身关联的能力。近三十年来,随着各学科的研究范式和方法的发展,关于非人灵长类的自我觉察研究不断深入,并涌现出大量新的研究成果。这方面的相关研究不仅能够为探索更深层、复杂的认知能力提供解释基础,而且能为人类互动行为和认知研究提供参照。目前,国外相关研究较为广泛,而国内却依然十分薄弱。本文重在介绍非人灵长类自我觉察研究的镜子实验这一基本范式,以及根据这一范式所得出的检验自我觉察能力的行为指标、相关推理过程、理论及研究;同时也回顾了自我觉察在猴类方面的研究进展以及其在人类与黑猩猩的物种间发展性比较研究;总结了录像法、脸部识别的认知神经科学范式等较新近的自我觉察研究方法和范式特点和优势、最新进展;最后对于自我觉察研究提出了完善概念界定、整合研究工具与实验范式、结合多学科多物种研究策略的展望,旨在拓展国内的相关研究领域,为其他物种的相关研究提供范例。     

上海虹桥机场土壤及草丛动物群落特征和鸟类关系研究

20 0 0年 4月至 2 0 0 1年 3月 ,对上海虹桥机场草地土壤动物和草丛动物群落的组成、数量和季节性变化特征进行了初步的研究。土壤动物有节肢动物门、软体动物门、环节动物门等 12个目或类。其中蜱螨目和弹尾目为常年土壤动物群落的优势类群 ,各占年总捕量的 19.75 %和 2 3.14 % ;蚯蚓、多足纲、等足目、膜翅目、鞘翅目为常见类群 ,5类全年占总捕量的 4 8.96 %。草丛动物有 15目或类。其中鞘翅目、直翅目、半翅目、同翅目、膜翅目、双翅目以及蜘蛛目为草丛动物群落的优势类群 ,占全年总捕量的89.6 3%。草丛动物类群数和个体数总体表现为 :7月 >9月 >5月 >4月 >12月 >3月。土壤动物和草丛动物的分布与生境密切相关。所捕的 2 2类草地动物中 ,可直接被鸟类捕食的有近 2 0类 ,主要为生活于草地常见类群中 ,因此 ,草地的生境以及草地动物的分布是吸引鸟类到机场栖息和摄食的主要原因。降低草高、减少结实的植物、控制土壤动物的密度是减少机场区鸟类数量的有效方法和途径。     

山西省鸦科鸟类的初步观察

山西省鸦科(Corvidae)鸟类的记载,先后有清栖辛保(1943,1958～1959),郑作新(1951,1976)、唐蟾珠(1962,1965)、王福麟(1965)、刘作模(1982)、刘焕金等(1982,1984)、冯敬义等(1983,1984)作过报道,1980～1984年,我们在山西省的主要山脉(中条山、太行山、太岳山、吕梁山及五台山)和较大的河流(汾河、沁河、滹沱河和桑干河)地区开展鸟类调查研究,并在太原耕作区和关帝山森林区,进行了定位生态观察,现将鸦科鸟类的生态和生物学资料报道如下:一、鸦科鸟类名录计有7属(国内分布11个属)、11种(国内分布27种)(郑作新,1976)。据观察均为本地留鸟,其名…     

Blue-throated macaws (Ara glaucogularis) succeed in a cooperative task without coordinating their actions

Social complexity may select for socio-cognitive abilities. The “loose string” task has become a comparative benchmark paradigm for investigating cooperative problem-solving abilities in many species, thus enhancing our understanding of their evolution. It requires two individuals working together to solve a problem, specifically by pulling the two ends of a string simultaneously to move a reward towards them. A dyad's performance therefore depends on the individuals’ ability to coordinate their pulling action. Many species, including corvids and parrots, have been tested in this paradigm, but most appear insensitive to the exact cooperative nature of the task. We tested another parrot species, blue-throated macaws, to further our understanding of social cognition in psittacids. Five birds were tested with different partners in a dyadic setting. The study included two control conditions examining the cognitive mechanism underlying their seemingly cooperative behaviour. All birds were able to simultaneously pull the strings, but their performance did not drop when they were denied mutual visual access, and they failed to obtain food when they needed to wait for their partner. Moreover, the parrots decreased their latency to pull with increasing experience. These findings suggest that the birds may have applied an associatively learnt rule, or relied on acoustic cues, rather than coordinating their actions with the partner. This may not necessarily prove a lack of understanding the partner's role, given that their failure to wait in the delay control test might be explained by their poor inhibitory control abilities. Relationship quality (i.e. affiliation and food tolerance) did not influence dyadic success. Future studies are needed in order to disentangle macaws’ potentially limited cooperative abilities from their lack of inhibitory control.     

Ecological frames of mind: the role of cognition in behavioral ecology.

Cognitive psychology is the study of how information, from the senses and from memory, is used in the production of behavior. Investigation of the specifics of behavioral adaptation has already led some behavioral ecologists into the domain of animal cognition. I make several arguments for the benefits and the necessity of a sophisticated assessment by ecologists of the cognitive aspects of behavioral adaptation. First, because cognition typically serves to produce adaptive behavior, cognitive structure and function should reflect ecological demands; studies of cognition in ecological contexts are opportunities to understand adaptation. Furthermore, constraints on cognitive properties may help determine how behavior meets the environment. Studies of spatial memory in food-caching corvids exemplify how cognitive aspects of behavior may both reflect and determine specifics of adaptation. Second, many models in behavioral ecology assume certain cognitive abilities, such as timing or counting. Cognitive theory and methodology should be used to determine whether animals possess these abilities. I have provided examples. Third, consideration of cognitive function can lead to original ideas about the details of behavioral adaptation. Without a thorough integration of cognitive psychology with behavioral ecology, our understanding of the relation between behavior and selective pressures will be compromised.     

New data on the brain and cognitive abilities of birds

New evidence of functional analogies and homologies of avian and mammalian brains is presented, as is a revised nomenclature of the most important brain structures. Comparative characteristics of the avian brain and criteria for its progressive development in the phylogeny have been considered. We studied the possibility to use Portmann??s index as one of the indicators of brain development in different avian species. We substantiated the necessity to chose for investigation new sets of avian species with medium (Parus caeruleus and Loxia curvirostra) and low (Larus glaucescens) levels of brain complexity to maintain fully valuable grounds for comparing the cognitive abilities in birds. The main experimentally supported proofs of the existence of elementary thinking and some other cognitive functions in the higher birds have been reviewed. The high levels of cognitive processes that underlie the tool using ability in birds, as well as the similarity to those processes in apes, have been demonstrated from the results obtained in the first decade of the 21st century. Comparative studies on proto-instrumental activity confirmed the ability of hooded crows and ravens to find urgent solution of tool-using tasks. Although birds with a medium level of brain complexity display seemingly rational behavior, it is plausible that they use simpler rules being unable to understand the task logic. It was shown that birds of different orders with a high level of brain complexity demonstrate similar dynamics in the development of abstract concepts. Crossbills, which have a medium level of brain complexity, were able to develop the same concepts at a lower level than the corvids; whereas the seagulls and pigeons, which possess a low level of cognitive abilities, were not able to operate any abstractions and were incapable of solving other cognitive tests. The fact that corvids, parrots, and apes have similar abilities to solve some cognitive tasks supports the hypothesis of the convergent evolution of the brain and cognition in birds and primates.     

Mirror-mediated responses of California scrub jays (Aphelocoma californica) during a caching task and the mark test

Mirror self-recognition, as an index of self-awareness, has been proposed as a precursor for more complex social cognitive abilities, such as prosocial reasoning and cooperative decision-making. Indeed, evidence for mirror self-recognition has been shown for animals possessing complex social cognitive abilities such as great apes, dolphins, elephants and corvids. California scrub jays (Aphelocoma californica) have provided strong evidence that non-human animals are capable of mental state attribution. For instance, scrub jays are reported to use their experience stealing the food of others to infer that other birds may similarly intend to steal from them. If a concept of “self” is required for such complex social cognitive abilities, then scrub jays might be expected to show mirror self-recognition. Thus, we examined whether California scrub jays are capable of mirror self-recognition using two experimental contexts: a caching task and the mark test. During the caching task, we compared the extent to which scrub jays protected their food after caching alone, in the presence of a conspecific and in the presence of a mirror. The birds did not engage in more cache protection behaviours with a mirror present than when caching alone, suggesting scrub jays may have recognized their reflection and so did not expect cache theft. Alternative explanations for this behaviour are also discussed. During the mark test, the scrub jays were surreptitiously marked with a red or plumage-coloured control sticker. The scrub jays showed no evidence of mirror self-recognition during the mark test, as the birds did not preferentially attempt to remove the red mark in the presence of a mirror. Together, the results provide mixed evidence of the mirror self-recognition abilities of California scrub jays. We highlight the need to develop alternative approaches for evaluating mirror self-recognition in non-human animals to better understand its relationship with complex social cognition.     

Cognitive ornithology: the evolution of avian intelligence

Comparative psychologists interested in the evolution of intelligence have focused their attention on social primates, whereas birds tend to be used as models of associative learning. However, corvids and parrots, which have forebrains relatively the same size as apes, live in complex social groups and have a long developmental period before becoming independent, have demonstrated ape-like intelligence. Although, ornithologists have documented thousands of hours observing birds in their natural habitat, they have focused their attention on avian behaviour and ecology, rather than intelligence. This review discusses recent studies of avian cognition contrasting two different approaches; the anthropocentric approach and the adaptive specialization approach. It is argued that the most productive method is to combine the two approaches. This is discussed with respects to recent investigations of two supposedly unique aspects of human cognition; episodic memory and theory of mind. In reviewing the evidence for avian intelligence, corvids and parrots appear to be cognitively superior to other birds and in many cases even apes. This suggests that complex cognition has evolved in species with very different brains through a process of convergent evolution rather than shared ancestry, although the notion that birds and mammals may share common neural connectivity patterns is discussed.     

What animals do not do or fail to find: A novel observational approach for studying cognition in the wild

To understand how our brain evolved and what it is for, we are in urgent need of knowledge about the cognitive skills of a large variety of animal species and individuals, and their relationships to rapidly disappearing social and ecological conditions. But how do we obtain this knowledge? Studying cognition in the wild is a challenge. Field researchers (and their study subjects) face many factors that can easily interfere with their variables of interest. Although field studies of cognition present unique challenges, they are still invaluable for understanding the evolutionary drivers of cognition. In this review, I discuss the advantages and urgency of field‐based studies on animal cognition and introduce a novel observational approach for field research that is guided by three questions: (a) what do animals fail to find?, (b) what do they not do?, and (c) what do they only do when certain conditions are met? My goal is to provide guidance to future field researchers examining primate cognition.     

What You See Is What You Get? Exclusion Performances in Ravens and Keas

Background

Among birds, corvids and parrots are prime candidates for advanced cognitive abilities. Still, hardly anything is known about cognitive similarities and dissimilarities between them. Recently, exclusion has gained increasing interest in comparative cognition. To select the correct option in an exclusion task, one option has to be rejected (or excluded) and the correct option may be inferred, which raises the possibility that causal understanding is involved. However, little is yet known about its evolutionary history, as only few species, and mainly mammals, have been studied.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We tested ravens and keas in a choice task requiring the search for food in two differently shaped tubes. We provided the birds with partial information about the content of one of the two tubes and asked whether they could use this information to infer the location of the hidden food and adjust their searching behaviour accordingly. Additionally, this setup allowed us to investigate whether the birds would appreciate the impact of the shape of the tubes on the visibility of food. The keas chose the baited tube more often than the ravens. However, the ravens applied the more efficient strategy, choosing by exclusion more frequently than the keas. An additional experiment confirmed this, indicating that ravens and keas either differ in their cognitive skills or that they apply them differently.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that corvids and parrots may perform differently in cognitive tasks, highlighting the potential impact of different selection pressures on the cognitive evolution of these large-brained birds.     

Chemistry of the uropygial gland secretion of Hume’s ground jay Pseudopodoces humilis and its taxonomic implications

Humes ground jay (Pseudopodoces humilis), a species living in the high altitude steppes of the Qinghai-Tibet-Plateau (China), was traditionally thought to be a ground jay related to the genus Podoces (Corvidae). Recently, however, based on three independent datasets (comparative osteology, nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences), this species was discovered to be a member of the Paridae. Here, we reinvestigate the systematic position of Pseudopodoces humilis using the chemical composition of uropygial gland secretions, which have previously been shown to be phylogenetically informative in birds, including Corvidae and Paridae. We found strong similarities in the fatty acid composition of uropygial gland secretions between Pseudopodoces humilis and parids, but clear differences from corvids. This result supports the parid affinites of Pseudopodoces, but stands in contrast to behavioural and vocal characteristics which are clearly more similar to corvids than to parids.Communicated by A.J. Helbig     

String‐pulling behaviour in a Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus

Variations on the string‐pull experiment have been presented to a variety of avian species. Here, we present the results of a basic vertical string‐pull task with a Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus. A 2‐year‐old subject retrieved a shielded food reward within 8 min on each of eight trials and spontaneously used solving techniques similar to corvids and parrots. Our data contribute to the small body of literature on raptor cognition by showing that it may be within the realm of at least one bird of prey species to perform the string‐pull task similarly to avian species renowned for their high cognitive abilities.