Veille Scientifique

Abstract The Sciuridae family is generally referred to as herbivorous and occasionally omnivorous. Although sciurids are known to opportunistically feed on carcasses of other vertebrates (including cannibalism), the active predation on vertebrates is presumably rare. Here, we present a case of a European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) catching and eating a young Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) accompanied by photographic evidence. This is the first documented observation of bird-killing behavior in this endangered rodent. The incident happened at the end of spring (beginning of June) when the plant proteins are still scarce. At this time of the season, the ground

Ethology, EarlyView.

Ethology, EarlyView.

Abstract Brucks (Anim Cogn 25(2):473–491, 2021) have published an intriguing paper on the differing abilities of various species of parrots to succeed in a delay of gratification task. I find their interspecies comparisons of considerable interest but take exception to their misrepresentation of prior research on delayed gratification from our laboratory in Koepke (J Comp Psychol 129:339–346, 2015). Contrary to their claims, our subject was never trained on the task; rather, one might argue instead that all their subjects received considerable training or at least forms of pre-exposure that could affect their overall claims. I also briefly discuss other design

Publication date: August 2022Source: Animal Behaviour, Volume 190Author(s): Emily J.E. Messer, Mark T. Bowler, Nicolas Claidière, Andrew Whiten

Abstract Serial reaction time tasks, in which subjects have to match a target to a cue, are used to explore whether non-human animals have multiple memory systems. Predictable sub-sequences embedded in the sequence of cues are responded to faster, demonstrating incidental learning, often considered implicit. Here, we used the serial implicit learning task (SILT) to determine whether rats’ memory shows similar effects. In SILT, subjects must nose-poke into a sequence of two lit apertures, S1 and S2. Some S1 are always followed by the same S2, creating predictable sequences (PS). Across groups, we varied the proportion of PS trials, from

Publication date: August 2022Source: Animal Behaviour, Volume 190Author(s): Catherine Chen, Courtney C. Byrd, Karin S. Pfennig

Publication date: August 2022Source: Animal Behaviour, Volume 190Author(s): Ines Braga Goncalves, Andrew N. Radford

Publication date: August 2022Source: Animal Behaviour, Volume 190Author(s): Gonçalo I. André, Renée C. Firman, Leigh W. Simmons

Abstract It is no doubt that the reciprocal altruism of humans is unparalleled in the animal world. However, how strong altruistic behavior in the non-human animal is still very controversial. Almost all previous researches allowed only one individual in the dyad for action or dyad to accomplish tasks and obtain rewards simultaneously. Here, we designed current study based on the prisoner’s dilemma to investigate reciprocal altruism under interactions of Azure-winged Magpies (Cyanopica cyanus), which is direct reciprocity of allowing subjects obtain rewards, respectively. The results suggest that Azure-winged Magpies failed to show continuously altruistic behavior due to the empiricism that