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Science Forum Index » Anthropology - Paleo Forum » Rodents learn to use tools
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| Marc Verhaegen |
 Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:34 am |
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Rodents can learn to use tools: Japanese study
http://www.physorg.com/news125759762.html
PLos ONE
Rodents can be trained to use tools and understand their functions, a
Japanese study said Wednesday, challenging a view that only primates & some
birds are smart enough.
6 adult degus (Octodon degus, a kind of small rat) were trained at a
laboratory at the Japanese government-funded RIKEN research institute and
all of them were able to use a tiny T-shaped rake to retrieve food, it said.
In the final stage of the 60-day experiment, they were pulling the tool
towards themselves to hold onto it and then moving it to obtain food, the
study showed.
"A conventional view holds that the use of tools is a high-level ability,
but animals in the class of rodents can do it if they are trained
accordingly," said Kazuo Okanoya, who heads the study team.
The findings suggested that a wide range of animals could use tools,
although it may be doubtful for fish, he said.
It is the first study in the world to demonstrate that rodents can be
trained to manipulate tools in a systematic way and understand their
functions, according to the team.
The study showed that trained rodents picked at random all understood the
tool.
The study said that "socio-ecological" factors may be the most important,
rather than innate physical characteristics, in whether animals can use
tools.
In one test they were given 2 tools: a familiar functional rake and a
non-functional tool that lacked a blade or had a raised blade. They chose
the functional one without hesitation in most cases.
They chose the correct tool without being tricked by its colour or size, the
study said.
As it is easier to study rodents than macaques, the team hopes to conduct
more research into what is happening in the brain at a molecular level when
animals use tools. |
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