Cooperative problem solving in giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) and Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinerea)
Abstract
Cooperative problem solving has gained a lot of attention over the past two decades but the range of species studied is still small. This limits the possibility of understanding the evolution of the socio-cognitive underpinnings of cooperation. Lutrinae show significant variations in socio-ecology but their cognitive abilities are not well studied. In the first experimental study of otter social cognition, we presented two species - giant otters and Asian small-clawed otters - with a cooperative problem-solving task. The loose string task requires two individuals to simultaneously pull on either end of a rope in order to access food. This task has been used with a larger number of species (for the most part primates and birds) and thus allows for wider cross species comparison. We found no differences in performance between species. Both giant otters and Asian small-clawed otters were able to solve the task successfully when the coordination requirements were minimal. However, when the temporal coordination demands were increased, performance decreased either due to a lack of understanding of the role of a partner or due to difficulty inhibiting action. In conclusion, two species of otters show some ability to cooperate, quite similar to most other species presented with the same task. However, to draw further conclusions and more nuanced comparisons between the two otter species further studies with varied methodologies will be necessary.
Citation
Schmelz , M , Duguid , S , Bohn , M & Voelter , C J 2017 , ' Cooperative problem solving in giant otters ( Pteronura brasiliensis ) and Asian small-clawed otters ( Aonyx cinerea ) ' , Animal Cognition , vol. 20 , no. 6 , pp. 1107-1114 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-017-1126-2
Publication
Animal Cognition
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1435-9448Type
Journal article
Rights
© The Author(s) 2017. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Description
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