Llamas use social information from conspecifics and humans to solve a spatial detour task.

ABSTRACT: Learning by observing others (i.e. social learning) is an important mechanism to reduce the costs of individual learning. Social learning can occur between conspecifics but also heterospecifics. Domestication processes might have changed the animals' sensitivity to human social cues and recent research indicates that domesticated species are particularly good in learning socially from humans. Llamas (Lama glama) are an interesting model species for that purpose. Llamas were bred as pack animals, which requires close contact and cooperative behaviour towards humans. We investigated whether llamas learn socially from trained conspecifics and humans in a spatial detour task. Subjects were required to detour metal hurdles arranged in a V-shape to reach a food reward. Llamas were more successfu

SUBMITTER: Pahl A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10442258 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature