Testing relationship recognition in wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula).

ABSTRACT: According to the social intelligence hypothesis, understanding the challenges faced by social animals is key to understanding the evolution of cognition. In structured social groups, recognising the relationships of others is often important for predicting the outcomes of interactions. Third-party relationship recognition has been widely investigated in primates, but studies of other species are limited. Furthermore, few studies test for third-party relationship recognition in the wild, where cognitive abilities are deployed in response to natural socio-ecological pressures. Here, we used playback experiments to investigate whether wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula) track changes in their own relationships and the relationships of others. Females were presented with 'infidelity simulations':

SUBMITTER: Lee VE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6491552 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature