Captive Asian short-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus) learn to exploit unfamiliar natural prey.

ABSTRACT: Foraging plays a vital role in animal life histories, and learning whether unfamiliar food items are palatable is a key part of this process. Animals that engage in extractive foraging must also learn how to overcome the protective measures of their prey. While otters (subfamily Lutrinae) are a taxon known for their extractive foraging behaviour, how they learn about prey palatability and acquire extractive foraging techniques remains poorly understood. Here we investigated (i) how captive Asian short-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus) learned to interact with, and extract meat from, unfamiliar natural prey and (ii) how their exploitation of such prey compared to their ability to overcome artificial foraging tasks containing familiar food rewards. Network-based diffusion analysis showed

SUBMITTER: Saliveros AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9174724 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature