Marc Verha
Thu, Mar-27-08, 16:16
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.
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.