Inferential reasoning and egg rejection in a cooperatively breeding cuckoo

Verfasser / Beitragende:
[Christina Riehl, Meghan Strong, Scott Edwards]
Ort, Verlag, Jahr:
2015
Enthalten in:
Animal Cognition, 18/1(2015-01-01), 75-82
Format:
Artikel (online)
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024 7 0 |a 10.1007/s10071-014-0778-4  |2 doi 
035 |a (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10071-014-0778-4 
245 0 0 |a Inferential reasoning and egg rejection in a cooperatively breeding cuckoo  |h [Elektronische Daten]  |c [Christina Riehl, Meghan Strong, Scott Edwards] 
520 3 |a Inferential reasoning—associating a visible consequence with an imagined event—has been demonstrated in several bird species in captivity, but few studies have tested wild birds in ecologically relevant contexts. Here, we investigate inferential reasoning by thegreater ani, a cooperatively breeding cuckoo in which several females lay eggs in one nest. Prior to laying her first egg, each female removes any eggs that have already been laid by other females in the shared nest. After laying her first egg, however, each female stops removing eggs, presumably in order to avoid accidentally rejecting her own. But are anis using inferential reasoning to track the fate of their eggs in the communal nest, or is egg ejection governed by non-cognitive determinants? We experimentally removed eggs from two-female nests after both females had laid at least one egg and used video recording to verify that both females viewed the empty nest. We waited until one female (A) laid an egg in the nest, and video recorded the behavior of the female that had not yet re-laid (B). We predicted that if capable of inferential reasoning, female B should infer that the new egg could not be her own and she should remove it. Five out of five females tested failed to make this inference, suggesting that egg removal is either determined by the female's reproductive status or by the amount of time elapsed between egg removal and re-laying. This apparent cognitive constraint may have implications for the evolutionary stability of the anis' unusual breeding system. 
540 |a Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2014 
690 7 |a Inferential reasoning  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a Cognition  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a Conspecific brood parasitism  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a Egg recognition  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a Egg rejection  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a Ani  |2 nationallicence 
700 1 |a Riehl  |D Christina  |u Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St., 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA  |4 aut 
700 1 |a Strong  |D Meghan  |u Anthropology Department, California State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., 91330, Northridge, CA, USA  |4 aut 
700 1 |a Edwards  |D Scott  |u Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St., 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA  |4 aut 
773 0 |t Animal Cognition  |d Springer Berlin Heidelberg  |g 18/1(2015-01-01), 75-82  |x 1435-9448  |q 18:1<75  |1 2015  |2 18  |o 10071 
856 4 0 |u https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-014-0778-4  |q text/html  |z Onlinezugriff via DOI 
898 |a BK010053  |b XK010053  |c XK010000 
900 7 |a Metadata rights reserved  |b Springer special CC-BY-NC licence  |2 nationallicence 
908 |D 1  |a research-article  |2 jats 
949 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |F NATIONALLICENCE  |b NL-springer 
950 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |P 856  |E 40  |u https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-014-0778-4  |q text/html  |z Onlinezugriff via DOI 
950 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |P 700  |E 1-  |a Riehl  |D Christina  |u Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St., 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA  |4 aut 
950 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |P 700  |E 1-  |a Strong  |D Meghan  |u Anthropology Department, California State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., 91330, Northridge, CA, USA  |4 aut 
950 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |P 700  |E 1-  |a Edwards  |D Scott  |u Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St., 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA  |4 aut 
950 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |P 773  |E 0-  |t Animal Cognition  |d Springer Berlin Heidelberg  |g 18/1(2015-01-01), 75-82  |x 1435-9448  |q 18:1<75  |1 2015  |2 18  |o 10071