Quantity discrimination in 9 ungulate species: Individuals take item number and size into account to discriminate quantities.

The ability to discriminate quantities is crucial for humans and other animals, by allowing individuals to maximize food intake and successfully navigate in their social environment. Here, we used a comprehensive approach to compare quantity discrimination abilities (i.e.

Giraffes make decisions based on statistical information.

The ability to make inferences based on statistical information has so far been tested only in animals having large brains in relation to their body size, like primates and parrots. Here we tested if giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis), despite having a smaller relative brain size, can rely on relative frequencies to predict sampling outcomes. We presented them with two transparent containers filled with different quantities of highly-liked food and less-preferred food.

Innovation across 13 ungulate species: problem solvers are less integrated in the social group and less neophobic.

Innovation is the ability to solve new problems or find novel solutions to familiar problems, and it is known to provide animals with crucial fitness benefits. Although this ability has been extensively studied in some taxa, the factors that predict innovation within and across species are still largely unclear. In this study, we used a novel foraging task to test 111 individuals belonging to 13 ungulate species-a still understudied taxon.

Neophobia in 10 ungulate species-a comparative approach.

Abstract: Neophobia (the fearful reaction to novel stimuli or situations) has a crucial effect on individual fitness and can vary within and across species. However, the factors predicting this variation are still unclear. In this study, we assessed whether individual characteristics (rank, social integration, sex) and species socio-ecological characteristics (dietary breadth, group size, domestication) predicted variation in neophobia.

Comparative cognition in three understudied ungulate species: European bison, forest buffalos and giraffes.

Background: Comparative cognition has historically focused on a few taxa such as primates, birds or rodents. However, a broader perspective is essential to understand how different selective pressures affect cognition in different taxa, as more recently shown in several studies. Here we present the same battery of cognitive tasks to two understudied ungulate species with different socio-ecological characteristics, European bison (Bison bonasus) and forest buffalos (Syncerus caffer nanus), and we compare their performance to previous findings in giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis).

Problem solving in European bison (): two experimental approaches.

The ability to solve novel problems is crucial for individual fitness. However, studies on problem solving are usually done on few taxa, with species with low encephalization quotient being rarely tested. Here, we aimed to study problem solving in a non-domesticated ungulate species, European bison, with two experimental tasks.

Gaze Following in Ungulates: Domesticated and Non-domesticated Species Follow the Gaze of Both Humans and Conspecifics in an Experimental Context.

Gaze following is the ability to use others' gaze to obtain information about the environment (e.g., food location, predators, and social interactions).

Giraffes go for more: a quantity discrimination study in giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis).

Many species, including humans, rely on an ability to differentiate between quantities to make decisions about social relationships, territories, and food. This study is the first to investigate whether giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) are able to select the larger of two sets of quantities in different conditions, and how size and density affect these decisions. In Task 1, we presented five captive giraffes with two sets containing a different quantity of identical foods items.

Innovation in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).

Innovation is the ability to solve novel problems or find novel solutions to familiar problems, and it is known to affect fitness in both human and non-human animals. In primates, innovation has been mostly studied in captivity, although differences in living conditions may affect individuals' ability to innovate. Here, we tested innovation in a wild group of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).

Object permanence in Giraffa camelopardalis: First steps in giraffes' physical cognition.

Although behavior, biology, and ecology of giraffes have been widely studied, little is known about their cognition. Giraffes' feeding ecology and their fission-fusion social dynamics are comparable with those of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), suggesting that they might have complex cognitive abilities. To assess this, we tested 6 captive giraffes on their object permanence, short-term memory, and ability to use acoustic cues to locate food.

Quantity discrimination in angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) is maintained after a 30-s retention interval in the large but not in the small number range.

The ability to discriminate between sets that differ in the number of elements can be useful in different contexts and may have survival and fitness consequences. As such, numerical/quantity discrimination has been demonstrated in a diversity of animal species. In the laboratory, this ability has been analyzed, for example, using binary choice tests.