posted on May 1, 2001 01:28:16 PM new
Isn't the internet fascinating?
Study Shows Dolphins Can See Their Own Reflections
By PAUL RECER
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (April 30) - Bottlenose dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror, an advanced intellectual ability observed previously only in humans and apes, a study finds.
Researchers at the New York Aquarium installed mirrors so that they could be seen by two bottlenosed dolphins and then tested to see if the animals were self-aware enough to look at the reflected image of markings on their bodies.
Diana Reiss of Columbia University and Lori Marino of Emory University report on Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that both animals responded by looking long and hard at temporary ink marks placed on their face and sides.
``These findings ... offer the first convincing evidence that a nonprimate species, the bottlenose dolphin, is capable of MSR (mirror self-recognition,'' the researchers wrote.
Mirror self-recognition in chimpanzees had been demonstrated in earlier studies when it was shown that the animals responded to body marks. Humans, of course, learn to relate a mirrored image to themselves at an early age.
The ability suggests a self-awareness that some experts believe is reserved only for the higher primates. Attempts to demonstrate this ability have failed for other animals, including monkeys, lesser apes and elephants, the researchers report.
But Reiss and Marino said that their experiment showed that chimpanzees and dolphins react in similar ways when investigating body marks that could be viewed only by a mirror.
``The present findings imply that the emergence of self-recognition is not a byproduct of factors specific to great apes and humans, but instead may be attributable to more general characteristics such as (a big brain) and cognitive ability,'' the researchers wrote.
In the study, mirrors were placed in the dolphins' pools at the aquarium. The animals were then marked with a nontoxic ink and allow to swim to the mirrors. Later, the animals were sham-marked, that is, they were touched in a way that imitated the earlier marking, but without leaving any ink.
The researchers found that the animals would look in the mirror and spend much more time examining themselves if there were ink marks than if there were no ink marks. The animals also would turn and angle their bodies so that the sites of the marking or sham-markings were visible in the mirror reflection.
Unlike monkeys and some other animals, the dolphins did not respond to the mirror images in a social way. Many animals react to mirror reflections of themselves as they do when another animal appears suddenly.
The dolphins also paid no attention to the markings on the bodies of their companions, unlike chimpanzees.
``Dolphins may pay less attention to marks on the bodies of companions because, unlike primates, they do not groom each other,'' Reiss and Marino said in the study.
posted on May 1, 2001 07:35:20 PM new
Reminds me of a study the Feds paid big bucks for - about a quarter million if I remember right - to see if pets know whem you are looking at them!!!!
I would have told them more for a lot less money. Yes - Pets know whem you are looking at them. Cats don't give a damn. And dogs although I have never seen them display love as some people insist do display guilt if you stare long enough. Dogs do display affection - something entirely different. And disgusting enough occasional lust. Neither of which makes you more important than their food dish.
posted on May 1, 2001 07:37:08 PM new
I had to work with a bottle nosed machinist once. How do the dolphins keep their booze from mixing with the sea water? Must be hard.
Just call me "GIF GIRL"!
