An experimental test of crocodilian stick-displaying behavior. Issue 3 (3rd May 2020)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- An experimental test of crocodilian stick-displaying behavior. Issue 3 (3rd May 2020)
- Main Title:
- An experimental test of crocodilian stick-displaying behavior
- Authors:
- Rosenblatt, Adam E.
Johnson, Alyssa - Abstract:
- Abstract : Tool use has been documented across a diverse array of animals; however, this behavior has received little attention in reptiles. Recently, researchers reported observations of two crocodilian species apparently using sticks as lures to aid in the capture of nesting birds, but the evidence for the behavior was anecdotal and correlative. To explore the behavior in a more controlled situation we designed an experiment to explicitly test the ability of crocodilians to tailor stick-displaying behaviors to specific environmental contexts using four captive pond-dwelling American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis ) populations, two of which reside near bird rookeries and two of which do not. During bird nesting season we added sticks to each pond and observed the frequency with which each population exhibited stick-displaying behaviors. We found that in most comparisons the frequency of stick-displaying behavior did not differ between rookery and no-rookery sites, while in one comparison the alligators at a no-rookery site actually displayed the behavior more frequently than a paired rookery site. Our results do not generally support the hypothesis that crocodilians tailor stick-displaying behaviors to specific environmental contexts, therefore the hypothesis that crocodilians are true tool users is also called into question. Furthermore, our results suggest that experiments on captive populations are not the ideal way to study stick-displaying behavior because ofAbstract : Tool use has been documented across a diverse array of animals; however, this behavior has received little attention in reptiles. Recently, researchers reported observations of two crocodilian species apparently using sticks as lures to aid in the capture of nesting birds, but the evidence for the behavior was anecdotal and correlative. To explore the behavior in a more controlled situation we designed an experiment to explicitly test the ability of crocodilians to tailor stick-displaying behaviors to specific environmental contexts using four captive pond-dwelling American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis ) populations, two of which reside near bird rookeries and two of which do not. During bird nesting season we added sticks to each pond and observed the frequency with which each population exhibited stick-displaying behaviors. We found that in most comparisons the frequency of stick-displaying behavior did not differ between rookery and no-rookery sites, while in one comparison the alligators at a no-rookery site actually displayed the behavior more frequently than a paired rookery site. Our results do not generally support the hypothesis that crocodilians tailor stick-displaying behaviors to specific environmental contexts, therefore the hypothesis that crocodilians are true tool users is also called into question. Furthermore, our results suggest that experiments on captive populations are not the ideal way to study stick-displaying behavior because of issues like unrealistic alligator densities and food provisioning. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Ethology, ecology & evolution. Volume 32:Issue 3(2020)
- Journal:
- Ethology, ecology & evolution
- Issue:
- Volume 32:Issue 3(2020)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 32, Issue 3 (2020)
- Year:
- 2020
- Volume:
- 32
- Issue:
- 3
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2020-0032-0003-0000
- Page Start:
- 218
- Page End:
- 226
- Publication Date:
- 2020-05-03
- Subjects:
- American alligator -- Alligator mississippiensis -- rookery -- bird -- Florida
Animal behavior -- Periodicals
Animal ecology -- Periodicals
Behavior evolution -- Periodicals
Behavior, Animal -- Periodicals
Ecology -- Periodicals
Biological Evolution -- Periodicals
Écologie animale -- Périodiques
Évolution du comportement -- Périodiques
Éthologie -- Périodiques
Animal behavior
Animal ecology
Behavior evolution
Periodicals
Electronic journals
591.5 - Journal URLs:
- http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/20334991.html ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/teee20/current ↗
http://www.unifi.it/unifi/dbag/eee/ ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1080/03949370.2019.1691057 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0394-9370
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 13644.xml