A dog's ability to understand human pointing—a rarity in the animal kingdom and key to social intelligence—appears to be hardwired in doggy DNA, according to a study of nearly 400 adorably naughty puppies. NationalPuppyDay
Few scientific mysteries can be solved with the help of nearly 400 adorably naughty puppies, but a new study is a pleasant exception. Researchers have used the furballs to show dogs' ability to understand human pointing—a rarity in the animal kingdom and key to social intelligence—appears to be hardwired in doggy DNA.
Enter puppies. If social intelligence is genetic, dogs should display it at a very young age. And there shouldn't be any learning required. The researchers put the puppies through three tests. First, they performed a classic pointing experiment, placing the young dogs between two overturned cups—one containing a treat—and pointing to the one with the treat . The animals understood the gesture more than two-thirds of the time, approaching the performance of adult dogs. But they didn't get any better over a dozen rounds, suggesting they were not learning the behavior, MacLean says.
A scientist times how long a puppy looks at her face, an important foundation for social interaction.To confirm that the puppies' successful behaviors were genetic, the researchers analyzed their pedigrees to see how related each dog was to the others. Then they compared this relatedness with the dogs' performance on the tests., the team reports today on the preprint server bioRxiv.
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