In a study involving several wolves and dogs, both animals performed better at finding hidden food if they had observed the food being hidden by a person—suggesting that they remembered where the food was, and did not rely solely on scent to find it. Sebastian Vetter of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on September 13.
and pilfer it. However, much remains to be learned about these abilities and how they may differ between wolves and dogs.
To shed new light, Vetter and colleagues conducted a study with nine timber wolves and eight mongrel dogs living at the Wolf Science Center in Ernsbrunn, Austria. They tested the ability of each animal to find four, six, or eight caches of food, either after seeing a human hiding them or without the animal seeing the hiding.
The researchers found that both dogs and wolves found more of the first five food caches more quickly and with less distance traveled if they saw the food being hidden than if they did not see the hiding. This suggests that thedid not just use scent in order to find the food, and it provides further support for the hypothesis that both kinds of animals are capable of observational spatial memory.
Whether or not they saw the food being hidden, wolves outperformed the dogs in finding the caches. The researchers suggest that this difference in performance may not be due to differing observational spatial memory abilities, but instead arises from differences in other traits, such as persistency and food-related motivation.
The authors add,"While domestication probably affected dogs' willingness to adjust to humans, the results of the current study collaborate previous findings suggesting thatObservational spatial memory in wolves and dogs,
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Is Dances With Wolves Based On A True Story?The inspirations for Dances With Wolves
Read more »
Wolves Whiskey Lot Two American Single Malt Whiskey ReviewWolves Whiskey is a brand dedicated to exploring some of the most unique, eclectic corners of the American whiskey world.
Read more »
Snout vs. memory: Hungry dogs, wolves remember where you hid their foodWhen wolves and dogs could see where food was hidden, they were better able to find the cache, suggesting that they use visual cues before scent, a new study shows.
Read more »
Pepperdine University marks 9/11 with 3,000 flags in honor of lives lostNEVER FORGET: Pepperdine University marked Sept. 11 with a display of nearly 3,000 flags, each representing a life lost on that day in 2001.
Read more »
Ex-University Hospitals cop gets probation for entering U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6A former University Hospitals police officer was sentenced to probation for being part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Read more »
University Health, Bexar County offer no cost flu shotsIndividual registration is required for the free flu shot events
Read more »