Ants remember their enemy's scent

By Victoria GillScience reporter, BBC Nature

Ant colonies - one of nature's most ancient and efficient societies - are able to form a "collective memory" of their enemies, say scientists.

When one ant fights with an intruder from another colony it retains that enemy's odour: passing it on to the rest of the colony.

This enables any of its nest-mates to identify an ant from the offending colony.

The findings are reported in the journal Naturwissenschaften.

For many ant species, chemicals are key to functioning as a society. Insects identify their nest-mates by the specific "chemical signature" that coats the body of every member of that nest.

The insects are also able to sniff out any intruder that might be attempting to invade.

This study, carried out by a team from the University of Melbourne in Australia, set out to discover if ants were able to retain memories of the odours they encounter.

The researchers studied the tropical weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina), which builds is home in trees; one nest can contain up to 500,000 workers.

Read on:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17099761

Fish-catching trick may be spreading among dolphins

PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - Dolphins in one western Australian population have been observed holding a large conch shell in their beaks and using it to shake a fish into their mouths -- and the behavior may be spreading.

Researchers from Murdoch University in Perth were not quite sure what they were seeing when they first photographed the activity, in 2007, in which dolphins would shake conch shells at the surface of the ocean.

"It's a fleeting glimpse -- you look at it and think, that's kind of weird," said Simon Allen, a researcher at the university's Cetacean Research Unit.

"Maybe they're playing, maybe they're socializing, maybe males are presenting a gift to a female or something like that, maybe the animals are actually eating the animal inside."

But researchers were more intrigued when they studied the photos and found the back of a fish hanging out of the shell, realizing that the shaking drained the water out of the shells and caused the fish that was sheltering inside to fall into the dolphins' mouths.

A search through records for dolphins in the eastern part of Shark Bay, a population that has been studied for nearly 30 years, found roughly half a dozen sightings of similar behavior over some two decades.

Then researchers saw it at least seven times during the four-month research period starting this May, Allen said.

"There's a possibility here -- and it's speculation at this stage -- that this sort of change from seeing it six or seven times in 21 years to seeing it six or seven times in three months gives us that tantalizing possibility that it might be spreading before our very eyes," he added.

"It's too early to say definitively yet, but we'll be watching very closely over the next couple of field seasons."

The Shark Bay dolphin population is already unusual for having developed two foraging techniques, one of which involves the dolphin briefly beaching itself to grab fish after driving them up onto the shore.

The other is "sponging" -- in which the dolphins break off a conical bit of sponge and fit it over their heads like a cap, shielding them as they forage for food on the sea floor.

But both of these spread "vertically," mainly through the female dolphin population, from mother to daughter. The intriguing thing about this new behavior with the conch shells is that it might be spreading "horizontally," Allen said.

"If it spreads horizontally, then we would expect to see it more often and we'd expect to see it between 'friends'," he added, noting that dolphins are known for having preferences in terms of companions and whom they spend time with.

"Most of the sightings from this year are in the same habitat where we first saw it in 2007, and a couple of the individuals this year are known to associate with the ones that we saw doing it a year or two ago."

The next step would be not only to observe the behavior again in another season but also to try and gather evidence Of deliberate actions on the part of the dolphins.

"If we could put some shells in a row or put them facing down or something like that and then come back the next day, if we don't actually see them do it but find evidence that they've turned the shell over or make it into an appealing refuge for a fish, then that implies significant forward planning on the dolphins' parts," Allen said.

"The nice idea is that there is this intriguing possibility that they might manipulate the object beforehand. Then that might change using the shell as just a convenient object into actual tool use," he added.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Alex Richardson)

http://news.yahoo.com/fish-catching-trick-may-spreading-among-dolphins-080748681.html

Do Tayras Plan for the Future?

Humans buy unripe bananas, then leave them on the kitchen counter. The tayra, a relative of the weasel native to Central and South America, appears to do much the same thing, picking unripe plantains and hiding them until they ripen, according to a new study. The authors speculate that tayras are showing a human-like capacity to plan for the future, which has previously been shown only in primates and birds.

Biologist Fernando Soley was an undergraduate at the University of Costa Rica in 2004 when he first started thinking about tayras. He was studying poison dart frogs at La Selva Biological Station in northern Costa Rica, when he noticed a tayra—essentially a giant weasel with a bushy tail—approach a tree. "It climbed 4 meters high, went directly to a bromeliad [a plant growing in the tree], and came back down with a ripe plantain and ate it," Soley says. The trees in the forestry plantation where he was working are planted in neat rows, and it's easy for humans to get lost. Because the animal went straight to the plantain, he thought it couldn't have found it by chance. "I thought, wow, for sure this animal was the one that brought it there."

A few years later, Soley came back for a closer look at the tayras, teaming up with Isaías Alvarado-Díaz, a self-taught biologist who lives near La Selva. Animals don't spend much time in the forestry plantation, so Soley thought tayras might hide their fruit there to keep it safe from prying snouts. The duo set up an Easter egg hunt for fruit thieves to find out if the tayras were doing a good job. "We hid pieces of banana, which pretty much tastes and smells very similar to plantains, in the forest and in the plantation, and after 2 days we went to count them," he says. Animals found fewer bananas in trees than on the ground, and fewer in the plantation than in the forest. That means hiding plantains in the plantation and up in tree is a smart move by tayras that don't want other animals to find their treasures.

Soley and Alvarado-Díaz also monitored plantain plants to see what fruits were being taken. They borrowed motion-sensitive camera traps from a research team that studies mammals and confirmed that tayras were the only plantain eaters that snapped off a whole fruit; toucans, coatis, and opossums gnawed on ripe fruits while they were still attached to the plant. Soley was surprised to find that the tayras were not only eating ripe plantains, but also taking unripe ones. They borrowed radio transmitters, taped them into unripe plantains, and found that the unripe fruits were taken away and eaten later.

Many birds and animals cache food, but most do it with leftovers—food that could be eaten now but isn't needed. Shrews stash extra insects; squirrels hide nuts. Soley says tayras are different because the unripe plantains aren't edible yet. "It's like knowing that it's going to be food in the future," Soley says. That means the tayras are thinking about their hunger a few days from now and planning ahead, he and Alvarado-Díaz report in this month's issue of Naturwissenschaften.

Several studies have found the capacity for forethought in nonhuman primates and some birds, but the results are controversial because some people think only humans can think ahead. Cognitive scientist Mathias Osvath of Lund University in Sweden is confident that, for example, a zoo chimp that he wrote about in one paper plans for the future by calmly collecting rocks and making concrete disks to throw at zoo visitors later, but he says Soley's study doesn't provide conclusive evidence that the tayras are doing so. "One of the signs … is being able to plan for a need that you're currently not experiencing," he says. "For example, we don't know if the tayras are actually hungry when they are caching."

Osvath says more research is needed to tell if the tayras are imagining a hungry future 5 days from now, or if they've just learned that if you leave a fruit and come back a few days later, it will be edible. "True planning is when you shut your eyes and you think about what you will have for lunch tomorrow."

by Helen Fields
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/08/do-tayras-plan-for-the-future.html?ref=hp

21 February 2011 Last updated at 08:54
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12521541

Study shows Welsh sheep 'more clever than thought'

Sheep aren't viewed as the cleverest of creatures, but new research has found they might be a lot more intelligent than previously thought.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge found that Welsh mountain sheep can map their surroundings, and may even be able to plan ahead.

The discovery shows they have the brainpower to equal rodents, monkeys and, in some tests, even humans.

The study was part of wider research into Huntington's Disease.

Professor Jenny Morton from the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge says the beasts' 'stupid' reputation may be unwarranted.

She told BBC Wales: "Our tests showed they can do what is known as executive decision making.

"We looked at whether they were able to understand rules and got them to do what is known as a choice discrimination task.

"But when we changed the rules, they behaved pretty much as a human in that they got bothered about us changing those rules."

Professor Morton put a flock of Welsh mountain sheep through a series of tests to measure their intelligence.

One saw her using coloured buckets to see how long it would take the sheep to work out they could find food in the same-coloured bucket every time.

The colour of the buckets was then changed, so the sheep had to re-learn the association. They were able to do this in the same amount of time it takes monkeys and rodents in similar tests.

In a more complex task the sheep had to learn where the food was according to coloured shapes and were able to learn the new rules within 32 attempts.

Professor Morton added: "We expected that looking at sheep wouldn't be that helpful but they are actually reasonably similar to humans in many ways.

Mutant gene

"They're very good animals and very enthusiastic subjects.

"If you talk to farmers they'll probably tell you that they have a very good spatial memory - they're not as daft as they look."

Her research, which is published in the journal Public Library of Science One, is part of a wider attempt to use sheep as an animal model for examining Huntington's Disease (HD).

The disease, which is genetically inherited, affects muscle co-ordination, often causing involuntary writhing movements called chorea, and it leads to cognitive decline.

It currently affects at least 6,700 people in England and Wales.

Anyone who carries the mutant gene will go on to develop HD, and their child has a 50% chance of inheriting it.

"Sheep have great potential, not only for use as a large animal model of HD, but also for studying cognitive function and the evolution of complex behaviours in normal animals," added Professor Morton.

She has also conducted trials to test the spatial memory of sheep and found they are able to navigate by forming memories of their surrounding environments.

She is now conducting tests to see whether sheep are able to plan ahead.

Previous research at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge has also shown that sheep have the ability to recall human faces and react to different facial expressions.

They can also recognise other sheep by their facial features.

Escape by a whisker: Quick-thinking cat saves house from fire...

A clever cat has been hailed a hero after he prevented his owners' home from burning down - by opening a window.


Five-year-old Pepper has learned to open windows and lets himself out every night by hopping on to a kitchen worktop and using his paws to turn the latch.

So when a fire broke while his owners were Christmas shopping, the quick-thinking puss leapt into action and opened the window to allow the acrid smoke to escape.
The billowing cloud of ash alerted neighbours and firefighters rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze before it spread to the rest of the house.


Owner Sharon White, of Totnes, Devon said: 'He first did it (opened the window) at a dinner party and everyone was applauding him, I think it spurred him on.

'He can climb back in through the window by jumping diagonally on to the ledge as well so he really does come and go as he pleases.

'Pepper is still a bit spooked by the ordeal but is still managing to eat plenty of food.' Sharon and husband Phil, a radiologist at Torbay Hospital, Devon, were handed Pepper over four years ago after a neighbour could no longer look after it.

Pepper developed a 'fierce independent streak' and would often leave the house for days on end.


But over the last few months, he has become increasingly nomadic and has learnt to let himself out through the downstairs window by turning the metal lever 90 degrees with his paws.

The dramatic fire started at 4pm on Saturday after the couple nipped to the shops and left their microwave on a ten minute timer, which then caught fire.

Sharon, who owns a publishing consultancy, said: 'We put something in the microwave for ten minutes and then popped out to do our Christmas shopping in the local town.

'I discovered on the way that I had left my purse at home but decided not to turn around.

'It was my sister-in-law who lives next door that rang us about two hours into our trip and said you had better get home as there is quite a lot of smoke coming out of your house and the fire brigade are here.

'We are thankful our neighbours did not just dismiss the smoke as a bonfire.'

Firefighters rushed to their £350,000 house and extinguished the flames before they could spread and the kitchen suffered only smoke damage.

Phil added: 'Pepper managed to get out and smoke must have been pouring out the window which alerted the neighbours.

'There is some damage to the kitchen but it was isolated so nothing compared to what it could have been.

''He's got a real mind of his own and is usually a bit of a pain. But on this occasion we're grateful as without him, and our neighbours, the fire could have been so much worse.'

Stefan Belsten, of Devon and Somerset fire service, said: 'If Pepper hadn't opened the window the fire would have developed quite a lot.'

By Daily Mail Reporter

Escape by a whisker: Quick-thinking cat saves house from fire...

A clever cat has been hailed a hero after he prevented his owners' home from burning down - by opening a window.


Five-year-old Pepper has learned to open windows and lets himself out every night by hopping on to a kitchen worktop and using his paws to turn the latch.

So when a fire broke while his owners were Christmas shopping, the quick-thinking puss leapt into action and opened the window to allow the acrid smoke to escape.
The billowing cloud of ash alerted neighbours and firefighters rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze before it spread to the rest of the house.


Owner Sharon White, of Totnes, Devon said: 'He first did it (opened the window) at a dinner party and everyone was applauding him, I think it spurred him on.

'He can climb back in through the window by jumping diagonally on to the ledge as well so he really does come and go as he pleases.

'Pepper is still a bit spooked by the ordeal but is still managing to eat plenty of food.' Sharon and husband Phil, a radiologist at Torbay Hospital, Devon, were handed Pepper over four years ago after a neighbour could no longer look after it.

Pepper developed a 'fierce independent streak' and would often leave the house for days on end.


But over the last few months, he has become increasingly nomadic and has learnt to let himself out through the downstairs window by turning the metal lever 90 degrees with his paws.

The dramatic fire started at 4pm on Saturday after the couple nipped to the shops and left their microwave on a ten minute timer, which then caught fire.

Sharon, who owns a publishing consultancy, said: 'We put something in the microwave for ten minutes and then popped out to do our Christmas shopping in the local town.

'I discovered on the way that I had left my purse at home but decided not to turn around.

'It was my sister-in-law who lives next door that rang us about two hours into our trip and said you had better get home as there is quite a lot of smoke coming out of your house and the fire brigade are here.

'We are thankful our neighbours did not just dismiss the smoke as a bonfire.'

Firefighters rushed to their £350,000 house and extinguished the flames before they could spread and the kitchen suffered only smoke damage.

Phil added: 'Pepper managed to get out and smoke must have been pouring out the window which alerted the neighbours.

'There is some damage to the kitchen but it was isolated so nothing compared to what it could have been.

''He's got a real mind of his own and is usually a bit of a pain. But on this occasion we're grateful as without him, and our neighbours, the fire could have been so much worse.'

Stefan Belsten, of Devon and Somerset fire service, said: 'If Pepper hadn't opened the window the fire would have developed quite a lot.'

By Daily Mail Reporter