Primates — but not their rodent relatives — can infer the effects of other individuals on resource availability

Image courtesy of Frans de Waal via Wikimedia Commons

Journal of Comparative Psychology “Inference in a social context: A comparative study of capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri), hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), and rats (Rattus norvegicus)”

This is not a surprising finding, but it reinforces the fact that the ability to understand the effects of social partners on the environment is an important trait in primates. Other social mammals lack the ability to infer the ecological effects of other members of their social group; this is interesting because social animals like rats do share other social abilities with primates.

This post was based on Takahashi et al. 2015.