Guest guest Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 * http://www.localnewswatch.com/benton/stories/index.php?action=fullnews & id=21043 Mirror test implies elephants self-aware * Staff and agencies 31 October, 2006 By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 45 minutes ago WASHINGTON - If you're Happy and you know it, pat your head. That, in a peanut shell, is how a 34-year-old female Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo showed researchers that pachyderms can recognize themselves in a mirror — complex behavior observed in only a few other species. That self-recognition may underlie the social complexity seen in elephants, and could be linked to the empathy and altruism that the big-brained animals have been known to display, said researcher Diana Reiss, of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the Bronx Zoo. " It seems to verify for us she definitely recognized herself in the mirror, " said Joshua Plotnik, one of the researchers behind the study. Details appear this week on the Web site of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Maxine, for instance, used the tip of her trunk to probe the inside of her mouth while facing the mirror. She also used her trunk to slowly pull one ear toward the mirror, as if she were using the reflection to investigate herself. The researchers reported not seeing that type of behavior at any other time. Gordon Gallup, the psychologist who devised the mark test in 1970 for use on chimps, called the results " very strong and very compelling. " But he said additional studies on both elephants and dolphins were needed. The three Bronx Zoo elephants did not display any social behavior in front of the mirror, suggesting that each recognized the reflected image as itself and not another elephant. Many other animals mistake their mirror reflections for other creatures. Elephants and mammoths, now extinct, split from the last common ancestor they shared with mastodons, also extinct, about 24 million years ago. In a separate study also appearing this week on the scientific journal's Web site, researchers report finding fossil evidence of an older species that links modern elephants to even older ancestors. ___ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: http://www.pnas.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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