Page 255 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

227

VetBooks.ir

Box B9

The Learning Repertoire of Reptiles
Gordon M. Burghardt

Reptiles have been neglected in research on accommodate their sensory abilities and
cognition, emotions, sociality, and needs for behavioural repertoires. Here I will just men-
psychological welfare. Yet the picture of them tion a few examples.
as sedentary, impassive creatures operating Turtles have been used in studies of spatial
as instinctive machines is rapidly being learning (review in Wilkinson and Huber
replaced by one that views them as having 2012). Painted turtles (Chrysemys), sliders
behavioural complexity and plasticity that (Trachemys), and cooters (Pseudemys) have
approach, if not rival, what has been found in been used in many (as far as reptiles go)
many mammals and birds. Whilst the tradi- learning studies due to their hardiness in
tional view is partly due to an anthropomor- captivity, use of visual cues, and trainability
phic tendency to view them through a human (Burghardt 1977). Red‐bellied cooters
lens (Rivas and Burghardt 2002), it is also (Pseudemys nelsoni) can be readily trained to
true that the scientific community did not climb out of the water and knock over a bot-
look closely at their behavioural plasticity tle for a food pellet (Davis and Burghardt
until recent decades (Burghardt 1977). With 2007), and they can retain both the behav-
the advent of ethology and its emphasis on iour and discrimination for at least two years
the study of the diversity of behaviour and its without any training (Davis and Burghardt
control, a focus on species typical behaviour 2012). Given the annual return of females to
expanded to the behavioural plasticity specific nest sites over many years, such
needed to survive in an often changing ecol- retained memory is something we suspected
ogy. We now know that all groups of non‐ could occur, but to demonstrate such a skill
avian reptiles behave in fascinating ways, and in captivity is an advance and opens up the
have many traits in common with birds and possibility of more refined studies. But excit-
mammals including sophisticated communi- ing field studies are also ongoing, as in the
cation, problem solving, parental care, play, finding that mother aquatic turtles return
complex sociality, individual recognition, from long distances to where they laid eggs
and even social learning and tool use (see on nesting beaches as the eggs near hatching,
Manrod et al. 2008 for examples). vocally communicate with them, and then
Furthermore, turtles, crocodilians, and liz- guide them hundreds of kilometres to feed-
ards have all been shown to be quite adept at ing areas (Ferrara et al. 2014). Turtles were
most traditional learning tasks (Burghardt the first reptiles to be experimentally docu-
2013; Wilkinson and Huber 2012). The mented as being able to learn from other ani-
secret is to make sure the problems tested mals solving a problem and thus learn it by

Zoo Animal Learning and Training, First Edition. Edited by Vicky A. Melfi, Nicole R. Dorey, and Samantha J. Ward.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2020 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.