Scientists have discovered something exciting. They believe that big-brained carnivores perform better in problem-solving tasks.
The researchers who were involved in the study published in the journal PNAS travelled to nine different zoos across the USA and presented 140 animals with novel problem-solving task from 39 different mammalian carnivore species.
Included in the animals were arctic foxes, polar bears, river otters, tigers, wolves, and spotted hyenas. Some rare, exotic species were also represented. These include binturongs, wolverines, and snow leopards.
As part of the test, each of the animal was given 30 minutes open a metal box and get food. Accessing the food includes sliding a bolt latch that would allow a door to open. The box was baited with the favorite food of the study animal in order to stimulate their interest.
Based on the results of the test, researchers discovered that "species with larger brains relative to their body size were more successful than species with relatively smaller brains."
Sarah Benson-Amram, lead author and assistant professor at the University of Wyoming in US said: "This study offers a rare look at problem solving in carnivores, and the results provide important support for the claim that brain size reflects an animal's problem-solving abilities - and enhance our understanding of why larger brains evolved in some species."
Meanwhile, Ben Dantzer from the University of Michigan, also said that 35 percent of animals (49 individuals from 23 species) successfully solved the problem. Among those animals, "the bears were the most successful, solving the problem almost 70 percent of the time. Meerkats and mongooses were the least successful, with no individuals from their species solving the problem."
However, one interesting things was also discovered during the test. Larger animals were found to be less successful overall than smaller-bodied animals. This means to show that manual dexterity did not affect problem-solving success.
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