The Thoughtful Animal wrote:

She: “What are you writing about?”
Me: “Cognition in cold-blooded animals.”
She: “Hot.”

Most people who study cognition focus on mammals or birds. But I hope I’ve convinced you that other animals are important to investigate as well. One research group at the University of Vienna likes cold-blooded critters. Turtles and lizards and such. They argue:

Reptiles, birds and mammals have all evolved from a common amniotic ancestor, and as such they are likely to share both behavioural and morphological traits. However, this common ancestor lived around 280 million years ago and so it is equally as likely that different traits and abilities may have emerged. Despite their clear importance for the study of cognitive evolution, very little research has investigated the learning abilities of reptiles. The few studies that have been conducted with reptiles found little evidence of impressive cognitive skills. However, many of these studies took place in unsuitable environments for the species tested (e.g. a cold room for a tropical reptile). As reptiles are ectothermic (cold-blooded) it is essential to provide them with an environmental temperature similar to that which they would experience in their natural habitat. Only then can their true cognitive abilities be tested.

The ability to learn from the actions of another conspecific (a member of the same species) is adaptive. Animals who live in social groups, such as mammals, birds, fishes, and insects, can learn how to solve certain problems by watching other group members solving those problems. Nobody, according to these authors, has studied this form of social learning in reptiles. But the evolutionary origins of this trait – the ability to learn by observation – are unclear. Given the right circumstances, could the red-footed tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria) show evidence of this form of social learning? (...)



Figure 2: The red-footed tortoises of the Cold Blooded Cognition lab. Their feet don’t seem particularly red to me.

Reference: Wilkinson, A., Kuenstner, K., Mueller, J., & Huber, L. (2010). Social learning in a non-social reptile (Geochelone carbonaria) Biology Letters. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0092