Science Shorts

Rats - thinking about thinking ?

As is common in research, scientists have looked for signs of metacognition in the usual inexpensive subjects: birds, without conclusive results, and, most recently, rats.

Jonathon Crystal, associate professor of psychology at the University of Georgia, and Allison Foote, graduate in the department, released a new study on metacognition in rats in the Journal Current Biology - and it seems likely to cause us all to think again about the assumptions we make regarding animals' knowledge of their own cognitive states - in short, to know not only what they know - but also what they don't !

Predators; Evolutionary pressure and 'slow' fast food !

Studies from researchers at the University of Liverpool, the University of Ottawa), and the University of of Hawaii, combine to illuminate our understanding of the dynamics of predation and development of prey species.

It makes absolute sense that predators should target easy prey, and the less powerful brain an animal has the easier it is likely to be to catch.

Researchers found that both primate hunters and large predatory cats are more likely to hunt those prey species that have small brains relative to their body size, such as the Mongoose, Red River Hog and types of small Antelope.

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