DeepSummary
The first part of the episode discusses research on the cognition of farm animals like goats, cows, and pigs conducted at the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology in Germany. Online News Editor David Grimm visited the facility and described experiments where the animals demonstrated abilities like facial recognition, remembering sequences of images, and responding to human pointing gestures. The researchers also studied the social behavior and potential friendships among the livestock.
The second part covers a study on the cooperation between honeyguide birds and human honey hunters in Africa. Researcher Claire Spottiswoode explains how the birds guide people to bees' nests in exchange for access to the wax, using distinctive calls that vary across cultures. Spottiswoode's team found evidence that the birds have learned to recognize the specific calls used by local honey hunters, suggesting cultural co-evolution between humans and the wild birds.
Both segments highlight surprising cognitive abilities and intricate relationships between humans and domesticated or wild animals that scientists are continuing to investigate. The studies provide insights into animal minds, behavior, and the evolution of human-animal interactions.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Researchers at the German facility are studying various cognitive capabilities in livestock like goats, cows, and pigs, such as facial recognition, remembering sequences, social intelligence, and responding to human gestures.
- The studies reveal that these farm animals have more advanced minds than previously assumed and hint at ways to potentially improve their welfare.
- In parts of Africa, a mutually beneficial relationship has evolved where honeyguide birds guide human hunters to bees' nests in exchange for access to wax.
- The distinctive calls used by honey hunters vary across cultures, and the birds appear to have learned to recognize the local calls, suggesting cultural co-evolution.
- Collaborative relationships like the human-honeyguide interaction demonstrate our deep interconnectedness with nature and other species.
- Continuing to study animal cognition and behavior can provide valuable insights into their minds and our interactions with them.
- Appreciating cultural richness in human-animal cooperation can help ensure such relationships are preserved.
- Novel research methods like simulation honey hunts and computer cognition tests are allowing new avenues for investigating animal intelligence.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “What's remarkable about this process is that it can lead to mutual adaptation on a very rapid timescale. It is much faster than genetic coevolution, but also that just as traditional genetic covolution can drive genetic biodiversity as species interact, so perhaps such a process of cultural coevolution could drive cultural biodiversity.“ by Claire Spottiswoode
- “They're perfectly complementary.“ by Claire Spottiswoode
- “Goats are a good model species in terms of just being goats and doing their goat stuff, but also they can be used to translate it a little bit and see what ruminant species in general do.“ by Christian Nawroth
Entities
Organization
Company
Person
Product
Location
Episode Information
Science Magazine Podcast
Science Magazine
12/7/23
A look at cognition in livestock, and the coevolution of wild bird–human cooperation
This week we have two stories on thinking and learning in animals. First, Online News Editor David Grimm talks with host Sarah Crespi about a reporting trip to the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology in northern Germany, where scientists are studying cognition in farm animals, including goats, cows, and pigs. And because freelance audio producer Kevin Caners went along, we have lots of sound from the trip—so prepare yourself for moos and more.
Voices in this story:
Next, audio producer Katherine Irving talks with Claire Spottiswoode, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Cambridge, about her research into cooperation between honeyguide birds and human honey hunters. In their Science study, Spottiswoode and her team found honeyguides learn distinct signals made by honey hunters from different cultures suggesting that cultural coevolution has occurred.
Read a related Perspective.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
Authors: Sarah Crespi; David Grimm; Katherine Irving
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zr3zfn1