期刊
NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN
卷 98, 期 8, 页码 693-698出版社
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00114-011-0821-0
关键词
Goal-directed behaviour; Caching; Future thinking; Tayras
资金
- CR-USA Foundation
- Organization for Tropical Studies
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Div Of Biological Infrastructure [851933] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
The ability of nonhuman animals to project individual actions into the future is a hotly debated topic. We describe the caching behaviour of tayras (Eira barbara) based on direct observations in the field, pictures from camera traps and radio telemetry, providing evidence that these mustelids pick and cache unripe fruit for future consumption. This is the first reported case of harvesting of unripe fruits by a nonhuman animal. Ripe fruits are readily taken by a variety of animals, and tayras might benefit by securing a food source before strong competition takes place. Unripe climacteric fruits need to be harvested when mature to ensure that they continue their ripening process, and tayras accurately choose mature stages of these fruits for caching. Tayras cache both native (sapote) and non-native (plantain) fruits that differ in morphology and developmental timeframes, showing sophisticated cognitive ability that might involve highly developed learning abilities and/or prospective thinking.
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