Nawroth Christian, Trincas Egle, Favaro Livio
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany.
PeerJ. 2017 Jun 12;5:e3459. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3459. eCollection 2017.
Gaze following is widespread among animals. However, the corresponding ultimate functions may vary substantially. Thus, it is important to study previously understudied (or less studied) species to develop a better understanding of the ecological contexts that foster certain cognitive traits. Penguins (Family Spheniscidae), despite their wide interspecies ecological variation, have previously not been considered for cross-species comparisons. Penguin behaviour and communication have been investigated over the last decades, but less is known on how groups are structured, social hierarchies are established, and coordination for hunting and predator avoidance may occur. In this article, we investigated how African penguins () respond to gaze cues of conspecifics using a naturalistic setup in a zoo environment. Our results provide evidence that members of the family Spheniscidae follow gaze of conspecifics into distant space. However, further tests are necessary to examine if the observed behaviour serves solely one specific function (e.g. predator detection) or is displayed in a broader context (e.g. eavesdropping on relevant stimuli in the environment). In addition, our findings can serve as a starting point for future cross-species comparisons with other members of the penguin family, to further explore the role of aerial predation and social structure on gaze following in social species. Overall, we also suggest that zoo-housed animals represent an ideal opportunity to extend species range and to test phylogenetic families that have not been in the focus of animal cognitive research.
注视跟随在动物中很普遍。然而，相应的终极功能可能有很大差异。因此，研究以前研究较少（或研究程度较低）的物种，对于更好地理解促进某些认知特征的生态环境很重要。企鹅（企鹅科）尽管种间生态差异很大，但以前并未被纳入跨物种比较的考虑范围。在过去几十年里，人们对企鹅的行为和交流进行了研究，但对于企鹅群体如何构成、社会等级制度如何建立，以及在捕猎和躲避捕食者时如何进行协作等方面，了解还较少。在本文中，我们在动物园环境中采用自然主义设置，研究了非洲企鹅（）如何对同种个体的注视线索做出反应。我们的结果提供了证据，表明企鹅科成员会跟随同种个体的注视看向远处空间。然而，还需要进一步测试，以检验观察到的行为是否仅服务于一种特定功能（例如捕食者检测），或者是否在更广泛的背景下表现出来（例如窃听环境中的相关刺激）。此外，我们的发现可以作为未来与企鹅家族其他成员进行跨物种比较的起点，以进一步探索空中捕食和社会结构在群居物种注视跟随中的作用。总体而言，我们还建议，圈养在动物园中的动物为扩展物种范围以及测试尚未成为动物认知研究焦点的系统发育家族提供了理想机会。
