Benson-Amram Sarah, Griebling Hannah J, Sluka Christina M
Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
Department of Zoology, Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, 4200-6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
Anim Cogn. 2023 Jan;26(1):37-58. doi: 10.1007/s10071-022-01709-2. Epub 2022 Nov 4.
The field of animal cognition has advanced rapidly in the last 25 years. Through careful and creative studies of animals in captivity and in the wild, we have gained critical insights into the evolution of intelligence, the cognitive capacities of a diverse array of taxa, and the importance of ecological and social environments, as well as individual variation, in the expression of cognitive abilities. The field of animal cognition, however, is still being influenced by some historical tendencies. For example, primates and birds are still the majority of study species in the field of animal cognition. Studies of diverse taxa improve the generalizability of our results, are critical for testing evolutionary hypotheses, and open new paths for understanding cognition in species with vastly different morphologies. In this paper, we review the current state of knowledge of cognition in mammalian carnivores. We discuss the advantages of studying cognition in Carnivorans and the immense progress that has been made across many cognitive domains in both lab and field studies of carnivores. We also discuss the current constraints that are associated with studying carnivores. Finally, we explore new directions for future research in studies of carnivore cognition.
在过去25年里，动物认知领域发展迅速。通过对圈养和野生环境中的动物进行细致且富有创造性的研究，我们对智力的进化、各类生物分类群的认知能力，以及生态和社会环境以及个体差异在认知能力表现中的重要性，都有了至关重要的认识。然而，动物认知领域仍受到一些历史趋势的影响。例如，灵长类动物和鸟类仍是动物认知领域研究物种的主体。对不同生物分类群的研究提高了我们研究结果的普遍性，对检验进化假说至关重要，并且为理解形态差异极大的物种的认知开辟了新途径。在本文中，我们综述了哺乳动物食肉动物认知的当前知识状态。我们讨论了研究食肉动物认知的优势，以及在食肉动物的实验室和野外研究中，多个认知领域所取得的巨大进展。我们还讨论了当前与研究食肉动物相关的限制因素。最后，我们探索食肉动物认知研究未来的新方向。
