Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA.
Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2024 Aug;291(2027):20240911. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0911. Epub 2024 Jul 24.
Cognitive skills, such as innovative problem-solving, are hypothesized to aid animals in urban environments. However, the significance of innovation in wild populations, and its expression across individuals and socio-ecological conditions, is poorly understood. To identify how and when innovation arises in urban-dwelling species, we used advanced technologies and new testing and analytical methods to evaluate innovative problem-solving abilities of wild raccoons (). We deployed multi-compartment puzzle boxes with either one or multiple solution types and identified raccoons using radio frequency identification. Raccoons solved these novel extractive foraging tasks, and their success was influenced by age and exploratory diversity. Successful raccoons always discovered multiple different solution types, highlighting flexible problem-solving. Using a unique, comparative sequence analysis approach, we found that variation in raccoon solving techniques was greater between individuals than within individuals, and this self-similarity intensified during times of competition. Finally, the inclusion of an easier solution in the multi-solution trials enabled previously unsuccessful raccoons to bootstrap their learning and successfully open multiple difficult solutions. Our study suggests that innovative problem-solving is probably influenced by many factors and has provided novel field and analytical methods, as well as new insights on the socio-ecological dynamics of urban populations.
认知技能，如创新解决问题的能力，被假设可以帮助动物适应城市环境。然而，创新在野生动物种群中的重要性，以及它在个体和社会生态条件下的表现，还了解甚少。为了确定创新是如何以及何时在居住在城市的物种中产生的，我们使用先进的技术和新的测试和分析方法来评估野生浣熊的创新解决问题的能力（）。我们使用带有一个或多个解决方案类型的多隔间拼图盒，并使用射频识别来识别浣熊。浣熊解决了这些新颖的提取觅食任务，它们的成功受到年龄和探索多样性的影响。成功的浣熊总是发现了多种不同的解决方案，这突出了灵活的解决问题的能力。使用独特的、比较的序列分析方法，我们发现浣熊解决问题的技巧在个体之间的差异大于个体内部的差异，并且这种自相似性在竞争时期加剧。最后，在多解决方案试验中包含一个更简单的解决方案，使之前不成功的浣熊能够引导他们的学习，并成功地打开多个困难的解决方案。我们的研究表明，创新解决问题的能力可能受到许多因素的影响，并提供了新的现场和分析方法，以及对城市人口的社会生态动态的新见解。
