University Sorbonne Paris Nord, Paris, France.
Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Wohlenstrasse 50a, Bern, 3032, Switzerland.
Anim Cogn. 2024 Aug 7;27(1):55. doi: 10.1007/s10071-024-01896-0.
Social animals need to keep track of other individuals in their group to be able to adjust their behaviour accordingly and facilitate group cohesion. This recognition ability varies across species and is influenced by cognitive capacities such as learning and memory. In reptiles, particularly Squamates (lizards, snakes, and worm lizards), chemical communication is pivotal for territoriality, reproduction, and other social interactions. However, the cognitive processes underlying these social interactions remain understudied. In our study, we examined the ability of male and female Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko) to chemically differentiate familiar and unfamiliar mating partners. Our findings suggest that both sexes can make this distinction, with males responding more to the odour of a familiar mate, and females responding more to unfamiliar mates. The lizards maintained their discriminatory abilities for two to three weeks but not up to six weeks after separation. This research highlights the efficacy of using odours as social stimuli for investigating social cognition in lizards, a promising avenue to better understand social cognition in these animals.
社会性动物需要能够跟踪其群体中的其他个体，以便能够相应地调整其行为并促进群体凝聚力。这种识别能力因物种而异，并受到学习和记忆等认知能力的影响。在爬行动物中，特别是有鳞目动物（蜥蜴、蛇和蚓蜥），化学通讯对于领地性、繁殖和其他社会互动至关重要。然而，这些社会互动背后的认知过程仍未得到充分研究。在我们的研究中，我们检查了雄性和雌性东非爪蟾（Gekko gecko）区分熟悉和不熟悉交配伙伴的能力。我们的研究结果表明，两性都能够做出这种区分，雄性对熟悉伴侣的气味反应更强烈，而雌性对不熟悉伴侣的气味反应更强烈。蜥蜴在分离后两到三周内保持其区分能力，但不能持续到六周。这项研究强调了使用气味作为社会刺激来研究蜥蜴社会认知的有效性，这是一种更好地理解这些动物社会认知的有前途的途径。
