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Tortoises Master Touchscreen Technology
"The brain structure of reptiles is very different to that of mammals" may seem like an understatement, but it doesn't mean that tortoises can't learn new skills.
Researchers at the University of Lincoln taught Esme and Quinn -- two red-footed tortoises -- to interact with a touch-screen. The tortoises learned that by touching one of two circles on the screen, they would earn a strawberry as a reward. They then went on to apply that spatial knowledge. When looking at two empty blue food bowls across the room, they navigated directly to the one on the same side as the "rewarding" circle on the touch-screen.
The training is significant because red-footed tortoises don’t have a hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with learning, memory and spatial navigation. They use an area known as the medial cortex, which is associated with decision making in humans.
Tortoises today are little different from their ancestors who roamed the world millions of years ago, so it seems unlikely that they'll evolve to use an iPad in the near future, but this experiment does show us that we're inclined to underestimate the intelligence of many species, especially those we might deem more "primitive" -- like the reptiles.
Think of Esme and Quinn when you spot turtle or tortoise on a menu, and go for the KindMeal.my option instead. You'll be rewarded for it! Explore delicious meat-free meals now at http://KindMeal.my/
Sources: http://bit.ly/1sGRALJ, http://bit.ly/1svwwXk
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