Earthwatch-supported researchers find older meerkats teach young how to handle prey
Earthwatch Institute, Maynard, MA, 1 August 2006-Scientists from University of Cambridge, part of a team supported by Earthwatch Institute, have discovered that older meerkats teach pups how to obtain food by incrementally introducing dead, injured, and then live prey. Although examples of learning in animals have been widely documented, whether wild mammals actually teach their young has been hotly debated, until now.
The findings were published in a recent issue of the journal Science, in an article titled "Teaching in Wild Meerkats," by Alex Thornton and Katherine McAuliffe, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge. The authors are part of the Earthwatch-supported Kalahari Meerkat Project, initiated a decade ago by renowned behavioral ecologist Prof. Tim Clutton-Brock in the South Africa's Kuruman River Reserve.
"A greater understanding of the evolution of teaching is essential if we are to further our knowledge of human cultural evolution," said Alex Thornton, University of Cambridge. "It also allows us to examine the relations between culture in our own species and cultural behavior in other animals."
Meerkats, social members of the mongoose family, live in groups of three to forty individuals in the arid regions of southern Africa. Each group includes a dominant male and female who produce more than 80 percent of the pups. They get help rearing these young from other parents of both sexes and young immature helpers.
Meerkats typically feed on a range of unwieldy and often dangerous prey, including scorpions. Pups are initially incapable of finding their own prey and therefore rely on provisions from other members of the group, who respond to their begging calls for food. This is where the education of meerkat pups begins.
The Kalahari team discovered that in order for the helpers to teach the pups how to handle food without putting them in harm's way, the older meerkats would kill or disable the prey before providing it to the youngest pups. In the case of the scorpions, they often removed the sting. The helpers would then modify the frequency with which they killed or disabled the prey according to the pups' age, recognized by their call, gradually introducing pups to live prey as they became older.
Like any good teacher, the helpers would also monitor the pup after they had provided it with food. If the pup was reluctant to handle the prey, the older meerkat would nudge the item towards them to encourage it. Additionally, if the prey wandered off, the helper would retrieve the item and return it to the pup, sometimes further disabling the prey.
For the past four years, teams of Earthwatch volunteers have helped Prof. Clutton-Brock and his colleagues investigate the social behavior of meerkats at Kuruman River Reserve. By carefully monitoring the activities of a habituated population with known individuals, they have helped reveal many fascinating activities of this highly social species. For instance, a study published earlier this year by Andrew Young and Clutton-Brock reported that dominant female meerkats kill and eat their rival's young.
Earthwatch Institute is a global volunteer organization that supports scientific field research by offering members of the public unique opportunities to work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. Earthwatch's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. The year 2006 marks Earthwatch's 35th anniversary.
For more information about the meerkats, go to: www.earthwatch.org/meerkatmania
Find more information on how to volunteer on Meerkats of the Kalahari at:http://www.earthwatch.org/expeditions/cluttonbrock.html
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