Ratites are smarter than you think
Ravens and parrots are considered to be sharp, whereas pigeons and emus are considered to be rather stupid. Science was wrong about pigeons. And now it looks as if it will also have to rethink its approach to ratites.
Emus are considered by some observers to be the dumbest birds on earth, for example because they seem to run unthinkingly into fences (which did not exist in their habitat) or because humans can simply keep them in check by holding a stick over their heads. Yet their mental abilities may simply not have been adequately studied, as a paper by Fay Clark of the University of Bristol and her team attests: In tests, the birds were able to technically help themselves to get food. This is the first evidence that the phylogenetically ancient subclass of prehistoric birds (Palaeognathae) can also solve complex tasks, the scientists write.
Previously, these abilities had only been thought to belong to the New Pine Birds, to which the vast majority of birds belong and which include recognised smart representatives such as parrots and corvids. For the study, Clark and co selected representatives of three ratite species at the local zoo, who had to move a rotating wheel so that it was aligned with a hole behind which food was waiting as a reward. Each emu, ostrich and nandu had ten attempts to test the principle and arrive at a solution.
The ostriches did not succeed, but three emus and one nandu developed a method that efficiently moved the hole towards the nearest piece of food 90 per cent of the time. One nandu solved the task twice by removing the centre bolt of the wheel. However, when it discovered the solution involving turning, it only used this technique.
The researchers categorise this innovation in prehistoric birds as relatively simple: it is less complex than the development of techniques observed in crows and parrots. Nevertheless, this is a very important finding, Clark and her team write. This suggests that technical innovations in the course of evolution developed even earlier in birds than previously assumed.
Spectrum of Science
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