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Performance of African elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) and California sea lions ( Zalophus californianus ) on a two‐choice object discrimination task
Author(s) -
Savage Anne,
Rice James M.,
Brangan Jon M.,
Martini David P.,
Pugh James A.,
Miller C. Daniel
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
zoo biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.5
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1098-2361
pISSN - 0733-3188
DOI - 10.1002/zoo.1430130109
Subject(s) - zalophus californianus , sea lion , biology , context (archaeology) , task (project management) , zoology , ecology , paleontology , management , economics
This study documents the ability of African elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) and California sea lions ( Zalophus californianus ) to perform a two‐choice object discrimination task. Both species were able to perform this task. However, California sea lions took fewer trials overall to reach a criterion of 10 consecutively correct responses than did African elephants. The performance of California sea lions did not change significantly during this study. However, African elephants showed a gradual learning of the task, as exhibited by a gradual decrease in the number of trials needed to reach criterion. This performance difference may reflect differences in either visual abilities or cognitive functioning, which in turn may be influenced by either different evolutionary pressures exerted on herbivores and carnivores, or by the context in which visual information is used in the lives of these animals. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.