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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Assessing Spatial Learning and Memory in Small Squamate Reptiles

Assessing Spatial Learning and Memory in Small Squamate Reptiles

Published on: January 3, 2017

Age-dependent social learning in a lizard.

Daniel W A Noble¹, Richard W Byrne², Martin J Whiting³

¹Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia.

Biology Letters

|July 11, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Young male lizards learned faster with a demonstrator, showing age-dependent social learning in reptiles. This suggests social learning is more common in solitary species than previously thought.

Keywords:

cognition lizard social learning

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Area of Science:

Ethology
Behavioral Ecology
Herpetology

Background:

Social learning, where one animal learns from another, is primarily documented in mammals and birds.
This phenomenon may extend to less social species, benefiting them in acquiring information about resources and threats.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate age-dependent social learning in the mostly solitary lizard Eulamprus quoyii.
To determine if social learning influences the acquisition of foraging information in lizards.

Main Methods:

Male Eulamprus quoyii lizards of 'young' and 'old' age classes were trained in a two-step foraging task.
The task involved a novel instrumental component and an association task, with some individuals learning in the presence of a demonstrator.

Main Results:

No age-dependent learning was observed for the instrumental task.
Young males learned the association task significantly faster when a demonstrator was present compared to those without.
Old males showed similar learning rates regardless of demonstrator presence.

Conclusions:

This study provides the first evidence of age-dependent social learning in lizards.
The findings suggest that social information plays a role in learning for solitary reptiles, broadening the known scope of social learning.
Social learning may be a more widespread adaptation than previously assumed across diverse taxa.