Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are able to time precisely

Area of Science:

• Animal Behavior
• Sensory Perception
• Marine Biology

Background:

• Spatial perception has been studied in marine mammals, but the sense of time remains largely unexplored.
• Timing is likely critical for behaviors like foraging and navigation in marine environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the presence and precision of a sense of time in harbour seals.
• To determine how accurately harbour seals can discriminate between different time intervals.

Main Methods:

• Experiments were conducted in a controlled chamber with constant low illumination (40 lx).
• A two-alternative forced-choice task was used, presenting visual stimuli for preset durations.
• Time difference thresholds were assessed using a staircase procedure for intervals ranging from 3 to 30 seconds.

Main Results:

• The harbour seal learned the task readily.
• The animal demonstrated the ability to discriminate time intervals with difference thresholds in the millisecond range.

Conclusions:

• Harbour seals exhibit a well-developed sense of time.
• Temporal information is likely a significant sensory parameter for harbour seals, aiding in tasks such as navigation and foraging.