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Continuous and discrete quantity discrimination in tortoises.

Andrea Gazzola1, Giorgio Vallortigara2, Daniele Pellitteri-Rosa1

  • 11 Laboratorio di Eco-Etologia, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Università di Pavia , 27100 Pavia , Italy.

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Hermann's tortoises can discern larger quantities of food, demonstrating numerical abilities previously underestimated in reptiles. This research highlights ancient vertebrate systems for quantity estimation.

Keywords:
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Area of Science:

  • Comparative Cognition
  • Herpetology
  • Animal Behaviour

Background:

  • Numerical cognition is vital for animal behaviour, particularly foraging.
  • Reptilian numerical abilities are understudied, with some lizard studies suggesting deficits.
  • This gap prompts investigation into whether reptiles possess quantity discrimination skills.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the spontaneous quantity discrimination abilities in Hermann's tortoises (Testudo hermanni).
  • To determine if tortoises can select larger quantities based on numerousness and size.
  • To assess if their performance aligns with Weber's Law, indicating a ratio-dependent numerical system.

Main Methods:

  • Presented tortoises with choices between two food options differing in quantity (numerousness) or size.
  • Used controlled ratios for size discrimination (0.25, 0.50, 0.67, 0.75) and numerousness discrimination (1 vs 4, 2 vs 4, 2 vs 3, 3 vs 4).
  • Recorded choices to assess spontaneous selection of the larger quantity.

Main Results:

  • Tortoises successfully discriminated larger quantities when options differed in size.
  • Tortoises also successfully discriminated larger quantities when options differed in numerousness.
  • Performance was dependent on the ratio of quantities, consistent with Weber's Law.

Conclusions:

  • Hermann's tortoises exhibit spontaneous abilities for both size and numerousness discrimination.
  • These findings challenge the notion of reptiles as having limited numerical skills.
  • Chelonians possess an ancient system for numerical magnitude extrapolation, shared across vertebrates.