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Does the Post-Natal Social Environment Influence Cognitive Development in a Social Gecko?
Birgit Szabo1,2, Eva Ringler1
1Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern Switzerland.
Ecology and Evolution
|June 19, 2025
Summary
The early social environment significantly impacts the development of boldness and cognitive skills like spatial learning in tokay geckos. This research sheds light on how social experiences shape animal cognition.
Area of Science:
- Animal cognition
- Behavioral ecology
- Developmental biology
Background:
- The drivers of cognitive ability variation are debated, with sociality and environment as key hypotheses.
- The social intelligence hypothesis, linking cognition to social interaction, is primarily tested in highly social species.
- Developmental studies are scarce, limiting understanding of how early social experiences influence cognitive development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of the early post-natal social environment on behavior and cognition.
- To test the social intelligence hypothesis in a social lizard, the tokay gecko (Gekko gecko).
- To explore the causal link between early social environment and cognitive development.
Main Methods:
- Raising tokay geckos in different early social environments.
- Assessing behavioral development, including boldness and neophobia.
- Measuring cognitive performance, specifically associative learning.
Main Results:
- The early social environment significantly influenced the development of boldness.
- Variation in space neophobia was affected by the early social environment.
- Associative learning abilities showed differences based on early social experiences.
Conclusions:
- Early social environment plays a crucial role in shaping behavioral and cognitive development in tokay geckos.
- Findings support the broader applicability of social influences on cognition beyond highly social species.
- The study highlights the importance of developmental perspectives in understanding animal cognition and social intelligence.
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