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Reversed sound-shape association in tortoises (Testudo marginata).

Giovanna Marliani1, Gionata Stancher2, Maria Loconsole3

  • 1Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.

Animal Cognition
|July 14, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Tortoises exhibit a reversed Bouba-Kiki effect, exploring shapes opposite to sound associations seen in humans. This suggests crossmodal cognition may differ across species or be influenced by task structure.

Keywords:
Testudo marginataAnimal cognitionBouba-Kiki effectCross-modal correspondencesTortoise

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Comparative Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Crossmodal correspondences are spontaneous sensory links observed across species.
  • The Bouba-Kiki effect, linking sound symbolism to shape, is documented in humans, infants, and some animals.
  • Reptiles' crossmodal perception remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the Bouba-Kiki effect in the marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata).
  • To determine if tortoises exhibit sound-shape correspondences similar to humans and birds.
  • To explore the role of task structure in crossmodal perception.

Main Methods:

  • A free-exploration task was designed for 10 marginated tortoises.
  • Tortoises were exposed to "Bouba" and "Kiki" sounds paired with round and spiky 3D objects.
  • Exploration time for each object during different sound playbacks was recorded.

Main Results:

  • Tortoises displayed a reversed Bouba-Kiki effect compared to humans.
  • They explored the round object longer during "Kiki" sound playback.
  • They explored the spiky object longer during "Bouba" sound playback.

Conclusions:

  • The reversed sound-shape mapping in tortoises challenges universal assumptions of crossmodal cognition.
  • The findings may indicate an interaction between innate sound-shape correspondences and task-specific exploratory behaviors.
  • Alternatively, tortoises might possess fundamentally different perceptual organization principles for crossmodal associations.