Field experiments on duration and precision of grey and red squirrel spatial memory

Area of Science:

• Animal behavior
• Cognitive ecology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Squirrels rely on caching food for survival, necessitating effective spatial memory.
• The adaptive specialization hypothesis posits that cognitive abilities evolve based on ecological demands.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the spatial memory capabilities of grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) under naturalistic conditions.
• To compare the spatial memory of grey squirrels with that of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in relation to their caching strategies.

Main Methods:

• Field experiments using buried food items as spatial goals for squirrels.
• Assessing retrieval accuracy and retention intervals for grey and red squirrels.

Main Results:

• Grey squirrels accurately relocated buried food within 5 cm in 62.5% of trials after 20 days, with some recall at 43 and 62 days.
• Red squirrels, less reliant on food storage, showed less persistent spatial memory.

Conclusions:

• Grey squirrels possess spatial memory accurate enough for successful cache retrieval.
• Cognitive functions, like spatial memory, are shaped by ecological pressures and foraging strategies.