Research Highlights
Nature 459, 618 (4 June 2009) | doi:10.1038/459618a; Published online
3 June 2009
Animal behaviour: Pretty please
Anim. Behav. 10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.03.11 (2009)
Many young animals beg for food from their elders. But, eventually,
the pleading stops or the charity dries up. Joah Madden, at the
University of Cambridge, UK, and his team looked to find the
biological triggers that put an end to begging behaviour by studying
free-ranging meerkats (Suricata suricatta) of the Kalahari Desert in
South Africa over an 18-month period.
The group analysed the begging calls of meerkat pups aged between 40
and 60 days — the peak of their begging behaviour — and compared them
with the calls of the same individuals aged 100–120 days. Experimental
playback to adults revealed that lower-pitched juvenile calls reaped
fewer rewards than the pleading of pups.
Enjoy!
Xiao
XIAO, Jianqiang, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Psychology Department
Rutgers University
152 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854
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