Slowly walking down to the more food: relative quantity discrimination in African spurred tortoises (Centrochelys sulcata)

This study examined the effects of ratio and number size on relative quantity discrimination in African spurred tortoises (Centrochelys sulcata). To assess these effects, tortoises were presented with trays containing favored food pieces in all possible number combinations between 1 and 7. The tortoises had to approach the tray they perceived as having the larger quantity. If correct, they received one piece of food as reinforcement. The results revealed that relative quantity discrimination was influenced by the ratio between the numbers of pieces, with performance improving as the ratio between the numbers increased. This finding suggests that the approximate number system or analogue magnitude estimation may control their behavior. However, as the number size increased, their performance declined, also suggesting that the approximate number system alone could not explain the present results.PMID:37477740 | DOI:10.1007/s10071-023-01812-y
Source: Animal Cognition - Category: Zoology Authors: Source Type: research