Horse Sense
Horses share a close relationship with humans in their daily lives. Domesticated over 5,500 years ago, they, like dogs, are attentive to humans and their behavior. Moreover, they are very social animals, living in large, stable groups in the wild. Thus, one would expect horses to have developed sophisticated social abilities to cope with the complex relationships they can form. Researchers recently put these abilities to the test.
Read about horses’ social sense at my Animal Minds blog: The Social Smarts of Horses.
Cow Talk
According to new research, cows talk to one another, expressing their emotions, both positive and negative, through individualized voices. The researchers say the findings have implications for farmers and animal welfare.
Read more at my Animal Minds blog: How Cows Express Emotions.
Empathy as a 'Danger Antenna' in Rats
Rats are social animals, exquisitely attuned to the emotions of the rats around them. In a new study published in PLoS Biology, researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience show that rats may use this sense of empathy as a way to gauge danger.
Read the whole story at my Animal Minds blog: Empathy as a 'Danger Antenna' in Rats.
Playful Meerkats Mirror One Another's Expressions
When two animals are play fighting, how do they avoid misunderstandings and communicate to one another that they’re not serious? One way meerkats do it is by making a special facial expression - and mimicking the facial expressions of their playmates.
Read the whole story at my Animal Minds blog: Playful Meerkats Mirror One Another's Expressions.
Emotional Mirror Neurons in Rats
Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have demonstrated that specific neurons in the rat brain are active both when a rat experiences pain itself and when it observes another rat in pain. The results, published today in Current Biology, suggest that sharing the emotions of others is a common mammalian trait.
Read my article on the study here: Rats Feel One Another's Pain.