Comments on: The Self-Recognition Club Expands: Magpies

By: Gary Hurd

Gary Hurd — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:18:11 +0000

I recall the elephant “passed” as well.

By: Austringer

Austringer — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:21:49 +0000

One can make an opposite argument about cuttlefish, that being so easily able to control self-appearance would make it particularly easy to test whether one is meeting oneself.

The second one, the lack of mirror-like surfaces encountered naturally, applies equally well to bottlenose dolphins, who passed.

But it does point out that as tantalizing as results from mirror self-recognition studies are, they are not completely applicable across the range of species.

A good read about cognitive ethology in general is provided by Marc Bekoff and Colin Allen.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:31:20 +0000

If I recall my Frans de Waal readings correctly, I believe the positive list also includes orangutans, elephants, and gorillas (the last being a long time hold-out). I wouldn’t be surprised a little digging would show that some or all of these are still controversial, though.

By: Rob C.

Rob C. — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:08:43 +0000

Cuttlefish have unusual difficulties with self-recognition in mirrors, I would think: cuttlefish skin texture and colouration is so infinitely malleable, visual recognition would have to be an order of magnitude harder.

Unlike air-breathing creatures, too, who might see themselves in reflecting pools from time to time, where would a cuttlefish ever see itself?