Szabo, Birgit; Ringler, Eva (2023). Geckos differentiate self from other using both skin and faecal chemicals: evidence towards self-recognition? Animal cognition, 26(3), pp. 1011-1019. Springer 10.1007/s10071-023-01751-8
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Self-recognition is the ability to recognise stimuli originating from oneself. Humans and some non-human animals show evidence of true visual self-recognition in the mirror test. They use their reflection to inspect themselves and to remove a mark that is only visible in the mirror. Not all animals, however, rely primarily on vision. In lizards, chemical cues are crucial in social interactions, and therefore, lizards would benefit from a chemical self-other distinction. Here, we test the tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), a social species, on their ability to discriminate their own skin and faecal chemicals from those of same-sex, unfamiliar conspecifics. We predicted that individuals would show more self-directed behaviour when confronted with the chemicals from unfamiliar individuals within their home enclosure as a sign of the need for increased comparison. Geckos showed higher self-directed responses towards chemicals from unfamiliar individuals compared to self-produced chemicals and a water control. Furthermore, scat and skin chemicals (regardless of origin) elicited similar but stronger responses than peppermint oil pointing towards a possible social function of scat piles. Although further tests and controls are needed, our study provides evidence towards chemical self-recognition and for a social function of scat piling in tokay geckos.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Behavioural Ecology 08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Szabo, Birgit, Ringler, Eva |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology) 500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology |
ISSN: |
1435-9456 |
Publisher: |
Springer |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Pubmed Import |
Date Deposited: |
09 Feb 2023 08:39 |
Last Modified: |
01 Apr 2023 00:14 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1007/s10071-023-01751-8 |
PubMed ID: |
36753008 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Chemical discrimination Communication Reptile Social cognition Squamate |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/178554 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/178554 |
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