The role of early sensory experience in the prey catching responses of Salamandra salamandra to stationary prey.
Two groups of newly metamorphosed Salamandra salamandra (L.) were raised with living and with stationary prey, respectively. One year later, the group which had experience exclusively with stationary prey was significantly better in responding to stationary prey than the group which only had experience with moving prey. This was the case both under light and dark conditions. The experiments show that prey-catching behavior in salamanders can be considerably modified by experience.
D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D002755:Choice Behavior; D008027:Light; D009068:Movement; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012454:Salamandra