title: Social learning in a non-social reptile (Geochelone carbonaria).
abstract: The ability to learn from the actions of another is adaptive, as it is a shortcut for acquiring new information. However, the evolutionary origins of this trait are still unclear. There is evidence that group-living mammals, birds, fishes and insects can learn through observation, but this has never been investigated in reptiles. Here, we show that the non-social red-footed tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria) can learn from the actions of a conspecific in a detour task; non-observer animals (without a conspecific demonstrator) failed. This result provides the first evidence that a non-social species can use social cues to solve a task that it cannot solve through individual learning, challenging the idea that social learning is an adaptation for social living.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna 1090, Austria. anna.wilkinson@univie.ac.at
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuenstner
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Ludwig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007858:Learning; D014426:Turtles / Q000502:physiology*