Study: Elephants Can Recognize Own Reflections

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The New York Sun

LONDON — Researchers exposed Happy, Maxine, and Patty — all adult Asian females at the Bronx Zoo in New York — to an 8-foot square mirror and discovered that they were aware that they were looking at their own reflections.

And in the case of Happy, she also touched a mark on her head that she could not have otherwise seen. In this way, elephants have joined a small, elite group of species — including humans, great apes, and dolphins — that have the ability to recognize themselves in the mirror.

This newly found presence of “mirror self-recognition” in elephants is thought to relate to empathetic tendencies and the ability to distinguish oneself from others.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Joshua Plotnik and Frans de Waal at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, and Diana Reiss at the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York.

“What’s so interesting about mirror self-recognition is how rare it is in the animal kingdom,” Mr. Plotnik said. “The only animals that have this capacity are the great apes, dolphins, and now elephants.”

All three elephants in the study initially showed exploratory behaviors when first introduced to the mirror, said Ms. Reiss, including trying to smell and look behind the mirror — they actually got up on their hind legs to do this.

She added: “This stage was followed by more repetitive types of movements that suggested they were checking out the contingencies of mirror use or their behavior at the mirror, and this was followed by a third stage of self-directed behavior, such as looking inside their mouths and bringing food to the mirror. “The animals did not mistake their reflection for that of another elephant.

Most important of all, Happy also passed a standard test known as the mark test in which each elephant was marked with paint on its forehead. This test — seen as the litmus mirror recognition test — produced the same results as when great apes and human children are presented with it. While only Happy passed the mark-touching test, the researchers note that fewer than half of chimpanzees tested typically pass.

“As a result of this, the elephant now joins a cognitive elite among animals commensurate with its complex social life and high intelligence,” Mr. de Waal said.


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