Crows Understand Basic Geometry And Can Tell The Difference Between Shapes
Crows are considered to be among the smartest creatures on Earth. They have cognitive abilities at the levels of five- to seven-year-old human children. A new study has found that these birds are also capable of understanding basic geometry.
Researchers reported that carrion crows can recognize “geometric regularity,” which means stuff like symmetry, parallel lines, right angles, and length of sides.
Additionally, they could tell the difference between shapes like squares, stars, and crescents, as well as the difference between squares and irregular figures with four sides.
Previously, it was believed that this ability was unique to humans, but the findings suggest that other species are also capable of such feats.
Two male carrion crows (Corvus corone) were placed in front of a digital screen in a laboratory to test their mathematical abilities.
Six shapes were displayed on the screen, and the birds were trained to peck at the one that looked different from the rest.
Each time they chose correctly, the researchers rewarded them with a snack of either a mealworm or a bird seed pellet.
Initially, the outliers were obvious, such as one flower amid five crescents. But as the birds became more familiar with the task, the research team made the experiment more difficult.
They showed the crows similar-looking squares, parallelograms, and other irregular four-sided shapes. The crows still managed to pick out the outlier even as the game grew more challenging, and they stopped receiving treats.
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It is unclear why crows would need to adapt the ability to tell shapes apart, but the researchers think it may help the birds with navigation and orientation when in flight. It also may assist them with foraging for food or identifying other crows based on facial features.
“All these capabilities, at the end of the day, from a biological point of view, have evolved because they provide a survival advantage or a reproductive advantage,” said Andreas Nieder, a senior author of the study and a neurophysiologist at the University of Tübingen in Germany.
Hopefully, in the future, scientists can investigate which areas of the crows’ brains are helping them with geometry. Birds do not have a cerebral cortex in the same way that humans do.
For humans, that part of the brain is responsible for thinking and other complex functions. Crows have these abilities as well, so there must be something else in their heads that aids them in geometry.
Perhaps one day, research will also look into the “geometric regularity” abilities of other species. Researchers have conducted similar experiments with baboons before, but the primates did not seem to have the same mathematical skills as us.
It is unlikely that humans and crows are the only ones in the animal kingdom with this ability. Time can only tell what species share our level of intelligence.
The paper was published in Science Advances.
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