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Clever stingray fish use tools to solve problems
bbc ^ | 13 January 2010 | Jody Bourton

Posted on 01/13/2010 8:21:08 AM PST by JoeProBono

Freshwater stingrays use water as a "tool" in problem-solving tests, scientists reveal for the first time.

Researchers gave South American freshwater stingrays tests to evaluate their problem-solving ability.

The stingrays learned to use jets of water as a tool to extract a meal of hidden food from a plastic pipe.

It reveals that the fish, once thought a "simple reflex animal", has cognitive abilities to rival birds, reptiles and mammals, scientists say.

Scientists from Israel, Austria and the US publish their study in the journal Animal Cognition.

Tool use in fish is far from anything seen in birds or mammals

Freshwater stingrays, found in many tropical waters such as the Amazon river, are related to ocean stingrays. Like sharks, they have skeletons made of cartilage, rather the bony skeletons of less closely related teleost fish.

In the past, scientists have assumed that such cartilaginous fish have limited cognitive abilities, in part because they have been difficult to study, says Dr Michael Kuba from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel who undertook the latest study.

His team tested the ability of captive South American stingrays (Potamotrygon castexi) to solve problems, by setting them a series of underwater tasks.

A stingray uses jets of water to remove food stuck among plants Using a plastic pipe with one end sealed and containing hidden food, researchers observed how the fish overcame the challenge of getting the meal from the container.

They also tested the fish to see if it could discriminate between black and white ends of the tube.

The stingrays not only performed the tasks well but also demonstrated a range of problem-solving strategies, including using water as a "tool" to obtain the hidden reward......

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: austria; israel; stingray

1 posted on 01/13/2010 8:21:09 AM PST by JoeProBono
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To: JoeProBono

2 posted on 01/13/2010 8:22:31 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: All

3 posted on 01/13/2010 8:23:43 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: All

4 posted on 01/13/2010 8:24:47 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: JoeProBono

They will be signed up to vote democrat next, they meet all the requirments!!


5 posted on 01/13/2010 8:24:53 AM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (THE SECOND AMENDMENT, A MATTER OF FACT, NOT A MATTER OF OPINION)
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To: SWAMPSNIPER

I don’t know. Their problem solving skills might put them a step or two above the Dem voter IQ.


6 posted on 01/13/2010 8:26:36 AM PST by AFreeBird (Going Rogue in 2012)
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To: SWAMPSNIPER
Yo Sniper! How's the weather down there?


7 posted on 01/13/2010 8:28:13 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: JoeProBono

So squirting water is now a “tool”? If that’s a “tool” then why is this shocking? The trigger fish or whatever it is has been known to scientists and uses a jet of water to knock insects off of things and into the water.


8 posted on 01/13/2010 8:33:47 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: JoeProBono

Batter ‘em up, and deep fry ‘em! Yum!


9 posted on 01/13/2010 8:36:20 AM PST by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
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To: HamiltonJay

Called the archer fish and you’re exactly right. Why is this a “tool”?


10 posted on 01/13/2010 8:37:54 AM PST by Flycatcher (God speaks to us, through the supernal lightness of birds, in a special type of poetry.)
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To: JoeProBono

Are you sayings that the death of Steve Erwin may have been premeditated?


11 posted on 01/13/2010 8:43:16 AM PST by dangerdoc
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To: JoeProBono

They're smarter than this guy.

12 posted on 01/13/2010 8:46:02 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: martin_fierro

Real classy.


13 posted on 01/13/2010 8:49:55 AM PST by TChris ("Hello", the politician lied.)
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To: JoeProBono

It’s warming up nicely, blue skies and sunshine.


14 posted on 01/13/2010 8:51:56 AM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (THE SECOND AMENDMENT, A MATTER OF FACT, NOT A MATTER OF OPINION)
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To: martin_fierro

15 posted on 01/13/2010 8:52:40 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: TChris
Real selective memory.
16 posted on 01/13/2010 8:58:13 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: martin_fierro
Odd. The animation mocking the victim's death didn't come through on my post.

Must be my internet connection.

17 posted on 01/13/2010 9:02:45 AM PST by TChris ("Hello", the politician lied.)
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To: TChris

Turn off your “Distinction Without A Difference” filter.

That generally works.


18 posted on 01/13/2010 9:49:20 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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