The Species Corvus Corax - 1561 Words

The species Corvus corax is well known and recognized as one of the smartest animals in the world. Many studies have been conducted in investigating sophistication of its cognitive processes in recent years. A good number of them support this withstanding belief of high intelligence. Others reveal gaps in factors of their intelligence that were not previously presumed.. Pfuhl (2012), Schied Bugnyar (2008) and Boeckle Bugnayr (2012) studies show very proficient spatial reasoning and memory in ravens. On the contrary, other studies like Scholegl et al. (2008) and Albiach-Serrano et al. (2012) display a lack of aptitude in factors like understanding context and patterns compared to other cognitively gifted animals. Although even with†¦show more content†¦In the recent decades, this theory of high intelligence has gone under much research and experimentation to intent to establish the extent of corvid cognition. Multiple studies have been conductive on Corvus corax examining i ts cognitive abilities. They have related these abilities to the species phenology and evolution along with other cognitively gifted animals, such as apes (van Horik et al. 2012). While the belief of high intelligence remains relatively true for certain cognitive aspects such as spatial reasoning and memory, these corvids prove less competent in the areas like contextual understanding and problem solving with patterns. Literature Review Well Developed Cognitive Processes Reasoning. Spatial reasoning plays into the concept of intelligence and it aids to the survival of organisms. It is useful to know one’s orientation in the world and being able to draw inferences from another object’s or organisms orientation. In a 2012 study conducted by Gerit Pfuhl, ravens were tested in their spatial and causal reasoning based on pulling a set of strings. The major factor of this was which of the strings they decided to pull. The procedure was to attach meat and/or a weighted object (i.e., a small block of wood) to strings, alternating the position of the food and wood in the string and putting the strings at a certain height. The strings were the hung from a specialShow MoreRelatedHonors Biology-Early Topics3382 Words   |  14 Pages CHAPTER 25 Estimates of the number of living species in the world vary from 5 million to 80 million. Most scientists might consider 30 million to be a reasonable figure. Of these we have so far discovered about 1.5 million. Other estimates have put the total number of species that have existed on this planet since life began some 3.8 billion years ago at about 50 billion. In other words, the number of species that exist now (including undiscovered ones) is less than 1% of theRead MoreThe Allegheny Woodrat ( Neotoma Magister )2230 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction The Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister) is a small mammal that is endemic to the United States. They live in the eastern part of the United States in deciduous forests. Their species can be found from the Appalachian Mountains through the interior Highland regions, including western Connecticut to northern Alabama (Castleberry et al 2006). Woodrats are restricted to areas that have rocky structures such as caves, fissures, and boulder piles and live within the spaces between rocks