Scientists use food puzzles to show how otters learn from each other

Scientists have found that otter's are able to learn from each other but prefer to solve their own puzzles.

The semi-aquatic mammals are known to be very social and intelligent, but a study has given new insight into their intelligence.

Some of the boxes that were given to the otter contained familiar food, while others held unfamiliar natural prey like shore crab and blue mussels.

For meatballs, a favorite with the Asian short-clawed otter in the study, the scientists had five different types of boxes, and the method to extract the food changed in each version.

The otter didn't know if the crab and mussels were safe to eat and didn't know how to get them out of their shells, which made it more difficult.

In order to decide if the food was safe to eat, the otter's companions looked at the boxes and copied what the other otter had eaten.

They spent more time trying to figure out how to remove the meat from the shells on their own and relied less on their friends. The meat from all three types of natural prey was obtained by 11 otter.

Artificial food puzzles are the focus of much of the research into the otter's learning abilities.

We wanted to investigate such skills in the context of unfamiliar natural prey and artificial food puzzles.

The team knew how well they knew each other before the test. They looked at whether associates learned quickly from one another.

Rats prefer novel food types that they have smelled on the breath of other rats, and other animals use social learning to determine what is safe to eat.

If captive-bred otter are to be released into the wild, scientists hope that they will be able to learn how to survive in the wild.

The captive otter in this study was able to learn how to extract food. Some of the information from the otter pre-release training can be passed on to other people.