Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Natural Sciences
First Advisor
Gardiner, Jayne
Area of Concentration
Marine Biology
Abstract
Research on the memory and cognitive abilities of skates is generally lackluster and not much is known about the abilities of these animals. Little skates, Leucoraja erinacea, were trained to associate either a cylinder, cube, or a pyramid with a food reward. After training, the skates were then tasked with selecting the shape they had been trained to against another, unfamiliar shape in the challenge phase. The successful animals (those achieving a success rate of 70% or higher in the challenge phase) then moved on to the dark testing phase, where the animals were challenged to select their correct shape in a darkened room, under infrared light. Of the nine skates tested, four were successful in the challenge phase and moved on to the dark testing phase, where none of the skates were very successful in selecting the correct shape in the dark. The skate’s inability to select their shape in the dark is indicative of the animals relying on visual cues to recognize objects in their natural environment. However, a larger sample size and longer dark testing phase would further support this conclusion.
Recommended Citation
Zimmerman, Rachel J., "Three- Dimensional Shape Discrimination in the Little Skate, Leucoraja erinacea" (2017). Theses & ETDs. 5457.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5457