Dr. Simon Reader of Faculty of Biology, Utrecht University
Co-referee: Prof. Johan Verreth, Aquaculture and Fisheries Group of Wageningen University
Fish are rarely heralded as intellectual champions, and certainly not as ‘cultured’. Yet the humble pet-shop guppy has been shown to learn from its compatriots: they will learn where to feed, how to escape from threats, even who to mate with, by observing others. They can recognise up to fifty other individuals, and will discriminate between individuals they do or do not know. In their performance in such social learning tasks they have been said to rival animals traditionally viewed as ‘intelligent’, such as chimpanzees. But are guppies something special, or are simple, widespread processes operating? And what are the implications of these learning abilities for the conservation and care of fish in general?
On every first Tuesday of the month, an invited speaker will present a topic related to animal sciences.
Speaker and topic will, and are meant to, provoke discussion among the audience of staff, postdocs, PhD and MSc students, and guests. Drinks after the presentation and discussion.
Calendar 2007: 6 Feb ABG, 6 Mar EZO, 3 Apr HAP, 1 May CBI, 5 Jun ADP, 4 Sep ANU, 2 Oct APS