Features of learning in toads Bufo viridis during behavior that requires taking into account the limits of their own bodies

Abstract

The goal of this work was to study the ability of the green toad Bufo viridis to form skills based on tactile sensations arising in the process of interaction between animal’s body and external objects. During the experiment we varied the proportions of the holes in the experimental setup, through which the animal penetrated, and the limits of the animal bodies by attaching blankets to their body with an extraneous object. It was found that toads can to take into account the natural limits of their own body when interacting with external objects, and also transfer this experience in a situation where the proportions of the holes in the experiment setup was varied. When the limits of the toad body were urgently changed so that these changes prevent the animals from penetration into certain types of holes, these animals did not learn to take into account the fact that the holes previously permeable to the natural limits of their bodies became impenetrable after increasing these limits. We state that these data indicate that the toads even before the experiment began had experience of taking into account the natural boundaries of their bodies. But toads are not able to modify their body schema, when the limits of their bodies are urgently increased.

Snakes Elaphe Radiata May Acquire Awareness of Their Body Limits When Trying to Hide in a Shelter

“…In similar studies conducted on skinks, it was found that these animals are also able to take into account both natural and artificially increased (using objects attached to their heads) limits of their body when choosing a suitable hole to reach the lure [55]. Amphibians (European green toads) are able to take into account only the natural, but not artificially increased, limits of their bodies when solving an escape task [56].…”

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“…В ходе наших исследований, проводившихся с 2004 г., мы изучали феномен body-awareness у различных видов животных (Хватов, 2011;Хватов и др., 2016а, 2016б;Хватов, Желанкин, 2018;Khvatov et al, 2019). Животные решали задачу на соотнесение границ собственного тела с размерами отверстий в экспериментальной установке для проникновения в определенный отсек.…”