Visual Discrimination in the Ferret

Pollard, Jane; Lysons, Art; Preston, A. C.

doi:10.2466/pms.1967.24.1.279

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…The current results agree with Slack's (1966) study showing the ability of two North American river otters to discriminate between shapes, including a circle and triangle. In addition, another mustelid species, the ferret (M. putorius), discriminated between shapes that included an inverted triangle versus an upright triangle and an upright triangle versus a cross (Pollard et al, 1967). Neither Slack (1966) nor Pollard et al (1967) reported the surface area of their stimuli, and an examination of Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…New Zealand ferrets (Mustela putorius) were able to discriminate a solid upright triangle versus an inverted triangle and an upright triangle versus a cross (Pollard, Beale, Lysons, & Preston, 1967). The discriminations were maintained when the stimuli were modified to outlines or rotated (Pollard et al, 1967). Mink (Mustela vision) and ferrets (Mustela furo) achieved performance similar to primates in a learning-set formation task, although the stimuli varied in brightness, surface area, and thickness in addition to shape (Doty, Jones, & Doty, 1967).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Mustelid species other than L. canadensis appear to have been tested for shape discrimination ability in only a couple studies. New Zealand ferrets (Mustela putorius) were able to discriminate a solid upright triangle versus an inverted triangle and an upright triangle versus a cross (Pollard, Beale, Lysons, & Preston, 1967). The discriminations were maintained when the stimuli were modified to outlines or rotated (Pollard et al, 1967).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) discriminate between 2D objects varying in shape and color

et al. 2018

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We investigated the ability of North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) to visually discriminate between 2D objects. The otters learned to discriminate between stimuli using multiple visual features and then were tested with stimuli in which one of the features was eliminated (color or shape). Two adult otters were trained in a two-alternative forced choice task to discriminate between a red circle and a blue triangle. Test sessions included probe trials containing novel shapes, colors, or shape-color combinations. Both otters successfully learned to discriminate between stimuli varying in multiple features. One of the otters was able to successfully discriminate between novel test stimuli when either color or shape were eliminated as salient features. This study was the first to explore the ability of L. canadensis to use different visual features to recognize objects and provides some preliminary evidence for color vision in this species. This research adds to the sparse literature on perceptual and cognitive capabilities in otters and can be used to support future conservation efforts for this species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) discriminate between 2D objects varying in shape and color

et al. 2018

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“…Many different terrestrial and aquatic animals have demonstrated the ability to discriminate between 2D or 3D stimuli varying in shape. Mammals that have been tested include dolphins (Harley, Roitblat, & Nachtigall, 1996;von Fersen, Schall, & Gunturken, 2000), sea lions (Mauck & Dehnhardt, 1997;Schusterman & Thomas, 1966), ferrets (Pollard, Beale, Lysons, & Preston, 1967), opossum (James & MacFarland, 1966), rats (Minini & Jeffery, 2006;Oldfield-Box, 1969), monkeys (Tanaka, 2000), and white rhinos (Daniel & Mikulka, 1998). Birds that have displayed the ability to discriminate shape include pigeons (Young, Peissig, & Wasserman, 2001), jungle crows (Bogale & Sugita, 2013), parakeets , and chickens (Zolman, 1969).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…When they were prevented from using luminance cues, rats seemed to prefer using single features like stimulus width, and used aspect ratio only after prolonged training. Animals that generalize a shape discrimination when stimuli are altered in size, rotated, or translated may be using holistic shape processing (Mauck & Dehnhardt, 1997;Pollard et al, 1967).…”

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confidence: 99%