​Oh My God, Ducklings Are Capable of Abstract Thought

Ducklings are more than just fuzzy yellow fluffballs. A new study finds that newly-hatched mallard ducklings are capable of recognising abstract properties of objects (in this case distinguishing between things that are "same" and "different"), suggesting that this quality is less rare in the animal kingdom than previously thought.

"We as humans never identify anything purely as a snapshot of the sensor images associated with it—whether that's smells or tastes or pictures," said Antone Martinho, a researcher at Oxford University's zoology department, in a phone call. "We don't just remember things based on what they look like; we have abstract thoughts about them."

The main thing most ducklings need to remember when they're newborn is their mum. Martinho explained that they used ducklings precisely because this is so critical to them at a very young age. "Once they're all dry—unlike, say, a baby songbird—they're able to stand up and walk away," he said. "What this means is that they need to be able to identify their mother so they can stay near her for protection."

The ducklings need to be able to recognise their parent even if she looks different—if she's in a different position or further away, for instance. Martinho and co-author Alex Kacelnik wondered if ducklings might accomplish this by taking abstract properties into account—not just simple characteristics like colour or shape.

To test this, they exposed their test ducklings to a pair of objects an hour after they'd hatched, in a process called "imprinting." They ran two slightly different experiments: In the first, one group was exposed to two red objects that were the same shape, while another was exposed to two red objects that were different shapes. In the second, one group got two spheres the same colour, while the other had two spheres of different colour.

They then showed the ducklings two pairs of objects different to any they'd seen before, except for that one pair consisted of two identical objects while the other consisted of two objects that differed in shape or colour, respectively. They found that the ducklings that had first been exposed to a "same" pair of objects made more approaches to the second pair of "same" objects, while those who were imprinted with "different" objects preferred the other "different" pair. (Across both experiments, 77 out of 113 ducklings approached the appropriate pair more).

The results are published in Science. Martinho explained that the main implication is that the ability to use some kind of abstract concepts could be more widespread than we thought and not unique to animals considered particularly highly intelligent, such as apes, parrots, and humans.

This suggests that the need to be able to form abstract thoughts could be key to survival.

"Even with different blueprints to build on, the needs of life are pushing species' different bodies towards similar solutions," he said.