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The Numerical Understanding of Animals: The Evolution of Numerical Intelligence Across Animal Kingdoms

In the animal kingdom, numerical understanding is considered an exclusive ability of humans, but recent research reveals just the opposite. Living organisms, from bees to giraffes, display remarkable counting skills, reflecting a deep level of numerical cognition and quantitative understanding. This article discusses how many species, such as bees that count landmarks while navigating or lions that assess the sounds of threats, interact with numbers in a way that reflects a more complex awareness than we once thought. It also highlights new scientific discoveries that show not only the ability to count, but also more abstract concepts such as zero. This journey will explore how the brains of animals, no matter how small, can contain mechanisms enabling them to comprehend numbers, and what these findings may mean for our human understanding of mathematics.

Understanding Numbers in the Animal Kingdom

Numerical understanding is considered a defining trait of humans, viewed as one of the markers of intelligence that distinguishes them from other organisms. However, recent research shows that many animals possess numerical abilities that may seem complex enough to challenge this belief. For example, honeybees calculate landmarks while navigating to nectar sources, while lions count the roars they hear from a competing group to decide whether to attack or retreat. Some ants and spiders can also keep track of their steps and the number of prey they have captured.

The diversity of numerical abilities among living organisms shows that understanding numbers is not exclusive to humans. Even invertebrates like insects and octopuses, as well as amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, all exhibit the ability to distinguish numbers. This idea extends to the concept of “more”, or what can be determined by the mental sense of the creature, as animals possess not only a sense of “greater than” or “less than”, but also represent a certain quantitative perception.

Some studies suggest that this numerical perception is an ancient and widespread ability, allowing some animals to perform simple calculations, even grasping the concept of “zero.” Many experiments have shown that primates and bees can treat zero as a number, placing it on their mental number line just as they do with other numbers like one or two. These abilities indicate that numerical skills may have developed in stages across different species, raising questions about the reasons that led nature to equip many organisms with these fundamental skills.

Numerical Cognition in Animals

In the early twentieth century, the phenomenon of the horse “Clever Hans” separated our understanding of numerical cognition in animals. This horse could solve a range of arithmetic problems, but it was actually relying on keen observations of the trainer’s movements. This confusion in understanding fueled ongoing doubts about animal numerical abilities. However, recent experimental studies over the past two decades have shown that even the smallest creatures like bees and ants are capable of remarkable feats of numerical cognition.

The mechanisms underlying these numerical abilities are common across species. There seems to be a system for approximating quantities that can sometimes err, but the majority of time is accurate. When comparing very small groups like six dots and three dots, the comparison is easy, while it becomes more complex when comparing groups close in number. Studies on monkeys have shown that there are neurons in the cerebral cortex that respond to certain numerical patterns, suggesting an inherited sense of number among many animals.

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recent experiments show that animals are not only capable of understanding numbers, but they also have the ability to handle basic operations such as addition and subtraction. The interactions between animals and their environment can reflect the self-directed learning of numbers, such as birds tracking hidden items and knowing the quantity of food left in a box. When researchers trained bees to see a specific number of colors, they were able to correctly identify choices based on numerical outcomes.

These results suggest that numerical perception is not just random abilities, but a possible and acquired trait across species, highlighting the complexity and diversity of animal cognitive abilities.

Advanced Numerical Abilities in Animals

It’s interesting how some species have demonstrated more complex numerical abilities that reflect advanced numerical reasoning. For example, previous studies showed that newly hatched chicks could distinguish between two groups of items, often gravitating towards the larger group. When the groups were covered with screens and some items were swapped, the chicks continued to choose the larger group, indicating an ability to perform advanced calculations without the need for training.

Additionally, researchers observed that some species, such as monkeys and bees, can plan for food gathering and accurately count the amount of quantity remaining, along with other complex services reflecting cognitive dimensions and numerical processes. Similar tests were conducted on wild animals, revealing that these species are not only capable of distinguishing numbers but also interact with their environments in ways that serve their survival goals.

The ability to understand numbers and perform calculations may be inherently buried in any living being, assisting neuroscientists and zoologists in exploring the complex potentials of various species. Taking these dimensions into human contexts and scientific endeavors will help form a comprehensive picture of how civilizations could grow based on number perception and its impact.

There is evidence that living organisms share a form of language, allowing them to interact with the world around them and the data they gather. These abilities have evolved over time, opening the door to deeper understanding of animals and the nature of their numerical thinking.

Numerical Competence in Animals: Potentials and Concepts

Recent research shows that animals possess a complex numerical perception that goes beyond the usual simplicity. This perception, known as numerical competence, manifests in animals’ abilities to handle concepts related to numbers, not just simple numbers but also more complex concepts like “zero.” Studies have shown that some species, such as monkeys and bees, achieve a genuine understanding of number representation, including zero, a concept that many biologists consider a challenge due to the abstract nature of zero. For example, monkeys have neurons in the prefrontal cortex that specifically respond to zero, indicating they perceive it as a quantity and thus understand its absence as a distinctive quantity.

Examples of numerical competence among animals are numerous. For instance, previous studies have shown that bees can recognize numbers by interacting with different shapes. This research has proven that numerical perception can manifest independently in different species as a result of their adaptation to specific environments. This opens the door for discussions on how this numerical competence evolved in different but similar ways among animals in varied ecological contexts. It raises further curiosity about the evolution of numerical perception over time.

Zero: A Special Concept in Numerical Perception

Zero is considered one of the more complex mathematical concepts and poses a challenge even for humans who need some time to grasp it. Young children do not attribute importance to zero as a number, seeing it as absence or loss, and it takes many of them years before they become accustomed to using it as a clear and defined number. However, research shows that monkeys may possess a primitive understanding of the concept of zero, suggesting that this perception of more than mere absence could exist in the animal kingdom.

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For example, research has shown that monkeys tend to confuse an empty set with a single set more than they confuse an empty set with a set containing two, indicating that zero is considered a quantity close to the number one in their numerical perception. These findings reinforce the idea that numerical perception may be a common trait across species. But what is the reason for the evolution of this perception beyond mere environmental necessity?

Mathematical Processes and Abstract Concepts in Animals

Mathematical processes require an understanding of the meanings of numbers and their contexts, which brings us back to the question of how animals perceive numbers in general. Numerical perception is vital in processes such as foraging or assessing risks. The concept of zero also represents a dual need: not only to understand ‘what is present,’ but also ‘what it means to have nothing.’ This represents a significant evolution in thinking as a whole in the animal environment, not limited to whales or monkeys, but could also include honeybees.

Research suggests that this competence in mathematical concepts may have arisen as a response to environmental challenges rather than solely as a result of visual needs. Some species, such as monkeys and bees, may have developed different nervous systems, but share the same outcomes in their interactions with numbers. It is also important to understand that these mathematical processes are not limited to higher animals, but also include simpler species like fish and worms.

Evolution and Genetics: The Search for the Biological Basis of Numerical Perception

In the quest for a deeper understanding of how numerical competence evolved, current research is focused on uncovering the biological and behavioral foundations behind this perception. Some studies suggest the presence of certain genes that may be linked to numbers, opening a new avenue for understanding how numerical competencies evolve across generations. Researchers indicate that the evolution of arithmetic abilities may stem from the need to solve problems associated with the surrounding nature.

Much research is still being conducted to comprehend how genes are related to numerical abilities. The existence of studies exploring these matters in agriculture and the bee world reflects the growing interest in understanding the concept of numbers more deeply. Mathematical understanding is not just a typical skill of humans, but may be a shared evolutionary goal that can include all kinds of creatures.

Mathematical Thinking: Multi-tool Experiments in Numerical Understanding

Scientists’ experiments vary greatly, from simple tests involving observing animal behavior when evaluating groups to using advanced technologies such as neural recorders to understand how numerical information is processed. What is considered numerical thinking has led new behavioral traits for research to expand, requiring new tools to grasp the nuances in numerical perception. These differences in number recognition allow scientists to understand how species provide varying responses to each.

The complex challenges posed by different environments can highlight the need for diverse strategies. For example, in a recent study, scientists allowed bees to experiment with new ways of interacting with numbers, leading to intriguing guesses about behavioral patterns and allowing for an understanding of how these behaviors enhance numerical understanding. This shows that experiments are not only about increasing numerical competence but also understanding the driving reasons behind this understanding.

Source link: https://www.quantamagazine.org/animals-can-count-and-use-zero-how-far-does-their-number-sense-go-20210809/

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