Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press
July 13, 2006 — It's hardly algebra or physics, but meerkats have been observed actively teaching their young, something not often seen among animals in the wild.
While the young of many species learn by observing older members of their group, it's less common for adults to take direct actions with the only goal being teaching.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge in England observed meerkats gradually introducing cubs to prey, showing them how to handle captured insects and even removing the stingers from scorpions before giving them to youngsters.
"Although there are anecdotal reports of teaching in species from chimpanzees to killer whales, until this year solid evidence was really lacking," said Alex Thornton, co-author of the report appearing in the current issue of the journal Science.
There had also been evidence of teaching by cats, Thornton added, but that was hard to confirm because of the difficulty of studying large cats in the wild.
Meerkats are not related to cats. They are about a foot long plus an eight-inch tail and weigh about two pounds. They live in groups.
"Meerkats provide the ideal study species to examine these questions because they eat a whole range of prey items including lizards, geckos, scorpions, spiders and small mammals that are very difficult for young pups to handle," Thornton said.
While evidence of teaching has been rare, he said, "My feeling is that teaching is a lot more common than we had previously supposed. I think teaching is probably very common among species in which dependent young must learn complex skills. Teaching of hunting, for example, is likely to be common among felines, mongooses and birds of prey."
He also expects to see reports of teaching among insect societies.
"The important thing is to consider under what conditions we might expect one animal to actively promote learning in another," he said.
