Ants Rescue Their Friends

News Type: Event — Seeded on Sun Nov 8, 2009 9:51 PM EST

Article Source: http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/

science, intelligence, rescue, rare, ants, helping

Helpful acts, such as grooming or foster parenting, are common throughout the animal kingdom, but accounts of animals rescuing one another from danger are exceedingly rare, having been reported in the scientific literature only for dolphins, capuchin monkeys, and ants.

The ants' ability to discern and then tackle the unfamiliar nylon snare demonstrates cognitive and behavioral complexity, unlike such simple actions as digging or limb pulling, which could arguably be elicited by a chemical distress signal.

Published to:

Bynary Fission's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: none
Regions: none

Public Discussion (3)

What's this?

Who's leading the conversation?

This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.

1.8

{"commentId":10566846,"authorDomain":"bynaryfission"}

Bynary Fission

Fascinating! I am always amazed to see the advanced and intelligent behaviors that ants engage in. It makes you wonder how similar their own social structure is to ours.

{"commentId":10566846,"threadId":"719869","contentId":"3475632","authorDomain":"bynaryfission"}

2 votes

#1 - Sun Nov 8, 2009 9:52 PM EST

{"commentId":10568592,"authorDomain":"eric24"}

Simplistic Reality

True!

{"commentId":10568592,"threadId":"719869","contentId":"3475632","authorDomain":"eric24"}

#2 - Mon Nov 9, 2009 12:41 AM EST

{"commentId":10576359,"authorDomain":"mickleenickel"}

mick the biologist

E.O. Wilson has gleaned so many of his insightful conclusions from observations of the ant world. Ethical behavior, in my view, originates 'intraspecies' and, as circumstance and reasoning develop, may extend outward to other species and/or energetic phenomena.

For decades i have observed ants 'herding' or 'farming' aphids on certain plants species. It would be dangerous to speculate as to any 'ethical' imperative here, but the end result of this behavior is that there is a manageable food source for certain of the ants, with potential benefits to both individual and colony, the plant is more capable of thriving as a result of being harvested less by the aphids, and some of the aphids survive the herding long enough to reach the next phase of their life cycle, so in some sense the ants are practicing moderation and conservation in their behaviors.

So much to learn, so little time.

{"commentId":10576359,"threadId":"719869","contentId":"3475632","authorDomain":"mickleenickel"}

#3 - Mon Nov 9, 2009 1:40 PM EST

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"719869","isPrivate":false}

BYNARY FISSION

Backyard

Ants Rescue Their Friends

Published to:

FUN STUFF:

COMPANY STUFF:

LEGAL STUFF: