Dinosaurs were the first to take the perspectives of others

Date:
May 22, 2023
Source:
Lund University
Summary:
Understanding that others hold different viewpoints from your
own is essential for human sociality. Adopting another person's
visual perspective is a complex skill that emerges around the
age of two. A new study suggests that this ability first arose
in dinosaurs, at least 60 million years before it appeared in
mammals. These findings challenge the idea that mammals were the
originators of novel and superior forms of intelligence in the
wake of the dinosaur extinction.


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When someone near you turns their head towards something in the
environment, you likely can't help to follow their gaze direction. This reaction is observed in mammals, birds and even reptiles alike. It's
an effective way to gather information about what caught the attention
of your fellow, which you might otherwise have missed. However, a far
more advanced behavior is to follow someone's gaze to a location that is initially obstructed from your view. By repositioning yourself to see
what the other person is looking at, you demonstrate an understanding
that the other has a different perspective. This ability, known as
visual perspective taking develops in children between the ages of one-and-a-half to two years and serves as the foundation for later comprehending referential communication and that others have minds that
differ from your own.

Visual perspective taking has, to date, only been found in very few
species.

Mainly in apes and some monkeys, but also in dogs and crow birds. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the evolutionary origins of
this crucial social skill. A team of researchers from Lund University
aimed to investigate a potential early emergence of visual perspective
taking in dinosaurs. Through a comparison of alligators with the most
primitive existing birds, known as palaeognaths, they discovered that
visual perspective taking originated in the dinosaur lineage likely 60
million years, or more, prior to its appearance in mammals.

Crocodilians are the closest living relatives to birds. Their
neuroanatomy has remained largely unchanged for hundreds of millions
of years, and is similar to that of the common ancestor of dinosaurs
and crocodilians. Palaeognath birds comprise the ostrich birds, such as
emus and rheas, but also the flighted tinamous. Their brains are in large
parts comparable to their forebearers, the non- avian paravian dinosaurs,
which feature such celebrities as the velociraptors. Comparing these
two groups of animals creates a bracket around the extinct lineage of
dinosaurs leading up to modern birds.

The study revealed that alligators do not demonstrate visual perspective taking, although they do follow gaze to a visible location. In contrast,
all tested bird species exhibited visual perspective taking. Additionally,
the birds engaged in a behaviour called "checking back," where the
observer looks back into the eyes of the gazer, and re-tracks the gaze,
when unable to find anything in the direction of their gaze the first
time. This behaviour indicates an expectation that the gaze is referring
to a target in the environment. Previously, this has only been observed
in humans, apes and monkeys, and ravens.

Palaeognath birds emerged 110 million years ago, predating the two mammal groups endowed with visual perspective taking -- primates and dogs --
with 60 million years. Considering the neuroanatomical similarities
between these birds and their non-avian forebearers, it is plausible
that the skill originated even earlier in the dinosaur lineage. However,
it is less likely to have been present among the earliest dinosaurs,
which had more alligator-like brains.

Maybe future research will show the ability to be more widespread among
mammals than currently known, but even if that would be the case it will
most probably still be predated by the dinosaur origin. Nevertheless, it
is not surprising that visual perspective taking emerged earlier in the dinosaurs, which include the birds, given their superior vision compared
to most mammals, that historically relied on nocturnal adaptations. It
was only with the emergence of the primates and certain carnivores that
our visual capabilities improved.

This is yet another finding that calls into question the prevailing view
that mammals drove the evolution of complex cognition, and that they are
the cognitive yardstick to which other animals should be compared. An increasing number of studies show the remarkable neurocognition of
the avian dinosaurs, the birds, which might prompt a rethinking of the
natural history of cognition.

Comments from the authors: Senior author, prof. Mathias Osvath:
"Early in my career, crow birds earned the nickname "feathered apes,"
due to numerous research findings that showcased their remarkable
cognition. However, I'm beginning to question whether it would be more
fitting to consider primates as honorary birds." First author (then PhD-student), Dr Claudia Zeitra"g: "Birds are commonly being overlooked
when it comes to their cognitive skills. Our findings show that they
do not only have several cognitive skills on par with those of apes,
but that their forebearers most likely had these skills long before they evolved in mammals." Middle author, Dr Stephan Reber: "Crocodilians are
ideal models to study the evolutionary origins of cognitive capacities
in birds. What they share most probably existed in the common ancestor of dinosaurs and crocodilians. If crocodilians lack an ability birds possess,
it likely evolved in the dinosaur lineage after the split. This approach
allows us to study the cognition of extinct species."
* RELATED_TOPICS
o Plants_&_Animals
# Birds # Animal_Learning_and_Intelligence # Nature #
Bird_Flu_Research
o Fossils_&_Ruins
# Early_Birds # Dinosaurs # Early_Mammals # Paleontology
* RELATED_TERMS
o Dinosaur o Visual_acuity o Ichthyosaur o Parallel_evolution
o The_evolution_of_human_intelligence o Feathered_dinosaurs
o Bird_intelligence o Gray_Whale

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Lund_University. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Claudia Zeitra"g, Stephan A. Reber, Mathias Osvath. Gaze following
in
Archosauria--Alligators and palaeognath birds suggest dinosaur
origin of visual perspective taking. Science Advances, 2023; 9
(20) DOI: 10.1126/ sciadv.adf0405 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230522131341.htm

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