Brief Communications
Nature 439, 153 (12 January 2006) | doi:10.1038/439153a; Published online 11 January 2006
Teaching in tandem-running ants
Nigel R. Franks1 and Tom Richardson1
The ant Temnothorax albipennis uses a technique known as tandem running to lead another ant from the nest to food —with signals between the two ants controlling both the speed and course of the run. Here we analyse the results of this communication and show that tandem running is an example of teaching, to our knowledge the first in a non-human animal1, 2, 3, that involves bidirectional feedback between teacher and pupil. This behaviour indicates that it could be the value of information, rather than the constraint of brain size, that has influenced the evolution of teaching.
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 IUG, UK
Correspondence to: Nigel R. Franks1 Email: nigel.franks@bristol.ac.uk
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
RESEARCH
Opsin activation as a cause of congenital night blindnessNature Neuroscience Article (01 Jul 2003)