Investigate Dolphin Intelligence with Diana Reiss on April 17
The landmark discovery of mirror self-recognition, as well as many other findings on the extraordinary brain power of bottlenose dolphins, is the topic of "Do I Look Fat?: Mirror Self-Recognition in Dolphins," by Dr. Diana Reiss on April 17 in Manhattan.
Reiss's lecture will be held at 7 p.m. at the Joseph and Roberta Schwarz Theater at the SUNY School of Optometry at 33 West 42nd Street, Manhattan. Tickets are $20 ($18 for WCS members). For information and to purchase tickets, call 1-800-937-2868 (or visit www.wcs.org/events/lectures).
The presentation is the second in WCS's Close Encounters with the Animal Mind speaker series.
Dolphins have long been recognized as among the most intelligent of the ocean's inhabitants. The fact that dolphins can recognize themselves in mirrors, however, was only recently discovered by Reiss, and puts these marine mammals in a club previously reserved for great apes and humans.
Until last year, only higher primates were known to possess the mental capability of mirror self-recognition, a threshold that many researchers claim marks the beginning of self-awareness and introspection, as well as an ability to observe the mental states of others. Reiss and her colleague Dr. Lori Marino of Emory University demonstrated that dolphins also possess this ability using a methodology called the "mark test." In a series of tests, Reiss found that dolphins tagged with a non-toxic ink consistently swam to a portion of their tank where they could view their reflections in a mirror, specifically the parts of their bodies with the mark. This finding indicated that self-recognition is a byproduct of advanced cognitive ability, as opposed to what had been previously thought to be attributable to primate-related factors.
Reiss is a senior research scientist at the Osborn Laboratories of Marine Science at the New York Aquarium, a facility managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society. She is also coordinator of the Animal Enrichment Program at WCS's New York City zoos and aquarium. Animal enrichment programs are designed to inspire novel and creative approaches within the zoological community to improve the lives of the animals in their care. Proceeds from the "Animal Minds" series will benefit WCS's efforts in this area.
Other upcoming presentations in the series include, on May 8, Schmoozing Apes, Gregarious Monkeys: New Theories on Animal Culture, with Dr. Frans de Waal; and on June 5, Eavesdropping on Giants: The Language of Elephants with Dr. Katy Payne.
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