eprintid: 10204001
rev_number: 7
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/20/40/01
datestamp: 2025-01-28 12:23:41
lastmod: 2025-01-28 12:23:41
status_changed: 2025-01-28 12:23:41
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Ahmad, Esa A
creators_name: Reiderman, Helen
creators_name: Huchard, Elise
creators_name: Delaunay, Axelle
creators_name: Roatti, Vittoria
creators_name: Cowlishaw, Guy
creators_name: Carter, Alecia
title: Wild recognition: conducting the mark test for mirror self-recognition on wild baboons
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
divisions: B03
divisions: C08
divisions: C03
divisions: D09
divisions: F99
divisions: F22
keywords: Baboon, mark test, mirror self-recognition, Papio
ursinus, self-awareness
note: © 2025 The Author(s).

Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
abstract: The distribution of self-awareness across species is important to understand, not only as a matter of scientific interest but also because of its implications for the ethical standing of non-human animals. The prevailing methodology for determining self-awareness is to test for visual self-recognition using mirror-image stimulation and a ‘mark test’. However, most studies have involved very small sample sizes, omitted a control condition and been conducted on captive animals. Here, we designed and implemented the first controlled mark test in a wild setting, conducting the mark test using a laser pointer on a large (n = 51 individuals, 135 mark tests) sample of wild chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in situ. Control tests showed that baboons were interested in the mark, but this interest decreased with age, and was greater in males and towards green (cf. red) marks. However, as predicted, subjects showed no evidence of visual self-recognition, which, given the control, cannot be attributed to a lack of motivation in the mark. Our study proposes a novel, controlled mark test in situ and contributes to the evidence that, without extensive training, non-hominid primates are not capable of full visual self-recognition.
date: 2025-01
date_type: published
publisher: The Royal Society
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1933
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2355876
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.1933
lyricists_name: Cowlishaw, Guy
lyricists_name: Carter, Alecia
lyricists_id: GCCOW71
lyricists_id: ACART87
actors_name: Cowlishaw, Guy
actors_id: GCCOW71
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
volume: 292
number: 2039
issn: 1471-2954
citation:        Ahmad, Esa A;    Reiderman, Helen;    Huchard, Elise;    Delaunay, Axelle;    Roatti, Vittoria;    Cowlishaw, Guy;    Carter, Alecia;      (2025)    Wild recognition: conducting the mark test for mirror self-recognition on wild baboons.                   Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 292  (2039)      10.1098/rspb.2024.1933 <https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1933>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10204001/1/Ahmad%20et%20al%202025%20mark%20test%20for%20self-recognition%20in%20wild%20baboons.pdf