Rats prefer their own kind

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race

A decade after scientists discovered that lab rats will rescue a fellow rat in distress, but not a rat they consider an outsider, new research from the University of California, Berkeley, pinpoints the brain regions that drive rats to prioritize their nearest and dearest in times of crisis. It also suggests humans may share the same neural bias.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210713165303.htm

Study: Dogs don’t reciprocate food sharing

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dog behavior, Dogs

Food has long been the currency of the 10,000-year-old friendship between humans and dogs. The rapport started with our ancestors sharing food with wolves, and today, we show our love to our canine pets with treats and train them with goodies as motivation. However close the bond is between humans and dogs, though, food sharing may just be a one-way street: Dogs don’t seem to pay back the hand that feeds them.

That lack of reciprocated food sharing in dogs is the key finding of a study published today in PLOS One by dog researcher Jim McGetrick and his team.

Link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dogs-dont-return-favor-after-strangers-feed-them-180978170/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=socialmedia

I hope they didn’t spend too much to figure out something most dog owners already knew 🙂