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Visual laterality in dolphins when looking at (un)familiar humans 

Auteur(s) : Thieltges, H.; Lemasson, A.; Kuczaj, S.; Boÿe, M.; Blois-Heulin, C.
Contributeurs : EthoS, UMR 6552; CNRS; Université de Rennes 1

Référence bibliographique : Animal Cognition, 2011, 14, 303-308
doi:10.1007/s10071-010-0354-5
Type : Article scientifique

Éditeur(s) : Springer
Date de publication : 2011

Description : Understanding the evolution of brain lateralization including the origin of human visual laterality requires an understanding of brain lateralisation in related animal species. However, little is known about the visual laterality of marine mammals. To help correct this lack, we evaluated the influence of familiarity with a human on the visual response of five captive bottlenose dolphins. Dolphins gazed longer at unfamiliar than at familiar humans, revealing their capacity to discriminate between these two types of stimuli. Pooled data for responses to all test stimuli demonstrated a preferential use of left eye by all our five dolphin subjects. However, familiarity with particular humans did not influence preferential use of a given eye. Finally, we compared our results with those on other vertebrates.

Mots-clés : Tursiops truncatus , common bottlenose dolphin, perceptual laterality, human-animal familiarity



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