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16 - Exploring the Social Minds of Elephants

from Part III - Social Cognition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

By
Elizabeth A. Krisch Pirutinsky  and
Joshua M. Plotnik
Edited by
Allison B. Kaufman ,
Josep Call  and
James C. Kaufman
Allison B. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Josep Call
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
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Summary

The study of convergent cognitive evolution aims to understand how similarities in physical and social intelligence emerge in evolutionarily distant species. This field, which is relatively new, has focused on a number of taxa, including nonhuman primates, corvids, and other birds, cetaceans, canids, and elephants. In this chapter, we highlight the social minds of elephants in particular, with a review of existing observational and experimental research. Investigations of the proximate mechanisms that underlie social behavior require an understanding of how an animal "sees," "hears," "touches,"and "smells" its world. Thus, we emphasize the need to take elephants’ sensory perspective into account when investigating their cognition, especially considering their exceptional olfactory and acoustic senses. We briefly review the literature on elephant social cognition, and discuss the relevance of such research to elephant conservation.

Keywords

elephantssocial cognitioncooperationintelligencesensory systemssustainabilityhuman-elephant conflict
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Animal Cognition , pp. 362 - 382
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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