Quote:
| Originally Posted by Bren Tierney Fast-learning fish have memories that put their owners to shame
By Robert Matthews, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 03/10/2004)
If you thought fish were cold, wet creatures who forget everything in three seconds flat, think again. Scientists have found they are fast learners, carry mental maps around in their heads - and can retain memories for months.
In experiments, Dr Burt de Perera found that the fish did more than merely avoid bumping into objects in their tank. They built a detailed map of their surroundings, memorising the obstacles in them within a few hours. Once stored in their brains, the fish used their "mental map" to spot changes in the obstacles around them - a feat that defeats hamsters. |
What a load of garbage - if the hamster can't hold its breath for very long it's not going to be able to learn its way around!
Quote:
|
In one test, involving obstacles arranged in a specific order, the fish proved capable of memorising the order and quickly spotted when Dr Burt de Perera swapped obstacles around.
|
What - because the fish didn't swim into something proves it has a map in it's head!
Quote:
|
Laboratory tests on other fish have found that they can store memories for many months, confounding the belief that they forget everything after a few seconds.
|
They have f/all else to do!
Quote:
|
Dr Culum Brown at the University of Edinburgh has found that Australian crimson spotted rainbowfish, which learnt to escape from a net in their tank, remembered how they did it 11 months later. This is equivalent to a human recalling a lesson learnt 40 years ago.
|
Sussessful trial and error!
