WINNIPEG — Wildlife enthusiasts have long wondered why prairie dogs do “the wave” but researchers at Manitoba’s largest university say they have discovered a startling answer.
The small rodents jump up and “yip” to test the vigilance of their neighbours. If enough members of the colony jump up and yip in response, the prairie dog that started “the wave” knows his neighbours are alert and keeping an eye out for predators.
“Prairie dogs foraged less when individuals were less responsive to their jump-yip display, suggesting they use jump-yips to actively probe the awareness of their neighbours,” said Prof. James Hare of the department of biological sciences at the University of Manitoba.
Hare’s findings were published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences with the title “Catch the wave: prairie dogs assess neighbours’ awareness using contagious displays.”
Previously, the jump-yip display was considered an “all clear” signal, but researchers noted it was performed even when predators were nearby, University of Manitoba officials said.
The findings reveal much about the minds of these highly social little animals, Hare said.
“This fits beautifully with work on primates, including humans, which suggests that contagious displays – like yawning – provide a window into the mind of others, suggesting of course, that species probing the minds of others are aware that they are distinct from those individuals. That is to say, they are consciously aware,” Hare is quoted saying in a news release Wednesday.
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