BEGIN QUOTED ABSTRACT

PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e43267. Epub 2012 Aug 15.
Man's Underground Best Friend: Domestic Ferrets, Unlike the Wild Forms,
Show Evidence of Dog-Like Social-Cognitive Skills.
Hernadi A, Kis A, Turcsan B, Topal J.
Source
Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience and Psychology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest,
Hungary.

Abstract
Recent research has shown that dogs' possess surprisingly sophisticated
human-like social communication skills compared to wolves or
chimpanzees. The effects of domestication on the emergence of
socio-cognitive skills, however, are still highly debated. One way to
investigate this is to compare socialized individuals from closely
related domestic and wild species. In the present study we tested
domestic ferrets (Mustela furo) and compared their performance to a
group of wild Mustela hybrids and to domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).
We found that, in contrast to wild Mustela hybrids, both domestic
ferrets and dogs tolerated eye-contact for a longer time when facing
their owners versus the experimenter and they showed a preference in
a two-way choice task towards their owners. Furthermore, domestic
ferrets, unlike the wild hybrids, were able to follow human directional
gestures (sustained touching; momentary pointing) and could reach
the success rate of dogs. Our study provides the first evidence that
domestic ferrets, in a certain sense, are more dog-like than their
wild counterparts. These findings support the hypothesis that domestic
species may share basic socio-cognitive skills that enable them to
engage in effectively orchestrated social interactions with humans.

PMID: 22905244 [PubMed - in process]

END QUOTED ABSTRACT

<http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0043267>

Sukie (not a vet) Ferrets make the world a game.

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump
off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall)

A nation is as free as the least within it.

[Posted in FML 7526]