The lizard’s behavior is not just displaced foraging or hunting. A movie of a Komodo dragon playing looks quite a bit like one of a dog, only slowed down to about half speed. It can pick notebooks and other objects out of a familiar keeper’s pockets and then walk around carrying them in its mouth. The largest monitor species, the Komodo “dragon” lizard, plays tug-of-war with its keepers over a plastic ring. At the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., monitor lizards play games of keep-away. These criteria for play are met by leaping needlefish, water-frolicking alligators, and prankish lizards. Third, play occurs when an animal is not under stress and does not have something more pressing to do. It appears to be done for its own sake and is voluntary and pleasurable. Second, play has no immediate survival purpose. 1 First, play resembles a serious behavior, such as hunting or escaping, but is done by a young animal or is exaggerated, awkward, or otherwise altered. How can we be sure that an animal is playing? Researchers use three criteria. Play is widespread among animals, beyond the familiar cases of mammals and birds, to vertebrates and even invertebrates.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |