Entomologists and specialists in animal behavior continue to wonder why otters have a favorite stone that they keep throughout their lives and with which they affectionately play. If you have ever had the opportunity to watch documentaries about otters, you may have already heard about the habit of these aquatic rodents of choosing from an early age the stone they like the most. It is a choice for life and a bond that until now has not been understood yet, but there is much speculation.
While it is true that the media have exaggerated about how otters treat their stones, arguing that they are capable of juggling them, these animals do they keep the same stone for life and affectionately play with it. They don’t try to toss it up in the air and treat it like a basketball, but they do massage their little paws with it.
Experts are still trying to understand why they have this behavior that is very endearing to human eyes. It has been speculated that it is a kind of game that trains them for the challenges of everyday life. Otters perform movements with their favorite stones, rolling them over their chests and small paws.
It is believed that animals with small claws, such as otters, need to develop their psychomotor skills to extract their food. These aquatic rodents feed mainly on mollusks, crustaceans, or other types of prey with exoskeletons. So the biologists they speculated that stimulating their paws through stone play could help them strengthen their feeding skills.
Animals have fun too
However, new research has shot down this speculation as there is insufficient evidence to support it. According to Mari-Lisa Allison, from the Center for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter and leader of a new study, the behavior of otters in the wild, as well as in captivity, was closely observed. No empirical evidence was found to ensure that the development of psychomotor skills is the reason behind playing with stones.
Allison explains that in the animal world the romping apparently serves no evolutionary or adaptive purpose. She is also firmly convinced that it does not satisfy an immediate need for survival, so the ultimate goal of fiddling with rocks is not to adapt otters to extract prey from their exoskeletons. In such a case the frolicking would have to cease as experience comes and age advances, but Older otters have been observed to increase their bond with stones. So what is your theory?
Based on observational findings from otter behaviour, Allison explains that there is a much more interesting reason behind this. Otters are likely to play simply «for fun, boredom, or both.» After all, it seems that animals also have fun and not just act on their instincts, as was previously thought.
References:
Allison, M. Reed, R. Michels, E. Boogert, N. The drivers and functions of rock juggling in otters. The Royal Society. DOI
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