A species of penguin may have just seen itself into an exclusive club of creatures that recognize themselves in the mirror.
An Indian research team put a dozen Adélie penguins in East Antarctica through a series of mirror tests early in 2020 to determine if they are self-aware. They found the tuxedo-wearing birds were able to identify themselves in two of three experiments.
“Several individuals from the waddle appeared to be simultaneously attracted to their images and stood relatively still, staring intently at the images for several seconds each, but making no attempts to either touch their images or reach out behind the mirror,” read the biorxiv.org paper posted online last month.
The birds were tested individually and as a group — and the experiments were reportedly not too long, so they wouldn’t get restless.
In the first test, a mirror was placed at both ends of a cardboard enclosure to see how three penguins reacted to their presence. Researchers say the penguins didn’t show aggression or touch the mirror as they focused on their image.
In another test, scientists reported placing a sticker on the mirrors to see if the penguins would peck at it presumptuously in an attempt to see themselves better. And peck they did.
“We interpret the directed pecking of the subject penguins on the circular sticker as attempts to remove the obstruction, perhaps driven by an urge to restore the images that they had just seen earlier in the mirror,” the study authors wrote.
“Furthermore, we speculate that such a behavioral motivation could indicate a restlessness that was expressed when they were unable to later see their faces in the mirror — a potential reflection of their underlying awareness of the self.”
The researchers were stumped by the findings of a third test, in which colored bibs were attached to the penguins’ necks. They didn’t seem to notice. Dutch-American primatologist Frans de Waal took issue with that result.
“When they gave the penguins bibs in front of the mirror, the birds did not direct their attention specifically to the bibs, which suggests they don’t connect their mirror image with themselves,” de Waal told New Scientist.
The penguins were said to be released back into the wild after testing was complete.
“We hypothesize that Adélie penguins, given their intrinsic ability to immerse themselves in socially complex, networked lives within communal rookeries, may possess a sense of self-identity and subjective self-awareness,” the authors concluded.
American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. developed the mirror test for animals in the 1970s. Primates, elephants, as well as bottle-nosed dolphins and humans, have shown to be self-aware.Â
