The Donna Project:
Elephant Cognition and Long-term Memory
Like humans, elephants are large-brained and long-lived mammals that form complex societies. Family herds are typically led by the oldest, most experienced female elephant called the matriarch. Matriarchs are responsible for guiding the herd to valuable resources and safe spaces, which requires a high level of intelligence as well as a capacity to remember over an entire lifetime. But, how exactly can we measure intelligence and long-term memory in elephants?
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In partnership with Dr. Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell of Utopia Scientific and the Oakland Zoo, my team is conducting experiments with Donna the elephant in order to understand how elephants learn, recognize, and remember different stimuli presented in a variety of forms (i.e. visual, olfactory, auditory). Current trials are focused on Donna's ability to discriminate between three cards, one of which contains a photo representation of a real banana presented to her. We hope to fill critical gaps of knowledge in elephant cognition, as well as their ability to plan and make decision based on this intellectual capacity.
Aging Male Elephants:
Digital Photogrammetry and Geometric Morphometrics of the Craniofacial Region
Common non-invasive tools for estimating the age of wild African elephants (Loxodonta africana) enable the collection of important population data at a low-cost and with minimal disturbance. However, traditional metrics such as shoulder height and hind foot length can be logistically challenging to obtain and may not accurately differentiate individuals of advanced age due to patterns of asymptotic growth. Alongside Dr. Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell and Utopia Scientific affiliates, I assisted with an investigation whereby digital photogrammetry and geometric morphometrics of the craniofacial region successfully determined the relative age of n=56 male elephants in Etosha National Park, Namibia compared to traditional non-invasive methods.
We found strong linear correlations between known measurements of foot length and shoulder height and photogrammetric estimates (i.e. sulcus width, facial length, and craniofacial area), as well as geometric morphometric estimates of craniofacial centroid size. We also found that photogrammetric measurements are better able to classify mature adults into younger (35–49 years) and elder (≥ 50 years) subcategories relative to measurements of foot length and shoulder height. Our results demonstrate that facial characteristics can complement or even replace existing elephant aging techniques, as well as improve older age class granularity, of which is valuable for conservation and management purposes.
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-manuscript in press
Male Motivations:
Responses of Male Elephants to Playbacks of Female Estrous Calls
Details Coming Soon!
-manuscript in review