A new multi-species study reveals that ungulates like goats, zebras, and rhinos demonstrate core cognitive capacities traditionally underestimated in hoofed mammals.
To explore cognitive variation across species, researchers tested 26 individuals from five ungulate species—dwarf goats, llamas, guanacos, zebras, and rhinos—using a consistent battery of physics-based cognitive tasks. These included tests for object permanence, memory retention, causal inference, and basic understanding of gravity and object properties.
All tested species showed the ability to remember hidden food locations for up to 60 seconds, followed the sound of containers for inference, and understood basic physical concepts such as occlusion and size. Notably, subjects could accurately track falling objects across varying scenarios, indicating a firm grasp of gravity-related expectations.
While most cognitive abilities were comparable across species, domesticated goats performed better in tasks involving object properties, suggesting that domestication might enhance specific cognitive domains. These findings position ungulates as a valuable model for comparative cognition studies, challenging long-held assumptions about their mental capacities.
