These Mongoose Mentors Are Teaching Pups Survival Skills
June 2, 2018 – This adult and “mini-me” banded mongoose pair has a very special relationship. The adult essentially serves as a nanny and role model for the pup. For the first two to three months of a pup’s life, it “shadows” an unrelated adult from its social group. The adult, called an “escort,” carries and feeds the pup until the pup can find its own food.
Researchers at Exeter University recently found that not only do the mentors teach the pups to forage, but the specific behaviors last a lifetime. Even at middle age, a mongoose still copies the foraging style and food preferences learned from its pup-hood escort. The study highlights the importance of culturally learned behaviors in shaping diversity in animal populations.
