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Researchers find signs of intelligence among jumping spiders

knowablemagazine.org

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Re: Researchers find signs of intelligence among jumping spiders

#5
Next time you see a jumping spider, interact with it. Try to coax it to you with slow repetitive movements. Get close to it. Tap and wiggle your fingers gently. You'll likely find that they come to you. They seem to be curious on a different level than any other spider that I've interacted with (which are all garden-variety spiders in north america). They do tend to freak out if you try to take their picture with a multi-lens phone camera...presumably because it looks like a set of robot spider eyes looking at them.

Re: Researchers find signs of intelligence among jumping spiders

#7
post #6

Now if we only engineered a retrovirus to uplift them into complex social structures and intelligence... https://a.co/d/85Wwwhi

Bianca? Portia? (minor spoiler to the books)

The OP refers specifically to the Portia genus. ; )

Re: Researchers find signs of intelligence among jumping spiders

#9
I think the scientific consensus for cognition and brain size has been for a long time that the size matters much less than we previously thought. For instance, ravens/crows show remarkable problem solving skills and intelligence on par with much larger animals and their brains are extremely small.

Given how much meat we as a society consume, and how we treat animals generally, it makes sense that we'd collectively accept and yearn for a narrative that animals are dumb. I think science is steadily showing that this is not really the case.

Re: Researchers find signs of intelligence among jumping spiders

#10
post #5

Next time you see a jumping spider, interact with it. Try to coax it to you with slow repetitive movements. Get close to it. Tap and wiggle your fingers gently. You'll likely find that they come to you. They seem to be curious on a different level than any other spider that I've interacted with (which are all garden-variety spiders in north america). They do tend to freak out if you try to take their picture with a m…

They're one of the only insects that show hunting behavior, as in pattern recognition and path planning [1], with brains so large that their esophagus has to go through it, to fit, with one of the largest brain to body rations of any animal. And, they dance [2]!

Easily my favorite little critter.

1. https://roundglasssustain.com/species/portia-spiders

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qkzwG2lLPc

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