Clever crows research earns young scientist prize

EMBARGO: Wednesday 5pm 11 November 2015 Clever crows research earns young scientist prize

Research that gives new insights into the evolution of intelligence has earned University of Auckland senior lecturer Alex Taylor this year’s Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize.

Research that gives new insights into the evolution of intelligence has earned University of Auckland senior lecturer Alex Taylor this year’s Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize.

Dr Taylor’s work investigates and compares intelligence across different species, including human and birds, through theoretical and experimental approaches from biology and psychology. The research addresses fundamental questions about how intelligence evolves and compares cognitive ability of species that, outwardly at least, are very different.

His study of New Caledonian crows in particular has explored the drivers of intelligence of a species that has demonstrated problem solving abilities comparable to that of a five-year-old child yet is separated from humans by 300 million years of evolution.

Marsden-funded research by Dr Taylor showed crows could successfully complete an eight-stage puzzle in order to access food. One crow in particular, dubbed “007”, took just under three minutes to complete the test. Video of 007’s extraordinary achievement and Dr Taylor’s experiments has featured on the BBC and been viewed more than 60 million times globally.

“Discovering the degree of innovation that crows are capable of, including being able to make and use hook tools to access food, is incredibly exciting given that some of our closest relatives such as the great apes don’t show some of these behaviours,” Dr Taylor says.

Aged 32, Dr Taylor studied biology at Oxford University and completed his PhD studies at the University of Auckland after being awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship. He completed post-doctoral work at the University of Cambridge and was awarded a Junior Research Fellowship at Corpus Christi College before joining the University of Auckland’s School of Psychology.

The MacDiarmid Emerging Science Prize is worth $200,000 with $150,000 to be used for further research. That is likely to focus on studying the intelligence of one of New Zealand’s best-known native birds, the kea.

“I’m incredibly grateful and thankful to have received this award which will allow me to continue my work on a native New Zealand species. Understanding the intelligence of our native fauna will hopefully contribute a new dimension to conservation efforts,” Dr Taylor says.

“People are genuinely fascinated by the way animals are able to perform what we think of as amazing feats and that in turn provides opportunities to get young people interested in and excited about science.”

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