The wolves have found a heightened sense of justice
Austrian biologists have proven that the sense of justice as is typical for wolves, like their domesticated relatives, dogs. Thus, it appeared during the life of a man, and was inherited from a common ancestor of dogs and wolves.
About their work, the researchers reported in the journal Current Biology.
And dogs and wolves can abandon the interaction, if the conditions of the experiment they receive a smaller reward than their neighbors for the same action, or none at all. In the same way people behave and some primates. It is believed that the emergence of a sense of fairness in dogs could be due to the fact that they were tamed.
Scientists from the Vienna University of veterinary medicine conducted an experiment: the wolves were trained to press the call, showing them that their sibling gets rewarded for it. If the reward was less than expected by wolves, or it was not, they refused to continue to participate in the experiment. If “partner” was not, the wolves continued to perform required actions.
“This shows that the lack of awards is not in itself a cause of a failure from interaction with the coach. They refuse to cooperate because the other gets something, and they do not” — said one of the authors, a biologist from Vienna University of veterinary medicine Frederick range.
Scientists have noticed that wolves are even more sensitive to injustice than dogs. In addition, the willingness to carry the team effect and the position of the animal in the pack. “Animals occupying a higher position faster to respond to inequality, as not used to situations where you get less or not get at all,” explained range.