Giraffes can do stats

[nekomatic]

The notorious neck length outliers are capable of probabilistic reasoning, it has emerged

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/05 ... tatistics/

[Formerly AvP]

That's clever. But is it THAT clever?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... %20person.

[bob sterman]

The notorious neck length outliers are capable of probabilistic reasoning, it has emerged

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/05 ... tatistics/

Animals in many species can make decisions that are in accordance with statistical models - but in most cases they are using simple heuristics that yield outcomes in accordance with the models in most circumstances, rather than actually engaging in complex statistical reasoning (see https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 9380902659).

The authors claim they have eliminated that possibility with the giraffes...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-32615-3

However, I don't find that claim convincing. Even in the condition with the physical barrier - I can't see why a simple "I like orange food, choose side with most orange in the area where the food is coming from" heuristic doesn't achieve what they observe.