Many traits are strongly influenced by genetic inheritance. Through random mutations in the genome, new features and traits can emerge in the course of evolutionary history and be passed on to subsequent generations through reproduction and genetic inheritance.

However, many living beings can also adapt to a certain degree by changing their behavior or learning new behaviors. Supposedly, a significant change in behavior that was “invented” by our ancestors, and which gave them a survival advantage, was the production of certain novel stone tools.

But how do such novel behaviors emerge in a population? Biologists investigate in experiments the behavior of different species to assess their ability to innovate, i. e. how curious, innovative, creative, flexible or inventive the animals are.

How would you design such an experiment to compare the curiosity, behavioral flexibility or creativity of different animal species, if you were a behavioral biologist?

Already in the 1960s, a series of experiments was conducted with representatives of more than 100 species of mammals and reptiles in different zoos: 49 primate species, 23 predator species, 15 rodent species, 6 primitive mammals, and 19 reptile species. The animals were individually placed in a cage in which certain objects were placed: wooden blocks, steel chains, wooden posts and rubber hoses. The researchers then observed for each object type over a period of six minutes how the animals handled these objects: how often would they come into contact with the objects or direct their attention and orientation to the object. These observations indicated a measure of the curiosity of the animals.