The ability to recognize oneself in a mirror, a key indicator of self-awareness, has long been considered exclusive to a select few, including great apes, dolphins, elephants, and magpies, besides humans.
However, a new study by researchers at the Universities of Bonn and Bochum, in collaboration with the MSH Medical School Hamburg, suggests that roosters, those often-underestimated denizens of the yard, may possess a similar level of self-awareness.
Self-awareness has been a constant feature in behavioral research, and one traditional test for this is the ‘mark test,’ an experiment in which a colored marking is applied to an animal’s head which can only be seen in a mirror.
