Date of Award
7-2026
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science - Biology
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Dr. Jason Bruck
Second Advisor
Dr. Matthew Kwiatkowski
Third Advisor
Dr. Kyle Conlon
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Chase LaDue
Abstract
Elephants’ flexible cognitive abilities and fission-fusion societies make them an excellent study species to investigate individual social recognition. Despite the substantial role chemical cues play in elephant social communication, there is a considerable lack of research into their chemosensory social recognition, especially in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Using two-choice tests, I assessed Asian elephants’ chemosensory ability to discriminate between individuals by both presence and familiarity. I also used a habituation-discrimination paradigm to assess individual recognition in elephants by determining whether elephants integrate odor cues (i.e., urine and feces) to form multi-cue representations of individuals. Responses between samples were not significantly different in the two-choice tests, failing to provide evidence that Asian elephants can discriminate between these conditions. While the habituation-discrimination series with unfamiliar elephants indicated subjects were not matching unfamiliar urine and feces through individually distinct components present in both odor types, the series with familiar elephants failed to support the use of individual representations. Though these results were inconclusive due to methodological limitations, they lend important insights informing the methodology of future studies as well as new directions to investigate individual representation.
Repository Citation
Lawson, Elena, "Examining Individual Representation in Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus): Implications for Recognizing Familiarity and Presence of Conspecifics" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 676.
https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/676
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Word Document of Thesis Manuscript
