Spatial learning of an escape task by young corn snakes, Elaphe guttata guttata

Spatial learning is critical to most animals for many behaviours necessary to survival. In vertebrates, most studies on spatial learning and memory ha ve been conducted in mammalian and avian species with few studies on reptil es. We examined spatial learning in the corn snake Elaphe guttata guttata b y training 17 young snakes to find the one open shelter in an eight-hole ar ena, where the entrance was not visible from the arena surface. Over a 16-t rial, 4-day training period, snakes showed (1) a significant decrease in th e mean latency to the goal, (2) a significant decrease in the mean total di stance travelled, (3) a significant increase in the percentage of the total distance travelled in the quadrant containing the goal, and (4) a signific ant increase in movement in the goal quadrant above chance. Although no dif ferences were found in the number of errors made over the training period, snakes made fewer errors on all days than expected by chance. This study sh ows that snakes can learn rapidly a spatial-escape task that is relevant be haviourally and suggests that entering a shelter reinforces this learning. Mechanisms of orientation for the task described are discussed. (C) 1999 Th e Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.