Episodic memory: what can animals remember about their past?

The question of whether episodic memory, the ability to recall unique, pers onal experiences, is restricted to humans is a matter of current controvers y. Recent work on food-storing jays suggests that several features of episo dic memory may not be as exclusive to humans as previously thought. In this review we outline the critical features of episodic memory in humans, its relationship to declarative memory, and recent results revealing that jays can learn to perform a task that depends on certain features of episodic me mory and can thus be considered 'episodic-like', Finally, we compare this a vian performance with a contemporary definition of human episodic memory an d consider the implications for studies of hippocampal function and animal cognition.