Elias Simon
Research Mentor: Ben Dantzer
Mentor Department: Psychology, LSA
Author(s): Elias Simon, Ben Dantzer, Rachel Schulz
Session: Session 6 (3:00 PM – 3:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 27
Abstract
Spatial memory is a critical cognitive ability for animals due to its role in behaviors such as food caching and navigation of complex environments. This research examined sex differences in the spatial memory ability of North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) living in the Yukon, Canada as part of the Kluane Red Squirrel Project (KRSP). In summer 2025 we used the Y-maze, a task in which squirrels learn how to efficiently navigate a maze to locate an exit, to measure spatial memory, then scored the behavior and performance of squirrels from videos of the trials. Because male squirrels must travel between the territories of females during the mating season, we predicted that males would have better spatial memory performance in the Y-maze and spend proportionally more time engaging in exploratory behavior. We also predicted that reproducing female squirrels (who must remember the locations of their multiple nests, which contain their offspring) would have better spatial memory performance in the Y-maze compared to non-reproducing females. As part of the KRSP, offspring production is monitored through two nest intrusions when offspring are approximately 1 and 25 days old. Female squirrels often move their offspring to a new nest as a response to this perceived predation risk. We predicted that females with better spatial memory would move their pups to a new nest farther away from the original nest compared to females with worse spatial memory. Comparing spatial memory performance and behavior in the Y-maze to behaviors that may affect fitness can provide answers about how spatial memory is adaptive and how sex and other biological factors can impact it. This research will become ever more important as climate change and habitat loss creates new challenges that animals may be able to adapt to using their cognitive abilities and behavior.
