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Rats prove: compassion beats blood – new study surprises!
A new study from the University of Bern shows that rats show compassion regardless of kinship and are more cooperative.
Rats prove: compassion beats blood – new study surprises!
A fascinating study from the University of Bern has once again proven that rats are much more than just annoying rodents - they show real compassion! According to the results of this research, laboratory rats freed conspecifics from a trap and realized that these acts of help could open up future opportunities for cooperation in foraging. What's special about it? Relationships don’t matter! Michael Taborsky's team has discovered that social experiences and willingness to help are the actual drivers of cooperation between animals, not their genetic similarity nau.ch reported.
In the experiment, the rats not only took a first step towards freeing their fellow rats, but also clearly demonstrated that help in times of need leads to later cooperation. “The willingness to cooperate usually depends heavily on the relationship,” Taborsky correctly observed. But the study shows that it is the shared experiences that promote this willingness to help, and not just family ties. As a result of these discovered dynamics, one could consider whether empathy is not only a human trait but also has its roots in the animal kingdom. These findings could radically change our view of the social structures of animals.
Evolutionary basis of compassion
The study results support the theory that helpful behavior offers evolutionary benefits - particularly increasing the chances of survival and reproduction. This behavior could have developed through natural selection, which promotes cooperation among other species, while at the same time reducing the image of the lonely survivor to absurdity. Thanks to these positive behavioral patterns, empathy research could open up new ways to better understand the coexistence of social animal species. As scientists continue to study the neurobiological mechanisms behind these behaviors, they suggest that compassion and social interaction are deeply rooted in the animal kingdom, as they already are today.at stated.