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(1987) Cognitive Processes ondSpatial Orientation in AnimalandMan,NATO Scienrific Affairs Division,Dordrecht. Thinus-Blanc, C. (in press) A modelof animalsparial cognition, in H. Roitblatand J. A. Meycr (cds.), Comparotive Approach to Cognitive Science, MIT Press, Cambridge (Mass.). Wilkie, D.M. and Palfrey, R. ( 1987) A computer simulation modeiof rats' place navigation in the Morris watermaze, Behav.Res. Meth. lnstr.Conp.19,4ffi-403. Whishaw, l.Q. ( I99l) Locale or taxon sy.stems: no placefor neophrcnology? Hippocompus l,272-274. 72. 1A 75. 76. 't't . 78. THD ECOLOGY OF SPATIAL COGNITION Adaptive patterns of space use andhippocantpal size in wild rodents L.F. JACOBS Dept. of Psychology, Universitl- of California Berkeley,Califurnia 94720, USA "Just as the human body represents a whole museum of organs, each witha long evolutionary history, so weshould expect to findthat the mind is organized in a similar way. It can nomore bca product without history than is the body in which it exists". CarlJung, Man artd His Symbols (1964) 1, Introduction To understand thebrainandits function, it will benecessary to understand its evolutionary history. It is thus not surprising that one of most exciting developments in cognitive science is theinterface between cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary biology. Certain areas of intersection maybemore profitable than others, and in the present chapter, I will argue that one of the most important questions is the ecological and evolutionary significance of spatial cognition. Spatial cognition is a major focus of cognitive neuroscience. Yet in therush to understand spatial cognition in humans, morefundamental questions have oftenbeen left behind. For cxample, howdid spatial cognition evolve?Why didspatial cognitionevolve?Whatcurren ccological variables prcdict specializations in spatial cognition and its neural basis? A complere understanding of this ability will rcquire multidisciplinary studies of the ecology' mechanism and function of spatial cognition. Whatis the ecology of spatial cognition? Ironically, ananimal's knowledge of the spatial distributions ofresources is the cornerstone ofbehavioral ecology, the study ofthe"survival valucof behavior" [40]. Oneof its basic tenets is thatthespatial andtemporal distribution of criticalresources, such as food, refuge or mates, will determine the spatial dispersion and hence social organization behavior of animals cJnrpeting for such resources [42]' This theoryhaspredicted complex socialand competitive interactions in a varietyof animal species, both vertebrate and invertebrate, terrestrial andaquatic [40]. ln short, an animal's knowledge of spatial distributions is critical to its survival and reproduction. To study theevolution of thiscognitive trait requires knowledge bothof its phylogenetic history and comparative studies of itscurrent function. Comparative studies iemanda diversity of species ro be powerful andit is a happy coincidence thatwe have clctailccl knowlcdgc ol'spatial cognition in a laboratory species, the Norwegian rat,which, 301 E. Allevo et al. (eds.), Behavioural Brain Research in Naturalistic and Semi-Naluralistic Settings,30l-322. @ 1995 Kluwer AcademicPublishers. Printed in rheNetherlands.