The animals with an eye for art

The animals with an eye for art Andrey Nekrasov/Getty Images Appreciating beauty may be one of the traits which makes us human, but some animals In 1879, Spanish aristocrat and amateur archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautuloa and his daughter Maria set out to explore a cave near their family home in Cantabria. "The male also performs a kind of visual display where he moves colourful objects quickly across the female's visual field so they see it quickly and then it disappears," says Endler. Five out of seven sparrows demonstrated a preference for Cubist paintings over Impressionist artworks, while three "As we can't ask animals whether they enjoy or find pleasure in art, in experimental psychology we look a property called reinforcement instead," says Watanabe. Georgette Douwma/Getty Images Peacock's tails may seem cumbersome, but they play a vital part in mating rituals "Many species of birds, mammals and even fish can discriminate between different paintings or pieces of music, but few find them reinforcing." The strongest and fittest bowerbirds may build the best bowers Another theory is that the brightness of the peacock's spots, or the ornately coloured bowers, could serve as indicators of strength, or "good genes" in the male.