Waiting for the right moment to strike, avoiding the ingestion of harmful foods, or ignoring stimuli associated with ephemeral or depleted resources requires the inhibition of prepotent responses. Good response inhibition facilities flexibility in behaviour which is associated with survival in unpredictable environments. To investigate differences in behavioural flexibility in lizards, we tested reversal learning in the sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa asper) and compared its performance to the relatively closely related eastern blue-tongue skink (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides). We presented both species with a choice between either a light and dark blue stimulus or a triangle and X shape. Both species were able to learn to discriminate between these stimuli and showed similar learning ability during the acquisition of the discrimination. Sleepy lizards, however, demonstrated a higher probability of making a correct choice at the start of the reversal, hinting towards enhanced stimulus response inhibition. Sleepy lizards and blue-tongue skinks inhabit different environments and show differences in ecology and sociobiology, all of which could possibly lead to adaptive specialisation in cognitive ability. Although further research is required, we propose that selection might have led to a change in stimulus response inhibition in the arid-adapted sleepy lizard, because better response inhibition might help them avoid the costs of repeated choices to unpredictable environmental stimuli.

中文翻译：

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蜥蜴有增强的抑制作用吗？在生态学和社会生物学不同的两个物种中进行的测试

等待合适的时机出击、避免摄入有害食物或忽略与短暂或枯竭资源相关的刺激，都需要抑制优势反应。良好的反应抑制促进行为的灵活性，这与在不可预测的环境中的生存有关。为了研究蜥蜴行为灵活性的差异，我们在昏昏欲睡的蜥蜴 (Tiliqua rugosa asper) 中测试了逆向学习，并将其性能与相对密切相关的东部蓝舌石龙子 (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides) 进行了比较。我们向这两个物种展示了在浅蓝色和深蓝色刺激或三角形和 X 形状之间进行选择。两个物种都能够学会区分这些刺激，并在获得区分的过程中表现出相似的学习能力。然而，昏昏欲睡的蜥蜴在逆转开始时表现出更高的做出正确选择的可能性，暗示刺激反应抑制增强。昏昏欲睡的蜥蜴和蓝舌石龙子栖息在不同的环境中，在生态和社会生物学上表现出差异，所有这些都可能导致认知能力的适应性专业化。尽管需要进一步研究，但我们认为选择可能导致了适应干旱的瞌睡蜥蜴的刺激反应抑制发生了变化，因为更好的反应抑制可能有助于它们避免对不可预测的环境刺激进行重复选择的成本。昏昏欲睡的蜥蜴和蓝舌石龙子栖息在不同的环境中，在生态和社会生物学上表现出差异，所有这些都可能导致认知能力的适应性专业化。尽管需要进一步研究，但我们认为选择可能导致了适应干旱的瞌睡蜥蜴的刺激反应抑制发生了变化，因为更好的反应抑制可能有助于它们避免对不可预测的环境刺激进行重复选择的成本。昏昏欲睡的蜥蜴和蓝舌石龙子栖息在不同的环境中，在生态和社会生物学上表现出差异，所有这些都可能导致认知能力的适应性专业化。尽管需要进一步研究，但我们认为选择可能导致了适应干旱的瞌睡蜥蜴的刺激反应抑制发生了变化，因为更好的反应抑制可能有助于它们避免对不可预测的环境刺激进行重复选择的成本。