On the mirror test and the evolutionary origin of self-awareness in vertebrates.
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences November 13, 2025 Masanori Kohda, Shumpei Sogawa, Redouan Bshary
Self-awareness in animals is often documented by showing evidence for mirror self-recognition (MSR), which is confirmed by the mirror mark-test. The classic assumption about self-awareness was that it is a complex cognitive process, restricted at best to a few large-brained species. Indeed, early MSR research yielded positive results only in great apes, elephants, dolphins and magpies, while...