Walking down to the enclosures I see many dog-like faces tracking my movements. As I get closer, I hear soft snorts and barks. The vocalizations abate as I approach the enclosures, but their gazes don’t waver. The dingoes behind the fences materialized as paradoxical versions of dogs: friendly but cautious, suspicious but interested, independent but curious. How did these uncanny creatures come to be? How did human intervention shape dogs and dingoes differently?
My name is Mikey Bogese, and I'm a researcher on for the illusions project. I am fascinated by how dogs evolved their useful and unique traits, such as following pointing and referencing our gaze. My previous research investigates how dogs navigate their environment and what tools they use to relate to us. For example, how do dogs use visual information? How might the presence of a human interfere with a dog or dingo's perception of the world?
I am excited to work on this project because understanding how dogs might see illusions is another step in uncovering their sensory life. If we know more about how they perceive the world, we may be able to understand how they became so integral to our lives.
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