In an unusual example of empathy in animals other than primates, new research shows that rats will liberate their distressed cagemates from a trap, even when they get no additional reward. Unlike the more common "emotional contagion," wherein an anim … show moreal experiences the emotions of others, empathy has often been considered unique to primates. Although empathy does overlap somewhat with emotional contagion, an empathetic animal can "put itself in anothers shoes" while maintaining its own perspective and emotional separation.

This research appears in the 9 December issue of the journal Science. hide