Why Meerkat study is important

So, we ended our last class (spring 06) talking about the pedagogy and how it was distinguished from general learning. I thought, this is an important finding b/c it shows that active learning can happen in almost all sorts of animals, something that was thought to belong to humans and chimps only. I think the whole science body needs to revise its definition of what is considered to be called "Learning." We Think of learning as something associated with huge brain. Not so, many animals show learning irrespective of having a huge brain such as these meerkats. Or assuming that one has to have at least a CNS. Again wrong. Aplysia have no CNS and their NS is limited to 20,000 neurons total (yes the figure is correct). Learning does not even have anything to do with neurons. Our immune system is learning constantly how to fight viruses. I would add that learning is not even a characteristic of living thing per se. Rainfall "learns" how to flow down the hill by taking certian path that have been used previously by other rainfall and not creating a new path. We have much to "learn" about learning.