Citation

Author Website

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=Bx2gbHQAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.lse.ac.uk/cpnss/research/ASENT/

https://www.heatherbrowning.net/

https://www.alexschnell.net/

https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/charlotte-burn

Abstract

We outline a framework for evaluating scientific evidence of sentience, focusing on pain experience. It includes eight neural and cognitive-behavioural criteria, with confidence levels for each criterion reflecting the reliability and quality of the evidence. We outline the rationale for each criterion and apply our framework to a controversial sentience candidate: decapod crustaceans. We have either high or very high confidence that true crabs (infraorder Brachyura) satisfy five criteria, amounting to strong evidence of sentience. Moreover, we have high confidence that both anomuran crabs (infraorder Anomura) and astacid lobsters/crayfish (infraorder Astacidea) meet three criteria—substantial evidence of sentience. The case is, as yet, weaker for other infraorders, such as penaeid shrimps, highlighting important research gaps. Having demonstrated our framework’s application to decapod crustaceans, we hope that future research will apply it to other taxa.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Author Biography

Andrew Crump, Research Officer, LSE, works on the Foundations of Animal Sentience project and specializes in invertebrate sentience. He previously completed a PhD in Biological Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast. Website

Heather Browning, Research Officer, LSE, works on the Foundations of Animal Sentience project and specializes in animal welfare. She previously completed a PhD in Philosophy at the Australian National University. Alongside her academic career, Browning has worked as a zookeeper and animal welfare officer. Website

Alexandra Schnell, Research Fellow, Darwin College, University of Cambridge, focuses on comparing cognitive abilities, such as learning and memory, in diverse taxa including cephalopods and corvids. Website

Charlotte Burn, Associate Professor, RVC, specializes in the mechanisms and motivations behind animal behaviour, animal perceptual abilities, and how to make concrete improvements to animal welfare. She is also Deputy Head of the RVC’s Animal Welfare Science and Ethics Group. Website

Jonathan Birch, Associate Professor, LSE, is the Principal Investigator on the Foundations of Animal Sentience project, a five-year Horizon 2020 project investigating animal sentience. Website

DOI

10.51291/2377-7478.1691