animal intelligence
This is the larger lesson of animal cognition research: It humbles us.
We are not alone in our ability to invent or plan or to contemplate ourselves—or even to plot and lie.
Many scientists believed animals were incapable of any thought. They were simply machines, robots programmed to react to stimuli but lacking the ability to think or feel.
We’re glimpsing intelligence throughout the animal kingdom.
Copyright Vincent J. Musi, National Geographic
A dog with a vocabulary of 340 words. A parrot that answers “shape” if asked what is different, and “color” if asked what is the same, while being showed two items of different shape and same color. An octopus with “distinct personality” that amuses itself by shooting water at plastic-bottle targets (the first reported invertebrate play behavior). Lemurs with calculatory abilities. Sheep able to recognize faces (of other sheep and humans) long term and that can discern moods. Crows able to make and use tools (in tests, even out of materials never seen before). Human-dolphin communication via an invented sign language (with simple grammar). Dolphins ability to correctly interpret on the first occasion instructions given by a person displayed on a TV screen.
This may only be the tip of the iceberg…
Read the article Animal Minds in National Geographic`s March 2008 edition.
Ever think about vegetarianism?
animal cognition, animal intelligence, cognition, intelligence, nationa geographic
November 6th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Top 10 Smartest Mammals (05 November 2009):
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/etc/091105-top-smartest-mammals.html
January 28th, 2010 at 10:49 am
octopus tool use http://youtu.be/hlh0cS2tf24
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18281
February 9th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
http://www.livescience.com/animals/pigs-understand-light-reflection-100208.html
March 4th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Pigeons might do better than humans at game shows, at least on “Let’s Make A Deal.”
These new findings — involving the pigeons superior ability to solve a perplexing statistical problem — might in turn shed light on why humans are bad at solving certain kinds of problems, scientists added
http://www.livescience.com/animals/pigeons-monty-hall-problem-100304.html
March 4th, 2010 at 11:00 am
10 Amazing Things You Didn’t Know about Animals
http://www.livescience.com/animals/top10_amazing_animals-1.html
Amazing Animal Abilities
http://www.livescience.com/animals/top10_animal_senses.html
March 10th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
The lawyer who defends animals
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/05/lawyer-who-defends-animals
March 31st, 2010 at 8:53 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CVTsuse7WU
Growl distinction
April 16th, 2010 at 10:35 am
http://www.livescience.com/animals/10-Animals-Use-Tools-100413.html
Scientists once thought of tool use as a defining feature of humans, but increasingly research is showing adept tool users on land, air and sea in the animal kingdom. Investigating how such behavior developed in this diverse mix promises to shed light on how tool use might have originated in humanity.
April 28th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Chimps Understand and Mourn Death, Research Suggests
http://www.livescience.com/animals/chimps-mourn-death-100426.html
Chimpanzees may gather in hushed quiet to watch a fellow ape in her dying moments, and chimp mothers in the wild may carry their infants’ mummified remains for weeks, according to new research on how humanity’s closest living relatives deal with the deaths of those closest to them.
May 10th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Saturday May 08, 2010
An ecologist claims he spotted the super-size rodent den while using satellite technology through the internet site Google Earth.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Beavers-Worlds-Largest-Beaver-Dam-Discovered-In-Canada-Can-Be-Seen-From-Space/Article/201005215627933?lpos=Strange_News_First_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_4&lid=ARTICLE_15627933_Beavers%3A_Worlds_Largest_Beaver_Dam_Discovered_In_Canada%2C_Can_Be_Seen_From_Space