7 of the smartest animals in the world
Educational Program A Life / / January 05, 2021
Rats, dolphins, elephants, pigs - dozens of different animals pretend to be the smartest. But there is still no certainty.
The problem is that scientists still have a poor idea of what intelligence is and by what parameter to evaluate it. Brain size, ability to perform complex math calculations, developed social skills that allow solving difficult problems together tasks, the ability to adapt to rapidly changing conditions and find a way out of tangled labyrinths, speech - all these are possible criteria.
However, there are animals in the world that, in some types of intellectual activity, are at least equal to humans, and sometimes even surpass them.
1. Chimpanzee
A few years ago, a chimpanzee named Ayumu beat Japanese students on a test of memorization, a nation renowned for perseverance and scrupulousness in learning.
Casting a fleeting glance at the screen, lasting only 210 milliseconds (faster than blinking), Ayumu remembers the sequence of numbers displayed on it. And when they are covered with white squares, it unmistakably restores them in the correct order. How the testing took place can be seen in this video.
Curiously, the students were unable to surpass Ayuma even after a lot of training.
Let's say Ayumu is a genius. But other chimpanzees are also very smart. So, it has long been knownThe Chimp That Learned Sign Languagethat these monkeys are able to communicate on sign language. And they also know howChimps Use Tools to Hunt Mammals use improvised items as tools. For example, spears are made from sticks for hunting other mammals.
2. Elephants
These giants have the largestElephants Have The Most Neurons. Why Aren’t They The Smartest Animals? the brain and, accordingly, the largest number of neurons among land animals. That is, if we assume that intelligence is related to the size of the brain (in fact, not), elephants would be unequivocal champions in intelligence.
Plus, elephants have impressive cognitive abilities.Fact or Fiction?: Elephants Never Forget. For example, these giants confidently and in the smallest detail remember their fellow tribesmen, human faces and events even decades later. And they can also track the location of several relatives at the same time.
Richard Byrne, Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, for ScientificAmericanImagine walking into a large store during Christmas sales. How much effort it takes to keep track of four or five family members who come with you! And elephants easily do this trick with 30 relatives.
Elephants are also one of those rare animals that are able to recognize themselves in a mirror. That is, they have self-awareness - an understanding of who I am and how I look (by the way, babies up to a year and a half are deprived of this quality). These mammals know how to cooperate with each other, that is, to solve life problems together. And they love to play, which also indicates a high intellect.
3. Dolphins
Dolphins have more meanings10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Brainthan humans. In theory, this means that the brain of these animals can store and process more information than the average human. How it is in practice is not yet entirely clear. But dolphins do exhibit many intelligent traits.
These mammals recognize themselves in the mirror and are aware of their position in society: they clearly understand who they are, what group they are, have an idea of subordination. They empathize packmates: cheer up those who are sad or sick, and have fun with those who are happy.
And dolphins can masterfully imitate - for example, they accurately copyDolphins imitate human actions movement of a human trainer. And this is a difficult skill that requires serious intellectual effort, of which these mammals are apparently quite capable.
4. Crows
Common ravens, along with jays, are the smartestCrows and jays top bird IQ scale among the birds. But crows can bypass mammals by their quick wits.
Thus, the New Caledonian crows living in the Pacific region of France are able to establish and understand causal relationships no worse than children aged 5-7 yearsUsing the Aesop's Fable Paradigm to Investigate Causal Understanding of Water Displacement by New Caledonian Crows.
In a series of experiments, these birds have demonstratedThis Amazing Video Reveals How Smart Crows Really Arehow to use Archimedes' law. They threw stones into a vessel of water so that it rose and made it possible to grab a piece of food floating on the surface.
5. Rats
In Chinese culture, the rat is respected for its cunning and resourcefulness. And laboratory experiments confirm these qualities: rodents easily find their way out of the most intricate mazes and solve complex logic puzzles to get to the coveted piece of food.
Some researchers are so impressed with the talents of the naked-tailed that they directly stateRats Can Be Smarter Than People: rats are sometimes smarter than people. For example, tests were carried out where it was required to generalize previously obtained information and, based on this, draw a conclusion whether a new object is “bad” or “good”. In them, the rodents showed the bestMore complex brains are not always better: rats outperform humans in implicit category-based generalization by implementing a similarity-based strategy result than student volunteers.
More rats can to express emotionFacial Indicators of Positive Emotions in Rats and recognizeThe Emotional Lives of Rats: Rats Read Pain in Others ’Faces their relatives show sympathy. And easy to learn when neededRats respond where it counts math skills.
6. Dogs
Researchers compare their intelligenceDogs as Smart as 2-year-old Kids with the intelligence of a two-year-old child. This conclusion was made on the basis of vocabulary: the average dog knows 165 words and concepts, and the smartest ones know up to 250 words, while the thesaurus of a healthy child startsShould I be concerned that my 2-year-old doesn’t say many words and is hard to understand? with 50 words.
In many ways, dogs are more human-like than any other animal species, including some primates.A Review of Domestic Dogs' (Canis Familiaris) Human-Like Behaviors: Or Why Behavior Analysts Should Stop Worrying and Love Their Dogs researchers.
When it comes to arithmetic, dogs are even more advanced. They canDogs' Intelligence On Par With Two-year-old Human, Canine Researcher Says count to 4-5 and perform calculations within these limits. Children acquire such skills only at 3-4 years old.Dogs Are Smarter Than Toddlers, IQ Tests Show.
7. Cats
Their intelligence is difficult to study, because cats are too independent and participate in experiments only as long as they are in the mood. But this independence in itself can be a sign of an extraordinary mind.
According toThe Cat-vs.-Dog IQ Debate Revisited Specialists, cats have twice as many neurons in their cerebral cortex as dogs. This means that murkas have more possibilities for processing and storing information. In addition, the famous feline curiosity may indicate a high level of intelligence.
Cats are so smart that they seem to share their intelligence with their owners. At least researchers from the University of Bristol (England) foundUK domestic cat and dog population larger than thoughtthat cat owners are more likely to have a degree or high professional qualifications than dog lovers. Although, of course, this statistical pattern has other, deeper and not fully understood reasons. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence.
But get a cat still worth it. Let not for the sake of the mind, but for other health benefits. However, this is a completely different story.
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