Tales of deep thinking dolphins, empathetic elephants, gesticulating orangutans, and clever canines are causing us to rethink our ideas of animal intelligence.
In an article for Parade, author Eugene Linden chronicles numerous tales of animal acumen, including a dog named Scooby who took himself to the vet after being hit by a car, a rottweiler named Faith who speed dialed 911 after her disabled owner took a tumble, and the story of Sophie the elephant who helped her zoo keeper with chores.
Searching for hard facts on animal aptitude scientists from St Andrews University in Scotland have found that the communication skills of orangutans are more complex than first thought, being akin to a game of charades, after they observed the primates using a series of gestures to score tastier treats from their keepers. Meanwhile, at the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, a devious dolphin named Kelly figured out a series of sophisticated scams to score more fish. And a paper penned by Friederike Range of the University of Vienna shows that dogs are capable of learning in a similar way to humans by use of selective imitation.
"Every day, we're discovering surprises about animals and finding out animals are far more intelligent and far more emotional than we previously thought," says animal behaviorist Marc Bekoff in an interview with the Washington Post. "We're really breaking down the lines between the species."
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