10 Amazing Facts About Animal Intelligence

We like to think that we are the only intelligent, self-aware animals on our planet, but we are terribly wrong. Intelligence and self-awareness is every where, right down to the quantum level, and every being in our planet radiates from it. Each animal within our ecosystem is gifted with a certain kind of intelligence that allows it to survive and thrive in its conditions. This intelligence is often mistaken for instinct, but there is a very clear distinction between the two. Here is a list of 10 amazing facts that highlight animal intelligence.

Wolves Copy Better Than Dogs

Wolves are the ancestors of dogs and they are a highly intelligent breed of canine. According to a study published in the Plus One Journal, wolves are better at learning new things than dogs. Fourteen 6-month old wolves and fifteen 6-month old dogs were made to observe a trained dog opening a box and getting a reward for the act. After the observation, when the pups were made to attempt this activity themselves, all the wolves got it right while only 10 dogs made their way to the food. We all know how distracted dogs can get, right!

Lemurs Can Steal Food From Your Plate

A fascinating study showed how intelligent lemurs were in understanding human abilities in order to feed themselves. A small group of blind-folded humans were left with food on their plate while another group had no blind-folds while guarding their food. The lemurs were quickly able to understand the purpose of the blind-folds and made their way to the food when they were with the blind-folded participants.

Zebra Finches Can Fake It

A recent study showed that Zebra Finches are able to fake a robust behavior, even when they are sick, when there is a possibility to attract a mate. Looks like we aren’t the only ones out there lying to our other gender.

Active Songbirds Lose Their Memory

How tragic is it that a songbird has to pick between learning songs and keeping their memories? A study showed that male songs birds tend to lose their memory quicker because they use up their brain capacity by learning new songs. How powerful is the concept of music when a songbird chooses music over memories!

Rats Have Working Memories

Working memory is the ability of our brain to retain current information in order to help us achieve numerous tasks. It has been proven that rats display signs of using working memories as well, and use their whiskers and their vibrations the way we use our fingertips. This is why rats are able to survive traps if they are placed in the same place.

Fruit Flies Think Before Reacting

An interesting experiment recently proved that fruit flies put a lot of thought into their decision making. A set of Drosophilia flies were trained to stay away from a particular concentration of odor for a period of time. After that, they were placed in a container with two outlets of odor. One was the odor which they were trained to stay away from while the other was a generic odor. The fruit flies managed to stay away from the odor they were trained with every time. Not only that, as the odors kept getting more intense, they took more time to distinguish the odor and stayed away from it.

Elephants Can Comfort Other Elephants

Elephants are known to be one of the most sensitive and compassionate animals in the world with a wide spectrum of emotional intelligence. Researchers noticed that when a large group of elephants were kept in captivity, and one of them would get distressed by seeing a snake or some other reason, the other elephants would move to the elephant and use physical touch to comfort the animal.

Dogs Think Of Us Even When We Aren’t Around

Dogs are our best friends for a reason. They are extremely smart animals capable of displaying very human qualities like loyalty and respect. When dogs were presented with four smells – a known human, an unknown human, a known dog and an unknown dog, and their brain activity was studied, it was seen that these dogs reacted the strongest to the smell of the known human being. This proves that they are attached to their masters and are capable of recalling their memories even when they aren’t around.

Monkeys Are Biased

A recent study shows us that monkeys can be biased and judgmental in their decision-making and can even border on the lines of superstitious. When a group of monkeys were presented with three tasks, which when completed successfully rewarded them with food, they tend to use the same decision making tactics from the first two tests, without realizing that the third test was a lot tougher. They believed in the results of their decision making so strongly from the first two tests, that they stuck to the same option even when the test was repeated over a thousand times.

Chimps Can Start Their Own Fashion Trends

A startling study related to Animal Cognition showed that chimpanzees are extremely observant of their own tribe and are capable of picking up fashion trends from each other. When one of the chimps in a zoo named Julie began to stick grass into both her ears, the other chimps were so amused by it, that they decided to do the same think by copying her. This practice continued within the tribe even after Julie passed away.