This page highlights stories and information that shows that animals are capable of intelligence and ingenuity
This page discusses intelligence and ingenuity providing stories illustrating various aspects of these facets and intellectual abilities in animals including memory and the ability to learn, to make and use tools, to apply past experiences to present moments and future expectations, and to reason, for example pigs and other animals have been known to open pen gates and escape staging a breakout for the rest of the animals. Did you know that, pigs understand mirrors and elephants mourn their dead taking part in recognised rituals which requires complex reasoning and thinking, all of which is evidence of intelligence.
Many of the characteristics of sentience discussed in this section indicate the presence of intelligence, for example the existence of Jealousy in animals (most notably dogs), such a complex emotion requires intelligence. Dolphins of course display remarkable intelligence. Known for their altruism, a characteristic that in itself requires intelligent thinking processes, dolphins are very adept at using tools and it has been shown that dolphins use a training process to pass on their knowledge to other dolphins. Researchers observed that bottle neck dolphins in Australia have devised a way to break off pieces of sponge from the sea bed to use rather like a glove to protect their snouts while they forage. Furthermore the dolphins select conical shaped sponges that will not fall off their snouts rather than the usual flat ones. The researches have concluded that this behaviour is culturally transmitted and passed through the maternal line!*1)
Recent observations into ape intelligence reported in the Telegraph show new aspects of ape intellect. Chimpanzees it appears can fashion a spear for hunting. In a controlled experiment a chimpanzee called Judy learnt various manoeuvres in order to obtain a piece of fruit, nothing new there of course most of us realise that chimps are able to learn such skills. What is new however is the fact that observation has determined that this knowledge was passed on to other chimps who learnt similar skills by watching the actions of Judy. A new film called Ape Genius shows that apes are more intelligent than most people tend to consider. Featured in the film are Koco a gorilla who understands sigh language; Azy an orangutan maths champion, and Kanzi a bonobo who understands more than 3,000 words of English.*2)
Despite such overwhelming evidence that animals are intelligent and ingenious it should always be remembered of course that animals have their own kind of intelligence to suit their everyday needs and this intelligence may not resemble human intelligence. Animals have their unique intelligence, and intelligence and ingenuity varies between individuals of a specific species as it does with human beings.
Firstly some personal experiences of animal intelligence. One from our adopted rabbit and the other from the dog of a neighbour.
While I strongly do not condone the keeping of pets many vegans and vegetarians such as my husband and myself will adopt an animal who is in need of a home, and this was the case when a neighbour could not look after her pet rabbit. Many people do not consider rabbits as high on the list of animals who display intelligence. Yet if you observe these creatures they like other animals possess many aspects of intelligence which is similar to our own in addition of course to their own unique rabbit intelligence that allows them to function efficiently as rabbits. We have to keep in mind that animal intelligence is not always like our own and animals need their own brand of intellect in order for them to survive according to the needs of their species. Yet often there are many similarities including memory, decision making and so on.
Charles Darwin wrote in his book The Descent of Man
Of all the faculties of the human mind, it will, I presume, be admitted that reason stands at the summit. Only a few persons now dispute that animals possess some power of reasoning. Animals may constantly be seen to pause, deliberate, and resolve.
Many people consider animals as solely driven by instinct and not able to think, ponder, consider and make decisions "pause, deliberate, and resolve".
Our adopted rabbit whom we named Sooty clearly deliberates and makes decisions. She will be half way up the ladder to the top level of her hutch when she pauses and returns the way she came. She obviously has decided for some reason that she no longer wishes to go to the top level. In other words she has changed her mind. A simple example and only one of many of the observable decisions this animal makes daily. Such as some mornings when her run is open to allow access to free range in the garden she will, depending on mood, either remain in her favourite place in her hutch or on other mornings she can barely wait for me to unbolt her hutch and rabbit run to allow access to the rest of the garden. These are simple decisions of course but show she is a thinking being and makes decisions throughout the day much the same way as we do.
It is unfortunate that many people do not see the amazing creatures that rabbits are. They are far more intelligent than people think, crafty and devious at times. Sooty really is not keen on coming indoors during the winter from playing outside and has worked out that if she sits in the middle of the stairs in the two level hutch no one can reach her. She soon learnt when she was about to be taken indoors and as soon as she sees her carrying box she runs for cover. She knows when we are to go to bed as she has learnt that at this time she gets a treat.
Here is an example of rabbit memory
After a break of some four months of not needing to see the vet it was time for her to have her vaccinations. Now between this and her last trip her carrier had been changed and was larger and a different colour. The moment she saw it she ran for cover under the bushes and it took some time to catch her. Clearly even though it was not the same carrier she remembered it or the one like it after four months, of course this is more remarkable as the two carriers were not alike but she was able to reason that their function was the same. She remembered her previous trips to the vets and the connection with this unpleasant experience and the carrier. We had assumed that at least for the first time in her new carrier there would be no trouble as she would not make the connection. She however proved us wrong.
A neighbour of ours has a dog called Humphrey an elderly animal, one with a gentle face and demeanour, at least to his human friends, to other dogs however he has a particular aversion and his guardian dare not let him off his lead otherwise fighting will ensue the moment he encounters another dog. The unfortunate creature has had a traumatic life and suffered with depression when his previous guardians died. It took a long time for him to recover from this depression as a consequence. It is also suspected that sometime in his life he has experienced a negative encounter with another or other dogs hence his aversion to members of his own species. Notwithstanding his difficult life and in recent years including increasing illness Humphrey is a bright and intelligent animal and a real character.
Here are example of his keen intellect.
Twice a year Humphrey has two routine visits to the vet, one visit for yearly vaccinations, the other for a annual health check. The first is a more traumatic encounter which includes a vaccination for Kennel cough which has to be administered through the nostrils, for this its takes the vet and a couple of nurses to hold him still and his guardian a good deal of effort to coax him from the car and into the surgery. Humphrey is far less bothered by the annual check up and makes no fuss. Our neighbour became anxious about the vet trip for vaccinations as Humphrey appears to know where he is going and moreover which type of visit it is. Whether he can tell according to the season as the visits are about six months apart or there are other ways of which no one is aware but most certainly this wily animal knows he is going to the vet for his vaccinations.
Humphrey demonstrates his intelligence and sentience in many ways. Each week at the same day around the same time he gets a bone for a treat. Somehow he knows the day and the time when it arrives and if his human forgets he soon reminds him. Also he understands the word bone when it is spoken even if it is said not in relation to him and immediately becomes excited in anticipation that he will receive an extra treat. He always knows when my husband is going to visit and waits by the door with his piece of rope with which he and my husband play tug of war.
Humphrey also has the nightly habit of checking to see if his guardian is still alive. A little disconcerting for his human companion and something that would be considered neurotic and not normal in a human nevertheless demonstrates sentience, intelligence, thinking, possibly anxiety, memory, as clearly the dog recalls what happened to his previous guardian, and conscious decision.
Intelligence in rats
An acquaintance of ours is having problems with rats in his garden. A very tiny garden but quite over grown and frequented by many birds for whom there is a constant supply of bird food throughout the year. Unfortunately the birds are messy eaters and many seeds and other titbits get scattered everywhere thus attracting rats. However even diligent sweeping away of seeds fails to prevent the rats getting a good enough amount to make this sheltered garden a sanctuary stocked well with sufficient food. The rats also for a time managed to climb to the bird table by all manner of devious routes that our neighbour could not foresee despite taking all precautions to ensure there were no direct jumping off points to enable the rats to get on the bird table. Nonetheless the rats managed by all sorts of complex routes via plant pots, to the bird bath than jumping to the tree and climbing down the branches. Clearly this required some kind of thinking process in whatever way that rats think and was not some automatic behaviour without forethought or planning.
Twelve rats have been removed over the previous six months by the use of a humane rat trap and released in the countryside. After some time the rats however became very devious in obtaining the food in the trap without getting caught. The most ingenious tactic involved digging a tunnel directly under the rat trap and grabbing the food from between the mesh floor. Unobserved however the rats actually managed to get inside and retrieve food placed right at the back without the door closing and trapping them. How this feat was achieved no one knows as this took place at night. Yes twelve rats have been trapped but mostly younger smaller rats. Also of course as with humans intelligence varies with rats as it does in any creature, some less clever and less experienced rats entered the trap and were caught.
Note Rats should be released within 100 yards of where they were caught. Releasing a rat into a strange area will almost surely result in his or her death.
http://www.peta.org/issues/wildlife/living-harmony-wildlife/rats/
Here is a video of a clever Husky helping himself to Ice
This page discusses intelligence and ingenuity providing stories illustrating various aspects of these facets and intellectual abilities in animals including memory and the ability to learn, to make and use tools, to apply past experiences to present moments and future expectations, and to reason, for example pigs and other animals have been known to open pen gates and escape staging a breakout for the rest of the animals. Did you know that, pigs understand mirrors and elephants mourn their dead taking part in recognised rituals which requires complex reasoning and thinking, all of which is evidence of intelligence.
Many of the characteristics of sentience discussed in this section indicate the presence of intelligence, for example the existence of Jealousy in animals (most notably dogs), such a complex emotion requires intelligence. Dolphins of course display remarkable intelligence. Known for their altruism, a characteristic that in itself requires intelligent thinking processes, dolphins are very adept at using tools and it has been shown that dolphins use a training process to pass on their knowledge to other dolphins. Researchers observed that bottle neck dolphins in Australia have devised a way to break off pieces of sponge from the sea bed to use rather like a glove to protect their snouts while they forage. Furthermore the dolphins select conical shaped sponges that will not fall off their snouts rather than the usual flat ones. The researches have concluded that this behaviour is culturally transmitted and passed through the maternal line!*1)
Recent observations into ape intelligence reported in the Telegraph show new aspects of ape intellect. Chimpanzees it appears can fashion a spear for hunting. In a controlled experiment a chimpanzee called Judy learnt various manoeuvres in order to obtain a piece of fruit, nothing new there of course most of us realise that chimps are able to learn such skills. What is new however is the fact that observation has determined that this knowledge was passed on to other chimps who learnt similar skills by watching the actions of Judy. A new film called Ape Genius shows that apes are more intelligent than most people tend to consider. Featured in the film are Koco a gorilla who understands sigh language; Azy an orangutan maths champion, and Kanzi a bonobo who understands more than 3,000 words of English.*2)
Despite such overwhelming evidence that animals are intelligent and ingenious it should always be remembered of course that animals have their own kind of intelligence to suit their everyday needs and this intelligence may not resemble human intelligence. Animals have their unique intelligence, and intelligence and ingenuity varies between individuals of a specific species as it does with human beings.
Firstly some personal experiences of animal intelligence. One from our adopted rabbit and the other from the dog of a neighbour.
While I strongly do not condone the keeping of pets many vegans and vegetarians such as my husband and myself will adopt an animal who is in need of a home, and this was the case when a neighbour could not look after her pet rabbit. Many people do not consider rabbits as high on the list of animals who display intelligence. Yet if you observe these creatures they like other animals possess many aspects of intelligence which is similar to our own in addition of course to their own unique rabbit intelligence that allows them to function efficiently as rabbits. We have to keep in mind that animal intelligence is not always like our own and animals need their own brand of intellect in order for them to survive according to the needs of their species. Yet often there are many similarities including memory, decision making and so on.
Charles Darwin wrote in his book The Descent of Man
Of all the faculties of the human mind, it will, I presume, be admitted that reason stands at the summit. Only a few persons now dispute that animals possess some power of reasoning. Animals may constantly be seen to pause, deliberate, and resolve.
Many people consider animals as solely driven by instinct and not able to think, ponder, consider and make decisions "pause, deliberate, and resolve".
Our adopted rabbit whom we named Sooty clearly deliberates and makes decisions. She will be half way up the ladder to the top level of her hutch when she pauses and returns the way she came. She obviously has decided for some reason that she no longer wishes to go to the top level. In other words she has changed her mind. A simple example and only one of many of the observable decisions this animal makes daily. Such as some mornings when her run is open to allow access to free range in the garden she will, depending on mood, either remain in her favourite place in her hutch or on other mornings she can barely wait for me to unbolt her hutch and rabbit run to allow access to the rest of the garden. These are simple decisions of course but show she is a thinking being and makes decisions throughout the day much the same way as we do.
It is unfortunate that many people do not see the amazing creatures that rabbits are. They are far more intelligent than people think, crafty and devious at times. Sooty really is not keen on coming indoors during the winter from playing outside and has worked out that if she sits in the middle of the stairs in the two level hutch no one can reach her. She soon learnt when she was about to be taken indoors and as soon as she sees her carrying box she runs for cover. She knows when we are to go to bed as she has learnt that at this time she gets a treat.
Here is an example of rabbit memory
After a break of some four months of not needing to see the vet it was time for her to have her vaccinations. Now between this and her last trip her carrier had been changed and was larger and a different colour. The moment she saw it she ran for cover under the bushes and it took some time to catch her. Clearly even though it was not the same carrier she remembered it or the one like it after four months, of course this is more remarkable as the two carriers were not alike but she was able to reason that their function was the same. She remembered her previous trips to the vets and the connection with this unpleasant experience and the carrier. We had assumed that at least for the first time in her new carrier there would be no trouble as she would not make the connection. She however proved us wrong.
A neighbour of ours has a dog called Humphrey an elderly animal, one with a gentle face and demeanour, at least to his human friends, to other dogs however he has a particular aversion and his guardian dare not let him off his lead otherwise fighting will ensue the moment he encounters another dog. The unfortunate creature has had a traumatic life and suffered with depression when his previous guardians died. It took a long time for him to recover from this depression as a consequence. It is also suspected that sometime in his life he has experienced a negative encounter with another or other dogs hence his aversion to members of his own species. Notwithstanding his difficult life and in recent years including increasing illness Humphrey is a bright and intelligent animal and a real character.
Here are example of his keen intellect.
Twice a year Humphrey has two routine visits to the vet, one visit for yearly vaccinations, the other for a annual health check. The first is a more traumatic encounter which includes a vaccination for Kennel cough which has to be administered through the nostrils, for this its takes the vet and a couple of nurses to hold him still and his guardian a good deal of effort to coax him from the car and into the surgery. Humphrey is far less bothered by the annual check up and makes no fuss. Our neighbour became anxious about the vet trip for vaccinations as Humphrey appears to know where he is going and moreover which type of visit it is. Whether he can tell according to the season as the visits are about six months apart or there are other ways of which no one is aware but most certainly this wily animal knows he is going to the vet for his vaccinations.
Humphrey demonstrates his intelligence and sentience in many ways. Each week at the same day around the same time he gets a bone for a treat. Somehow he knows the day and the time when it arrives and if his human forgets he soon reminds him. Also he understands the word bone when it is spoken even if it is said not in relation to him and immediately becomes excited in anticipation that he will receive an extra treat. He always knows when my husband is going to visit and waits by the door with his piece of rope with which he and my husband play tug of war.
Humphrey also has the nightly habit of checking to see if his guardian is still alive. A little disconcerting for his human companion and something that would be considered neurotic and not normal in a human nevertheless demonstrates sentience, intelligence, thinking, possibly anxiety, memory, as clearly the dog recalls what happened to his previous guardian, and conscious decision.
Intelligence in rats
An acquaintance of ours is having problems with rats in his garden. A very tiny garden but quite over grown and frequented by many birds for whom there is a constant supply of bird food throughout the year. Unfortunately the birds are messy eaters and many seeds and other titbits get scattered everywhere thus attracting rats. However even diligent sweeping away of seeds fails to prevent the rats getting a good enough amount to make this sheltered garden a sanctuary stocked well with sufficient food. The rats also for a time managed to climb to the bird table by all manner of devious routes that our neighbour could not foresee despite taking all precautions to ensure there were no direct jumping off points to enable the rats to get on the bird table. Nonetheless the rats managed by all sorts of complex routes via plant pots, to the bird bath than jumping to the tree and climbing down the branches. Clearly this required some kind of thinking process in whatever way that rats think and was not some automatic behaviour without forethought or planning.
Twelve rats have been removed over the previous six months by the use of a humane rat trap and released in the countryside. After some time the rats however became very devious in obtaining the food in the trap without getting caught. The most ingenious tactic involved digging a tunnel directly under the rat trap and grabbing the food from between the mesh floor. Unobserved however the rats actually managed to get inside and retrieve food placed right at the back without the door closing and trapping them. How this feat was achieved no one knows as this took place at night. Yes twelve rats have been trapped but mostly younger smaller rats. Also of course as with humans intelligence varies with rats as it does in any creature, some less clever and less experienced rats entered the trap and were caught.
Note Rats should be released within 100 yards of where they were caught. Releasing a rat into a strange area will almost surely result in his or her death.
http://www.peta.org/issues/wildlife/living-harmony-wildlife/rats/
Here is a video of a clever Husky helping himself to Ice
What an extraordinarily clever dog, this 5 month old husky learned by observation how to help himself to ice from the refrigerator.
An example of intelligence and ingenuity in a chimpanzee
The chimpanzee, Mafuca, learned how to unlock her cage, and stole the key and hid it under her arm for future use. After watching the carpenter boring holes with his brad-awl, she took the brad-awl and bored holes in her table. She poured out milk for herself at meals, and always carefully stopped pouring before the cup ran over.
The Universal Kinship Howard J Moore
Border Collie Rescue - Dot doing what she loves most.
Although I do not approve of using animals for labour particularly training one animal to exploit or control another I have included this video of a boarder collie dog who likes to round up sheep. Watching the video it is obvious this animals is thinking, she is assessing and weighing up the situation and making decisions. Something she has been taught do, nonetheless the intent in this animal's posture indicates complex thinking and decision making, all of which are needed to deal with the variables in any situation she encounters as a working dog.
Is this not instinct many may ask and an ability shared by all sheep dogs.
Clearly this is not the case for there are sheep dogs who are thoroughly incompetent in this task such as the case below which shows that intelligence and ingenuity varies amongst a specific species much as it does in humans .
The dog in the video included in the article below clearly is timid of sheep and runs from the flock rather than round them up.
"If they run away from him, he will go after them and act like a proper sheepdog, but the moment they turn and face him he runs away."
"Sheep can be quite aggressive if they think they have the upper hand – they stamp their feet and gang up in numbers and act like an army."
Read the whole story and watch the video
telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8591664/Britains-worst-sheep-dog-chased-by-flock.html
Interesting the last statement shows sheep as more intelligent than the mindless automatons that most people believe them to be.
Boarder collies it seems are highly intelligent and at the top of canine intelligence charts.
However what sets Chaser, the dog featured in the article and accompanying video below, apart is that she has learned to identify more than 1,000 objects and distinguish between nouns and verbs and has the largest vocabulary recorded for a dog.
care2.com/causes/smart-dog-upstages-humans.html
Darwin had a high opinion of animal intelligence and recognized that they have emotions
Below is an example of animal construction, the building of a platform by apes, the ability for which may arise from reasoning rather than instinct.
As man possesses the same senses as the lower animals, his fundamental
intuitions must be the same. Man has also some few instincts in common, as
that of self-preservation, sexual love, the love of the mother for her new-
born offspring, the desire possessed by the latter to suck, and so forth.
But man, perhaps, has somewhat fewer instincts than those possessed by the
animals which come next to him in the series. The orang in the Eastern
islands, and the chimpanzee in Africa, build platforms on which they sleep;
and, as both species follow the same habit, it might be argued that this
was due to instinct, but we cannot feel sure that it is not the result of
both animals having similar wants, and possessing similar powers of
reasoning. These apes, as we may assume, avoid the many poisonous fruits
of the tropics, and man has no such knowledge: but as our domestic
animals, when taken to foreign lands, and when first turned out in the
spring, often eat poisonous herbs, which they afterwards avoid, we cannot
feel sure that the apes do not learn from their own experience or from that
of their parents what fruits to select.
Here is an example of animal intelligence and the making and use of tools
It has often been said that no animal uses any tool; but the chimpanzee in
a state of nature cracks a native fruit, somewhat like a walnut, with a
stone. (37. Savage and Wyman in 'Boston Journal of Natural History,' vol.
iv. 1843-44, p. 383.) Rengger (38. 'Saugethiere von Paraguay,' 1830, s.
51-56.) easily taught an American monkey thus to break open hard palm-nuts;
and afterwards of its own accord, it used stones to open other kinds of
nuts, as well as boxes. It thus also removed the soft rind of fruit that
had a disagreeable flavour. Another monkey was taught to open the lid of a
large box with a stick, and afterwards it used the stick as a lever to move
heavy bodies; and I have myself seen a young orang put a stick into a
crevice, slip his hand to the other end, and use it in the proper manner as
a lever. The tamed elephants in India are well known to break off branches
of trees and use them to drive away the flies; and this same act has been
observed in an elephant in a state of nature. (39. The Indian Field,
March 4, 1871.) I have seen a young orang, when she thought she was going
to be whipped, cover and protect herself with a blanket or straw. In these
several cases stones and sticks were employed as implements; but they are
likewise used as weapons. Brehm (40. 'Thierleben,' B. i. s. 79, 82.)
states, on the authority of the well-known traveller Schimper, that in
Abyssinia when the baboons belonging to one species (C. gelada) descend in
troops from the mountains to plunder the fields, they sometimes encounter
troops of another species (C. hamadryas), and then a fight ensues. The
Geladas roll down great stones, which the Hamadryas try to avoid, and then
both species, making a great uproar, rush furiously against each other.
Brehm, when accompanying the Duke of Coburg-Gotha, aided in an attack with
fire-arms on a troop of baboons in the pass of Mensa in Abyssinia. The
baboons in return rolled so many stones down the mountain, some as large as
a man's head, that the attackers had to beat a hasty retreat; and the pass
was actually closed for a time against the caravan. It deserves notice
that these baboons thus acted in concert. Mr. Wallace (41. 'The Malay
Archipelago,' vol. i. 1869, p. 87.) on three occasions saw female orangs,
accompanied by their young, "breaking off branches and the great spiny
fruit of the Durian tree, with every appearance of rage; causing such a
shower of missiles as effectually kept us from approaching too near the
tree." As I have repeatedly seen, a chimpanzee will throw any object at
hand at a person who offends him; and the before-mentioned baboon at the
Cape of Good Hope prepared mud for the purpose.
In the Zoological Gardens, a monkey, which had weak teeth, used to break
open nuts with a stone; and I was assured by the keepers that after using
the stone, he hid it in the straw, and would not let any other monkey touch
it.
Charles Darwin the Descent of Man
Does brain size matter?
Apparently not. The derogatory remark bird brain it seems is misleading, birds are in fact intelligent creatures.
An African grey parrot named Alex has extraordinary skills. He can count up to six and recognise and name objects, including their colour shape and texture. Incredible as this may seem his abilities do not stop there. While comparing two objects he can tell which is bigger or smaller and what attribute is different. Presented with two pencils of the same colour and asked How different, he will say “none“. but if asked how many he will reply “two”. He is able to express his desire with such phrases as “come here” and when weary of questioning he will turn his back.*3)
Clearly this bird has grasped an understanding of human speech and other concepts, he is obviously not mimicking or performing tricks.
Ants have a tiny brain the size of a grain of sugar yet exhibit astounding abilities. For the past fifty million years leaf cutter ants practice underground agriculture, use antibiotics intelligently and get around plant defences by the utilisation of a mushroom in a most ingenious way. Ants cut away the antifungal defences in the plant such as the waxy coating, they than chew the leafy matter until it is of the consistency of pulp upon which they grow their fungal crops. The insecticidal properties of the plant are neutralised by the digestive processes of the growing mushroom which are then absent from the mushroom eaten by the ants. This fungus is the ants main food, it is grown in large underground farms in their warrens which often house as many as eight million ants in spaces as large as a living room. Ants weed, manure and prune their fungal crops and in addition keep check on a parasitic mould peculiar to ant fungal gardens. To control this parasite the ants use Streptomyces bacteria, a component of half the antibiotics used in medicine, which they carry on special parts of their body. Most interesting ants have used this antibiotic for millions of years without without developing pathogen resistance, a problem with human use of these antibiotics. *4)
Darwin’s theory of evolution shows that as descendents of animals humans have much in common with other creatures, there is a kinship in nature. In his book the Expression of Emotions In Man and Animals Darwin describes animals including simple earthworms and ants, as beings with self awareness, emotion and intelligence.
Here is what he wrote about ants in the Descent of Man:
Ants certainly communicate information to each other, and several unite for the same work, or for games of play. They recognise their fellow-ants after months of absence, and feel sympathy for each other. They build great edifices, keep them clean, close the doors in the evening, and post sentries. They make roads as well as tunnels under rivers, and temporary bridges over them, by clinging together. They collect food for the community, and when an object, too large for entrance, is brought to the nest, they enlarge the door, and afterwards build it up again. They store up seeds, of which they prevent the germination, and which, if damp, are brought up to the surface to dry. They keep aphides and other insects as milch-cows. They go out to battle in regular bands, and freely sacrifice their lives for the common weal. They emigrate according to a preconcerted plan. They capture slaves. They move the eggs of their aphides, as well as their own eggs and cocoons, into warm parts of the nest, in order that they may be quickly hatched; and endless similar facts could be given.
Ingenuity
Crows have been observed to throw nuts into the road enabling passing traffic to break them open. *5)
Memory
It has been demonstrated by research that crows, magpies, ravens and Jays remember faces and recognise over 250 distinct calls. Face recognition becomes even more remarkable when research has shown that crows can recall human faces after a period of two years. To demonstrate this ability scientists conducted an experiment in order to ascertain that the birds recognised individual faces rather than clothing, gait or other human characteristics. The scientists made several masks that resembled cavemen caught and than released several birds. The birds associated the trauma of their capture and recalled the faces. This was demonstrated as the researches walked past the place were the birds were captured wearing the masks as the birds would call out and squawk at them as they passed to warn other crows. Furthermore the birds recognised the scientists even if they were wearing hats or the masks were put on upside down. What was even more remarkable was that over a time period of two years more crows scolded the researchers in the same way indicating the crows passed on their knowledge to family and flock members.*6)
Other memory feats include remembering the routs taking by garbage collectors.*7)
Cats also have incredible memories and depending on favourable or unfavourable circumstances their memories rather like ours determine their personalities to some extent. For instance positive experiences will lead to a cat who is of a more friendly disposition while negative experiences of abuse for example may well lead to a cat who is more aggressive or timid. Domestic cats also respond to familiar sounds and their appropriate association, the sound of a can opener for example meaning food is on the way. Also they appear to have some canny inclination when it is meal time and often wake owners if they have slept in at more or less the time when breakfast is prepared.
My cat Tinkle always responded at meals times when he heard the scraping of cutlery and in time we learned he could easily be summoned by banging a dish with a spoon whenever it was mealtime.
At Samyeling Buddhist monastery in Eskdalemuir in Scotland a pheasant waits each day in the car park for a particular nun to feed him. He recognises people who have fed him and I am told that after feeding him once he will remember you again on your next visit. Here pheasants feel safe and are surprsingly tame.
Is this not instinct many may ask and an ability shared by all sheep dogs.
Clearly this is not the case for there are sheep dogs who are thoroughly incompetent in this task such as the case below which shows that intelligence and ingenuity varies amongst a specific species much as it does in humans .
The dog in the video included in the article below clearly is timid of sheep and runs from the flock rather than round them up.
"If they run away from him, he will go after them and act like a proper sheepdog, but the moment they turn and face him he runs away."
"Sheep can be quite aggressive if they think they have the upper hand – they stamp their feet and gang up in numbers and act like an army."
Read the whole story and watch the video
telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8591664/Britains-worst-sheep-dog-chased-by-flock.html
Interesting the last statement shows sheep as more intelligent than the mindless automatons that most people believe them to be.
Boarder collies it seems are highly intelligent and at the top of canine intelligence charts.
However what sets Chaser, the dog featured in the article and accompanying video below, apart is that she has learned to identify more than 1,000 objects and distinguish between nouns and verbs and has the largest vocabulary recorded for a dog.
care2.com/causes/smart-dog-upstages-humans.html
Darwin had a high opinion of animal intelligence and recognized that they have emotions
Below is an example of animal construction, the building of a platform by apes, the ability for which may arise from reasoning rather than instinct.
As man possesses the same senses as the lower animals, his fundamental
intuitions must be the same. Man has also some few instincts in common, as
that of self-preservation, sexual love, the love of the mother for her new-
born offspring, the desire possessed by the latter to suck, and so forth.
But man, perhaps, has somewhat fewer instincts than those possessed by the
animals which come next to him in the series. The orang in the Eastern
islands, and the chimpanzee in Africa, build platforms on which they sleep;
and, as both species follow the same habit, it might be argued that this
was due to instinct, but we cannot feel sure that it is not the result of
both animals having similar wants, and possessing similar powers of
reasoning. These apes, as we may assume, avoid the many poisonous fruits
of the tropics, and man has no such knowledge: but as our domestic
animals, when taken to foreign lands, and when first turned out in the
spring, often eat poisonous herbs, which they afterwards avoid, we cannot
feel sure that the apes do not learn from their own experience or from that
of their parents what fruits to select.
Here is an example of animal intelligence and the making and use of tools
It has often been said that no animal uses any tool; but the chimpanzee in
a state of nature cracks a native fruit, somewhat like a walnut, with a
stone. (37. Savage and Wyman in 'Boston Journal of Natural History,' vol.
iv. 1843-44, p. 383.) Rengger (38. 'Saugethiere von Paraguay,' 1830, s.
51-56.) easily taught an American monkey thus to break open hard palm-nuts;
and afterwards of its own accord, it used stones to open other kinds of
nuts, as well as boxes. It thus also removed the soft rind of fruit that
had a disagreeable flavour. Another monkey was taught to open the lid of a
large box with a stick, and afterwards it used the stick as a lever to move
heavy bodies; and I have myself seen a young orang put a stick into a
crevice, slip his hand to the other end, and use it in the proper manner as
a lever. The tamed elephants in India are well known to break off branches
of trees and use them to drive away the flies; and this same act has been
observed in an elephant in a state of nature. (39. The Indian Field,
March 4, 1871.) I have seen a young orang, when she thought she was going
to be whipped, cover and protect herself with a blanket or straw. In these
several cases stones and sticks were employed as implements; but they are
likewise used as weapons. Brehm (40. 'Thierleben,' B. i. s. 79, 82.)
states, on the authority of the well-known traveller Schimper, that in
Abyssinia when the baboons belonging to one species (C. gelada) descend in
troops from the mountains to plunder the fields, they sometimes encounter
troops of another species (C. hamadryas), and then a fight ensues. The
Geladas roll down great stones, which the Hamadryas try to avoid, and then
both species, making a great uproar, rush furiously against each other.
Brehm, when accompanying the Duke of Coburg-Gotha, aided in an attack with
fire-arms on a troop of baboons in the pass of Mensa in Abyssinia. The
baboons in return rolled so many stones down the mountain, some as large as
a man's head, that the attackers had to beat a hasty retreat; and the pass
was actually closed for a time against the caravan. It deserves notice
that these baboons thus acted in concert. Mr. Wallace (41. 'The Malay
Archipelago,' vol. i. 1869, p. 87.) on three occasions saw female orangs,
accompanied by their young, "breaking off branches and the great spiny
fruit of the Durian tree, with every appearance of rage; causing such a
shower of missiles as effectually kept us from approaching too near the
tree." As I have repeatedly seen, a chimpanzee will throw any object at
hand at a person who offends him; and the before-mentioned baboon at the
Cape of Good Hope prepared mud for the purpose.
In the Zoological Gardens, a monkey, which had weak teeth, used to break
open nuts with a stone; and I was assured by the keepers that after using
the stone, he hid it in the straw, and would not let any other monkey touch
it.
Charles Darwin the Descent of Man
Does brain size matter?
Apparently not. The derogatory remark bird brain it seems is misleading, birds are in fact intelligent creatures.
An African grey parrot named Alex has extraordinary skills. He can count up to six and recognise and name objects, including their colour shape and texture. Incredible as this may seem his abilities do not stop there. While comparing two objects he can tell which is bigger or smaller and what attribute is different. Presented with two pencils of the same colour and asked How different, he will say “none“. but if asked how many he will reply “two”. He is able to express his desire with such phrases as “come here” and when weary of questioning he will turn his back.*3)
Clearly this bird has grasped an understanding of human speech and other concepts, he is obviously not mimicking or performing tricks.
Ants have a tiny brain the size of a grain of sugar yet exhibit astounding abilities. For the past fifty million years leaf cutter ants practice underground agriculture, use antibiotics intelligently and get around plant defences by the utilisation of a mushroom in a most ingenious way. Ants cut away the antifungal defences in the plant such as the waxy coating, they than chew the leafy matter until it is of the consistency of pulp upon which they grow their fungal crops. The insecticidal properties of the plant are neutralised by the digestive processes of the growing mushroom which are then absent from the mushroom eaten by the ants. This fungus is the ants main food, it is grown in large underground farms in their warrens which often house as many as eight million ants in spaces as large as a living room. Ants weed, manure and prune their fungal crops and in addition keep check on a parasitic mould peculiar to ant fungal gardens. To control this parasite the ants use Streptomyces bacteria, a component of half the antibiotics used in medicine, which they carry on special parts of their body. Most interesting ants have used this antibiotic for millions of years without without developing pathogen resistance, a problem with human use of these antibiotics. *4)
Darwin’s theory of evolution shows that as descendents of animals humans have much in common with other creatures, there is a kinship in nature. In his book the Expression of Emotions In Man and Animals Darwin describes animals including simple earthworms and ants, as beings with self awareness, emotion and intelligence.
Here is what he wrote about ants in the Descent of Man:
Ants certainly communicate information to each other, and several unite for the same work, or for games of play. They recognise their fellow-ants after months of absence, and feel sympathy for each other. They build great edifices, keep them clean, close the doors in the evening, and post sentries. They make roads as well as tunnels under rivers, and temporary bridges over them, by clinging together. They collect food for the community, and when an object, too large for entrance, is brought to the nest, they enlarge the door, and afterwards build it up again. They store up seeds, of which they prevent the germination, and which, if damp, are brought up to the surface to dry. They keep aphides and other insects as milch-cows. They go out to battle in regular bands, and freely sacrifice their lives for the common weal. They emigrate according to a preconcerted plan. They capture slaves. They move the eggs of their aphides, as well as their own eggs and cocoons, into warm parts of the nest, in order that they may be quickly hatched; and endless similar facts could be given.
Ingenuity
Crows have been observed to throw nuts into the road enabling passing traffic to break them open. *5)
Memory
It has been demonstrated by research that crows, magpies, ravens and Jays remember faces and recognise over 250 distinct calls. Face recognition becomes even more remarkable when research has shown that crows can recall human faces after a period of two years. To demonstrate this ability scientists conducted an experiment in order to ascertain that the birds recognised individual faces rather than clothing, gait or other human characteristics. The scientists made several masks that resembled cavemen caught and than released several birds. The birds associated the trauma of their capture and recalled the faces. This was demonstrated as the researches walked past the place were the birds were captured wearing the masks as the birds would call out and squawk at them as they passed to warn other crows. Furthermore the birds recognised the scientists even if they were wearing hats or the masks were put on upside down. What was even more remarkable was that over a time period of two years more crows scolded the researchers in the same way indicating the crows passed on their knowledge to family and flock members.*6)
Other memory feats include remembering the routs taking by garbage collectors.*7)
Cats also have incredible memories and depending on favourable or unfavourable circumstances their memories rather like ours determine their personalities to some extent. For instance positive experiences will lead to a cat who is of a more friendly disposition while negative experiences of abuse for example may well lead to a cat who is more aggressive or timid. Domestic cats also respond to familiar sounds and their appropriate association, the sound of a can opener for example meaning food is on the way. Also they appear to have some canny inclination when it is meal time and often wake owners if they have slept in at more or less the time when breakfast is prepared.
My cat Tinkle always responded at meals times when he heard the scraping of cutlery and in time we learned he could easily be summoned by banging a dish with a spoon whenever it was mealtime.
At Samyeling Buddhist monastery in Eskdalemuir in Scotland a pheasant waits each day in the car park for a particular nun to feed him. He recognises people who have fed him and I am told that after feeding him once he will remember you again on your next visit. Here pheasants feel safe and are surprsingly tame.
Darwin in the Descent of Man writes the following concerning memory in nonhuman animals
It is almost superfluous to state that animals have excellent memories for persons and places. A baboon at the Cape of Good Hope, as I have been informed by Sir Andrew Smith, recognised him with joy after an absence of nine months. I had a dog who was savage and averse to all strangers, and I purposely tried his memory after an absence of five years and two days. I went near the stable where he lived, and shouted to him in my old manner; he shewed no joy, but instantly followed me out walking, and obeyed me, exactly as if I had parted with him only half an hour before. A train of old associations, dormant during five years, had thus been instantaneously awakened in his mind. Even ants, as P. Huber (18. 'Les Moeurs des Fourmis,' 1810, p. 150.) has clearly shewn, recognised their fellow-ants belonging to the same community after a separation of four months. Animals can certainly by some means judge of the intervals of time between recurrent events.
Learning abilities
It has been observed that crows learn from the misfortunes of others.
Crows are social animals who mate for life and rise their young for as long as five years. When one of the flock is killed for instance in a farmers field the reaming flock avoid flying over the field and even change migratory routes to do so, this behaviour may continue for as long as two years
An example of various facets of intelligence
A Friend in Need: Tortoise Helps Tortoise
This video shows one tortoise helping another to get back on his feet after he had got onto his back, a position from which if not righted he would have died. This film demonstrates a number of behaviours that can only arise from an intelligent and sentient being. Such behaviours included decision making, the Tortoise had to make the decision to help the other Tortoise, compassion, he had to have some reason to do so perhaps a sense of compassion for the light of his fellow creature, and cooperation amongst animals. This is particularly significant as tortoises are reptiles, creatures often not considered as sentient
Yes the video was mostly likely staged and is a cruel and and inhumane thing to do, nonetheless this does not detract from the fact that the other tortoise went to the aid of his upturned companion.
Communication
Many animals may understand human language though they have an inability to talk, however this does not mean they do not have some way of communicating. And therefore it should not be assumed that they do not communicate as of course talking is not the only means of communicating even in humans.
The discovery that apes can "talk" using hand gestures may shed more light on language development.
But these are not the only animals with communication skills - in the animal kingdom, it is all about getting your message out there.
Read More
Animal world's communication kings
By Rebecca Morelle
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3430481.stm
You can read more about this about animal communication in the Section
Sentience in Farm Animals
Imagination
Darwin considered that animals possess imagination
The imagination is one of the highest prerogatives of man. By this faculty he unites former images and ideas, independently of the will, and thus creates brilliant and novel results. A poet, as Jean Paul Richter remarks (19. Quoted in Dr. Maudsley's 'Physiology and Pathology of Mind,' 1868, pp. 19, 220.), "who must reflect whether he shall make a character say yes or no—to the devil with him; he is only a stupid corpse." Dreaming gives us the best notion of this power; as Jean Paul again says, "The dream is an involuntary art of poetry." The value of the products of our imagination depends of course on the number, accuracy, and clearness of our impressions, on our judgment and taste in selecting or rejecting the involuntary combinations, and to a certain extent on our power of voluntarily combining them. As dogs, cats, horses, and probably all the higher animals, even birds (20. Dr. Jerdon, 'Birds of India,' vol. i. 1862, p. xxi. Houzeau says that his parokeets and canary-birds dreamt: 'Etudes sur les Facultes Mentales des Animaux,' tom. ii. p. 136.) have vivid dreams, and this is shewn by their movements and the sounds uttered, we must admit that they possess some power of imagination. There must be something special, which causes dogs to howl in the night, and especially during moonlight, in that remarkable and melancholy manner called baying. All dogs do not do so; and, according to Houzeau (21. ibid. 1872, tom. ii. p. 181.), they do not then look at the moon, but at some fixed point near the horizon. Houzeau thinks that their imaginations are disturbed by the vague outlines of the surrounding objects, and conjure up before them fantastic images: if this be so, their feelings may almost be called superstitious.
The Descent of Man
Reason
Of all the faculties of the human mind, it will, I presume, be admitted that reason stands at the summit. Only a few persons now dispute that animals possess some power of reasoning. Animals may constantly be seen to pause, deliberate, and resolve.
Charles Darwin The Descent of Man
Animal intelligence is a vast subject and more will be added to this webpage.
Links
SHEEP are a byword for stupidity and mindlessly following the crowd. But they are far more intelligent than they are given credit for.
Researchers have found that sheep have the brainpower to equal monkeys and, in some tests, even humans. They have advanced learning capabilities, are adaptable, can map out their surroundings mentally and may even be able to plan ahead.
Sheep aren't stupid after all? That's something to ruminate on
Richard Gray
Read More
smh.com.au/environment/animals/sheep-arent-stupid-after-all-thats-something-to-ruminate-on-20110220-1b146.html
Elephants are quick learners, says study
Elephants quickly learn to lend each other a helping hand, or a helping trunk, researchers have found.
In a series of tests, the giant mammals learnt to co-operate to solve a problem, researchers reported
Read More
smh.com.au/environment/animals/elephants-are-quick-learners-says-study-20110308-1bmbe.html
9 Surprising Facts About Animal Intelligence
Animals are a lot smarter than you know. They don't speak English, and they don't burst into song or action as soon as we turn our backs; nature, sadly, is not a Disney movie. But many of them do display intelligence and a desire to learn, as well as an ability to apply past experiences to present moments and future expectations. The gap between human intelligence and that of animals might be so wide as to be insurmountable, but it's not quite as big as we used to think it was. As anyone who's ever had a pet can tell you, animals are a lot sharper than you might want to believe. In fact, they're a whole lot like us.
Read More
Includes various links to article about animal intelligence
toponlinecolleges.com/blog/2011/9-surprising-facts-about-animal-intelligence/
This page will be updated and added to when further information and stories are found. If you have a story to tell about animal intelligence and ingenuity please consider including it here by e-mailing Christine Contact
References
1) New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7475-dolphins-teach-their-children-to-use-sponges/
2) Telegraph telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/Ape-Genius-reveals-depth-of-animal-intelligence.html
3) Intelligence in Nature by Jeremy Narby page 41
4) Intelligence in Nature by Jeremy Narby page 42
5) Nature nature/episodes/a-murder-of-crows/ Video many not be available in some regions
6 ) NY Times nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html
7) NY Times nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html
* I have endeavoured to provide accurate references for stories found on the internet however some of the stories are so frequently repeated that the original source is not easily identifiable. If you see any story here that is yours for which you have not been credited for or have not given permission for its inclusion please Contact me.