Chimps Outperform Humans at Memory

Young chimps can beat adult humans in a task involving remembering numbers. It is the first time chimps - and young ones, have outperformed humans at a cognitive task.

Three adult female chimps, their three 5-year-old offspring, and university student volunteers were tested on their ability to memorise the numbers 1 to 9 appearing at random locations on a touch screen monitor.

The chimps had previously been taught the ascending order of the numbers. Using ability akin to photographic memory, the young chimps were able to memorise the location of the numerals with better accuracy than humans performing the same task.

During the test, the numerals appeared on the screen for 650, 430 or 210 milliseconds, and were then replaced by blank white squares.

While the adult chimps were able to remember the location of the numbers in the correct order with the same or worse ability as the humans, the three adolescent chimps outperformed the humans. 

The youngsters easily remembered the locations, even at the shortest duration, which does not leave enough time for the eye to move and scan the screen. This suggests that they use a kind of eidetic or photographic memory.

- Ammar

Elephant Intelligence

Elephant intelligence is a concept humans have been studying closely especially with the rise of elephant attacks. This blog is not about the elephant at the circus that can throw a ball or balance on their front legs.

This blog is about all elephants and how they may be as smart and emotional as humans.

Here are some interesting reasons on why elephants may be as smart as we are:

1. Elephants use tools such as rocks and sticks found in their natural environment and not just for playing. For example, they use sticks to scratch themselves, shoo away flies and as a weapon to confront enemies. Elephants have used large rocks to short circuit electric fences.

2. When an elephant loses a loved one, they mourn. Elephants mourn by touching the body, watching over the body and making mournful-sounding noises for days. Elephants remember the spot a loved one died and when revisited they pause and exhibit signs of mourning. Similar to how humans mourn at a cemetery.

3. Elephants are self aware and recognize themselves when placed in front of a mirror. Most animals don't recognize themselves in mirror and either seem uninterested or fear it is another animal in front of them. An elephant with a smudge on its face will try to rub it off when it sees the smudge in the reflection.

The above points are no different to what we do as human so maybe elephants are as smart as humans and that the rise of elephant attacks in nothing more than post traumatic disorder and depression.Emotions we as humans would experience if we were hunted or our habitat taken away from us.

- Carolina

The Genius Parrot

When a parrot says something like "hi", "I love you" or "f@#% off", you obviously assume that it doesn't really know what it's saying - they're just mimicking human words in the same way that they'd copy the sound of a barking dog, or even (as some parrot owners know) a cell phone ringing.

Alex the Parrot was different, though: he could correctly identify 50 different shapes, recognize numbers up to six, distinguish seven colors, and understand qualities such as bigger, smaller, same, and different. By the end of his life, he was getting closer to grasping the concept of nothingness.

Alex didn’t just associate a word with a specific object but he could generalize which is usually something only humans can only do. For example, when shown various keys, he could recognize that they were thing and even point out differences in size and colour.

That bird behaves more like a human than half the people we saw on the subway this morning. One day, as Dr. Irene was closing up the lab, Alex said goodbye by telling her to "be good." Irene replied by saying "I love you," to which Alex answered, "I love you too." He then asked: "You'll be in tomorrow?" Irene assured him that, yes, he'd see her tomorrow.

The next morning, Alex was dead.

- Ammar

Intelligent Pigs

Pigs are a lot more intelligent than you think, their intelligence is rated as being higher than that of dogs and of a three year old child. They have a cognitive ability is quite sophisticated with a fabulous ability to understand how mirrors work, and can use this to distinguish where food is. Pigs are also brilliant at remembering where their foods stores are kept. Learning a new routine is a relatively easy task for pigs, thus circus tricks such as jumping hoops, to bow, make sounds on command are tricks pigs can pick up on in a relatively short period of time –faster than dogs can. The dexterity of a pig’s snout is phenomenal, as it enables the pig to scout around for difficult sources of food.

Whoever thought that pigs could play video games, but it’s true they can! Within 2-3 weeks of age a pig can learn their name respond when called. Grunting sounds made by pigs are their way of communicating with one another. Pigs generally from a few hours old have an instinct to keep their toileting area far away from their living or eating area.

 - Natalie

 

Dolphin Intelligence

Dolphins are one of the most intelligent animals, so how smart are they? Here are a few facts, have a read and judge for yourself

1. The dolphin Moko in New Zealand has been observed guiding a female Pygmy Sperm Whale together with her calf out of shallow water where they had stranded several times.

Moko Saves Pygmy Whales

2. They have also been seen protecting swimmers from sharks by swimming circles around the swimmers or charging the sharks to make them go away.

3. Dolphins also display culture, something long believed to be unique to humans (and possibly other primate species).

4. In May 2005, a discovery in Australia found Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) teaching their young to use tools. They cover their snouts with sponges to protect them while foraging.

5.Bottlenose dolphins use a superior hunter technique "mud-ring feeding"

Mud Ring Feeding

6. Dolphins are social, living in pods of up to a dozen individuals. In places with a high abundance of food, pods can merge temporarily, forming a superpod, such groupings may exceed 1,000 dolphins. Individuals communicate using a variety of clicks, whistle-like sounds and other vocalizations

It is similarities of humans to dolphins are uncanny, resembalances such as having a sense of culture, passing useful skills on to their young, having a language to communicate with (scientists also theorise that if dolphins did have vocal cords like humans they would be able to learn the human language relatively easily) and a super hunting techique, does all of this not sound similar to the human civilization when we were still young?

- Michael