Author Topic: How Intelligent Are Other Animals? (Read 101746 times)

Corkboy · « **Reply #280 on:** August 28, 2014, 04:05:31 pm »

Pandas. Really. If they weren't vaguely cute looking, nobody would give a shit.

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #281 on:** August 29, 2014, 09:29:31 am »

Quote from: Corkboy on August 28, 2014, 04:05:31 pm

Pandas. Really. If they weren't vaguely cute looking, nobody would give a shit.

I know, it's disgusting how much conservation money is spent on that particular species. But, they're one of the commercial symbols of conservationism.

Corkboy · « **Reply #282 on:** September 3, 2014, 10:11:20 am »

Chimps Outplay Humans in Brain Games

Corkboy · « **Reply #283 on:** September 3, 2014, 03:26:29 pm »

Cockatoos can learn from each other how to make and use tools

wellred99 · « **Reply #284 on:** September 3, 2014, 03:28:42 pm »

Dolphins are pretty intelligent. Think they are along with Elephants one of the few species of mammals that can display empathy.

Corkboy · « **Reply #285 on:** September 3, 2014, 03:39:49 pm »

Quote from: wellred99 on September 3, 2014, 03:28:42 pm

Dolphins are pretty intelligent. Think they are along with Elephants one of the few species of mammals that can display empathy.

I suggest you read the thread. Even the first post.

jooneyisdagod · « **Reply #286 on:** September 4, 2014, 03:28:27 am »

Marmosets in the wild can learn new behaviours from strangers — monkeys of the same species but who are not part of their social group — as this video shows. Such a feat had so far only been seen in laboratory conditions.

Tina Gunhold, a cognitive biologist at the University of Vienna, and her collaborators got wild marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) from the Pernambuco region of Brazil to learn how to open a box (and get a reward) from watching videos of other marmosets.

The researchers first trained two captured marmosets to get their treat out of the box in two different ways, either by popping open a lid or by pulling a drawer, and shot videos of the two monkeys' acquired behaviour so that they could serve as unwitting instructors. The team then took the same type of box to the forest and placed it on a tree branch, together with a laptop screen on which they showed either of the two instructional videos. Twelve groups of marmosets — 108 animals in all — got to watch either video or, to serve as controls, a still image showing the instructor next to the box.
Many of the animals failed the class. But some found the video useful: of 12 marmosets that were able to open the box, 11 had watched either video, while only one had figured out the trick by himself. And most of the successful animals used the same technique they had seen in their video. Gunhold and her colleagues report their results in Biology Letters.

http://www.nature.com/news/marmoset-see-marmoset-do-1.15818?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #287 on:** September 4, 2014, 10:13:46 am »

Interesting study about the social groups which Bottlenose Dolphins form in Shark Bay, Australia. Couple years old but very interesting nonetheless:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17522450

For those interested in the actual study follow this link:

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/279/1740/3083.full

The discussion section of the paper is well worth a read.

Corkboy · « **Reply #288 on:** September 5, 2014, 04:47:47 pm »

Rats Not Only Show Compassion But Arguably More Than Some Humans in Unprecedented New UofC Study

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #289 on:** September 5, 2014, 05:22:32 pm »

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/5TDzJiK7AdQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/5TDzJiK7AdQ</a>

Funny video this!

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #290 on:** September 5, 2014, 05:29:53 pm »

Quote from: Corkboy on September 5, 2014, 04:47:47 pm

Rats Not Only Show Compassion But Arguably More Than Some Humans in Unprecedented New UofC Study

This study is crazy, there are countless examples of this in the wild, and it's not just isolated to same species.

I'll try and find it later, but I remember a documentary where they happened to film two Sperm whales who were effectively comforting a dying calve, who expectedly went on to die. Amazing footage, BBC documentary comes to mind...

RedRabbit · « **Reply #291 on:** September 27, 2014, 10:47:25 am »

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/c36UNSoJenI?version=3&amp;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/c36UNSoJenI?version=3&amp;</a>

evie · « **Reply #292 on:** September 28, 2014, 05:50:59 pm »

Quote from: Broad Spectrum on September 5, 2014, 05:22:32 pm

Funny video this!

1:03

alfonso · « **Reply #293 on:** September 29, 2014, 04:41:55 pm »

Quote from: Broad Spectrum on August 29, 2014, 09:29:31 am

I know, it's disgusting how much conservation money is spent on that particular species. But, they're one of the commercial symbols of conservationism.

If only China cared about the countless species they are pushing towards extinction like they do the Panda, then there would be hope.

A friend of mine had a baby pig as a pet (on a farm). On day 1 it had observed the pet dogs sitting when told to sit and receiving food. On Day 2 when he said sit to the dogs, the pig sat next to them waiting for the food.

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #294 on:** October 1, 2014, 03:50:13 pm »

Wild chimps ape each other with a new 'tool' - and reveal how their culture evolves

The spread of ideas and culture was once considered to be something that separated humans from the rest of the animal kingdom but scientists have now found the first direct evidence of the transmission of technological inventions between wild chimpanzees...

Corkboy · « **Reply #295 on:** October 10, 2014, 11:53:28 am »

Captive orcas speak dolphin

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #296 on:** October 15, 2014, 03:50:23 pm »

'Killer seagull' attacking pigeons in Hyde Park is caught on camera.

Corkboy · « **Reply #297 on:** October 15, 2014, 03:54:25 pm »

Not sure that's necessarily indicative of higher intelligence?

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #298 on:** October 15, 2014, 05:23:03 pm »

Quote from: Corkboy on October 15, 2014, 03:54:25 pm

Not sure that's necessarily indicative of higher intelligence?

No I wouldn't class it as higher intelligence per se. But what has caused this particular seagull to view the abundance of London pigeons as a potential food source, whilst the remaining population largely ignore them? From an evolutionary view point, they are definitely considered as predators so when you take that into consideration, alongside the fact the species itself is highly adaptable, it's not so surprising and could even be argued it was only a matter of time until they began to view pigeons as a food source. But it's just interesting to think what triggered this particular bird to become the first to target the pigeons; merely ecological factors, the birds intelligence, or a combination of the two?

Alan_X · « **Reply #299 on:** October 15, 2014, 05:39:01 pm »

Quote from: Broad Spectrum on October 15, 2014, 05:23:03 pm

No I wouldn't class it as higher intelligence per se. But what has caused this particular seagull to view the abundance of London pigeons as a potential food source, whilst the remaining population largely ignore them? From an evolutionary view point, they are definitely considered as predators so when you take that into consideration, alongside the fact the species itself is highly adaptable, it's not so surprising and could even be argued it was only a matter of time until they began to view pigeons as a food source. But it's just interesting to think what triggered this particular bird to become the first to target the pigeons; merely ecological factors, the birds intelligence, or a combination of the two?

It's not the first to go beyond its original diet of crustaceans and small fish. All City based gulls have long ago moved to other foods, scavenging from land fill, bins, discarded kebabs and burgers and basicallyeating anything they can.

In fact while looking around I found this:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/seagulls-bring-terror-to-belfast-skies-30405859.html

Corkboy · « **Reply #300 on:** October 15, 2014, 05:39:20 pm »

Yup, fair points.

Elmo! · « **Reply #301 on:** October 15, 2014, 06:49:47 pm »

Quote from: Alan_F on October 15, 2014, 05:39:01 pm

It's not the first to go beyond its original diet of crustaceans and small fish. All City based gulls have long ago moved to other foods, scavenging from land fill, bins, discarded kebabs and burgers and basicallyeating anything they can.

In fact while looking around I found this:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/seagulls-bring-terror-to-belfast-skies-30405859.html

And this one

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/Kqy9hxhUxK0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/Kqy9hxhUxK0</a>

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #302 on:** October 16, 2014, 12:31:26 pm »

Quote from: Broad Spectrum on September 5, 2014, 05:29:53 pm

This study is crazy, there are countless examples of this in the wild, and it's not just isolated to same species.

I'll try and find it later, but I remember a documentary where they happened to film two ~~Sperm~~ Humpback whales who were effectively comforting a dying calve, who expectedly went on to die. Amazing footage, BBC documentary comes to mind...

This was the documentary I was referring to, finally found it! There is no mention of the sex of the humpback whales so they may have been driven by maternal instinct rather than compassion for the grey whale mother and her calf. But they remained in an area, where a pod of Orca attacked a grey whale calf off the coast of California, for several hours after even though they should have been feeding on a huge build up of krill miles down the coast. It's difficult to differentiate whether it was compassion or just simple maternal instinct which triggered them to stay in the area for hours, but it's interesting either way.

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #303 on:** October 16, 2014, 12:57:01 pm »

Quote from: Alan_F on October 15, 2014, 05:39:01 pm

It's not the first to go beyond its original diet of crustaceans and small fish. All City based gulls have long ago moved to other foods, scavenging from land fill, bins, discarded kebabs and burgers and basicallyeating anything they can.

In fact while looking around I found this:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/seagulls-bring-terror-to-belfast-skies-30405859.html

Yes they've gone far beyond their traditional evolutionary diet, becoming master city foragers/scavengers in the process.

But what surprised me with this case is the fact that this particular sea gull is targeting live prey in the form of pigeons. Once I read the article and viewed the photos it just got me thinking as to what exactly triggered the sea gull to behave in this way.

It reminded me of this famous wild Orca which targets seals in a very shallow and rocky pool somewhere in the Arctic I believe (I'll try and look for a clip later because I've seen it on more than one documentary). The Orca had a problem in that it could not access it's prey (in this case seals) because they took refuge in shallow, rocky pools off of beaches. However, the Orca solved the problem by adopting a stalking-like technique which had never been documented in the species before. Years later the same technique had been passed on to her offspring.

Now although the sea gull wasn't necessarily problem solving in the same manner as the Orca, I'm just fascinated to know what drove the sea gull to effectively become the 'innovator' within the local population with regards to exploiting this 'new' food source in the form of the local pigeon population. Numerous factors such as genes, level of food supply etc. are involved, but surely then these factors should in theory drive others within the local population to adopt the same policy.

Anyway don't want to derail the thread too much because I wouldn't categorise it as 'higher intelligence', particularly when compared with other examples within this thread. But for me this certainly looks like some form of intelligence on the sea gulls behalf has played a part in it's decision to target pigeons, particularly when you take into consideration of how the sea gull actually kills the pigeons by drowning them in the lake.

Corkboy · « **Reply #304 on:** October 16, 2014, 01:08:38 pm »

Quote from: Broad Spectrum on October 16, 2014, 12:57:01 pm

Anyway don't want to derail the thread too much because I wouldn't categorise it as 'higher intelligence', particularly when compared with other examples within this thread.

You're not derailing, it's an interesting view.

L666KOP · « **Reply #305 on:** October 16, 2014, 01:19:51 pm »

Quote from: Broad Spectrum on October 16, 2014, 12:57:01 pm

Anyway don't want to derail the thread too much because I wouldn't categorise it as 'higher intelligence', particularly when compared with other examples within this thread. But for me this certainly looks like some form of intelligence on the sea gulls behalf has played a part in it's decision to target pigeons, particularly when you take into consideration of how the sea gull actually kills the pigeons by drowning them in the lake.

If you go to St Ives the seagulls there will dive bomb people carrying food. When you try to fend them off and end up dropping your pastie/chips/sandwich the group swoops in and takes it.

It's quite amusing to sit for an hour and watch it happen, but like other examples, the indigenous gulls down there have not only worked out a food source, but have worked out how to take from man.

Corkboy · « **Reply #306 on:** October 22, 2014, 02:49:09 pm »

HarryLabrador · « **Reply #307 on:** October 22, 2014, 02:58:14 pm »

Quote from: Corkboy on October 22, 2014, 02:49:09 pm

That is so unreal. I loved that. Just hope the grizzly fellow wasn't saving that bird for dinner.

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #308 on:** October 22, 2014, 04:01:08 pm »

Quote from: Corkboy on October 22, 2014, 02:49:09 pm

Yeah seen this a few months back, amazing video

Got a real soft spot for Grizzly's, and Polar bears even more.

Corkboy · « **Reply #309 on:** October 30, 2014, 11:49:50 pm »

This thread is sort of the best place for this.

Virus Found In Lakes May Be Literally Changing The Way People Think

Ken-Obi · « **Reply #310 on:** October 31, 2014, 03:45:56 am »

Quote from: Corkboy on October 30, 2014, 11:49:50 pm

This thread is sort of the best place for this.

Virus Found In Lakes May Be Literally Changing The Way People Think

People already wrote off this season.

Broad Spectrum · « **Reply #311 on:** October 31, 2014, 09:31:51 am »

This is a clip from Life Story, a new Attenborough series on the BBC. Some of the footage is absolutely breathtaking.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/K7V5a3boptQ#t=72" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/K7V5a3boptQ#t=72</a>

First recorded example of an invertebrate effectively using 'tools' in the animal kingdom.

Corkboy · « **Reply #312 on:** October 31, 2014, 09:57:08 pm »

Toddlers Copy Their Peers to Fit In, but Apes Don’t

Red_Irishman · « **Reply #313 on:** November 1, 2014, 12:39:32 am »

Love this thread.

soxfan · « **Reply #314 on:** November 4, 2014, 02:56:10 am »

This use of tools is admittedly a simple example of animal intelligence, but it's one that happens right in my yard nearly every day. I live right on a bay, and it is illegal to gather the large clams called quahogs that live just off my beach in front of my home. So the clams are abundant and grow very large. Seagulls will grab the biggest clams they can fit in their beak. The clams are so big and strong that it is impossible for a gull to break it open with its beak. So they soar straight up in the air and drop the clams from about 25-50 feet onto my concrete seawall. They keep doing it until the shell shatters and then they partake of a feast.

I'd guess that for thousands of years before man built such hard structures by the shore, the clams were probably safe from the gulls in any areas that didn't have large rocks nearby to use this method.