Billie had not been trained to tail-walk but had learned the skill simply by observing other dolphins in her rehab center. Billie was also able to teach wild dolphins in her community the skill.
Studies also show dolphins in the wild learning to use tools and passing that knowledge down to further generations. One notable example is that adult dolphins will often attach sponges to their snouts to protect themselves while foraging for food.
This skill is passed down from mothers to offspring. Current tests for intelligence indicate that dolphins do not possess the same cognitive abilities as humans and are thus not the "smarter" species. Like humans, dolphins possess the ability to beneficially alter their surroundings, solve problems, and form complex social groups.
However, dolphins do not display indicators of tool usage, problem solving, and structured discussion to the degree that humans do. Dolphins live in complex social groups and have evolved to have highly-developed brains. These factors are the largest contributors to their intelligence. Dolphins have relatively large and complex brains that developed over thousands of generations. Presumably, dolphin brains evolved to meet the needs of their environment.
Intelligence and highly-involved social interaction became the means of survival for dolphins, and their brains adapted accordingly. Relative to body size, dolphin brains among the largest in the animal kingdom —larger than even those of chimpanzees.
Dolphin brains typically weigh about grams. This makes dolphins second only to humans in brain-to-body weight ratio.
However, dolphin brains are quite different from the brains of humans and great apes. Dolphins have much smaller frontal lobes — but they still have an impressive flair for solving problems and a built-in capacity to plan for the future.
Studies also show that dolphins process auditory and visual information in different parts of the neocortex. Dolphins also have an extremely well-developed and defined paralimbic system, which is responsible for processing emotions. Many scientists hypothesize that dolphins' highly-developed paralimbic systems play a large role in the intimate and complex social and emotional bonds that exist within dolphin communities. Still, he notes, "when we talk about an animal 'being smart,' it's usually when animals are doing things that look like what humans do.
But, while animal IQ tests aren't exactly reliable, we can take a look at the full spectrum of available research to come up with some rough comparisons. Here, you'll get a deep look at the intellectual prowess of 15 other creatures that also have high animal intelligence —defined as the combination of skills and abilities that allow animals to thrive in their respective environments—and see which creature really is the most clever of them all.
Besides us, of course. And for a look at these amazing cetaceans in their natural environment, check out these 13 Gorgeous Photos of Dolphins in the Wild. Gregg points out that dolphins are actually distantly related to primates. One study found that chimpanzees share about 98 percent of the same DNA as humans.
Observations and experiments indicate that chimps are capable of empathy, altruism, and self-awareness, which is where their intelligence is similar to dolphins. But where they really excel is in cognitive function. Chimps have a profound memory—according to research published in Current Biology , their memory may be even greater than humans—and a relatively advanced knowledge of tools.
They're known to use sticks to catch ants and termites, as a kind of rudimentary form of a fishing or, rather, bug-catching pole. The sheer size of an elephant's brain suggests their intelligence must be pretty high. Like dolphins, they've been seen consoling and helping others, and there's even been a recorded instance of one passing the Mirror Test.
But the elephant lags behind the dolphin in one crucial area: despite what a familiar saying might have you believe, the elephant forgets—or at least doesn't remember—quite as well as the dolphin. Researchers, writing in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B , have declared that dolphins have the longest-lasting memory in the animal kingdom.
Reportedly, dolphins can remember whistles of other dolphins for up to 20 years. For comparison, a test of elephant intelligence and cooperative abilities found them merely "in league with chimpanzees and dolphins as being among the world's most cognitively advanced animals. Still, elephants truly shine when it comes to perception. According to one study , they have the ability to decipher "ethnicity, gender, and age" in humans, all by listening to acoustic cues from voices.
So, why does this signify intelligence? Well, recognizing predators and judging their threat level is an essential skill for many wild animals. And since, over the millennia, different types of human subgroups have posed various threat levels—a male in his prime might signify higher danger, for instance—this is a highly advanced skill that's been honed and passed down over generations.
If you think dolphins are head-and-shoulders more intelligent than these adorable little trash monsters, we just have one question for you: Can a dolphin pick locks? In a bizarre study conducted at Clark University, back in , raccoons were able to pick complex locks in less than 10 attempts—even after the locks were rearranged or flipped upside-down.
More recently, research has shown that raccoons have an impeccable memory, and are able to recall solutions to puzzles for up to three years. And, in , researchers at the University of Wyoming put raccoons up to the puzzle found in one of Aesop's Fables, "The Crow and the Pitcher," where a bird drops rocks into a deep pitcher, to raise the water level to a point where it's drinkable.
Like most of Aesop's Fables, it's pure mythos; nothing in scientific literature suggests crows have a robust understanding of water displacement. The octopus has the largest brain of any invertebrate, and a whopping three-fifths of its neurons are located in its tentacles. As dolphins have no arms, this really gives octopuses a major leg up. A quick venture down the YouTube rabbit hole will turn up videos of octopuses compressing their bulky bodies through a small slit holes, popping the lids off screw-top jars, and even climbing out of tanks to their freedom.
Oh, and then there's the German aquarium octopus, Otto , who was known to throw rocks at the glass and spray water at overhead lamps to short-circuit bright lights that were bothering him, to the amazement of the aquarium's staff. Dogs are man's best friend because they can relate to humans by understanding emotion and showing empathy. But are they as intelligent as dolphins? In some areas, no; in others, yes. Dogs did not make the grade on the self-awareness Mirror Test—something dolphins have mastered—and dolphins appear to be better problem solvers.
However, dogs and dolphins can both use human pointing and eye-direction cues to locate objects in the distance. And one area where dogs outshine every other animal is in language skills.
Chaser, a Border Collie trained by psychologists " came out on top with knowing four or five times more symbols than dolphins or even gorillas. Squirrels have a phenomenal memory, and, like dolphins, they can even be deceptive. Shore-based fishermen wait for the dolphins to signal that they have rounded up fish before they cast their nets, the dolphins then easily catch disorientated fish that spill out around the nets. Then there's the bubble net, a neat trick exhibited by humpback whales.
A group of humpbacks locates a school of fish. Attacking them is likely to disperse them, so instead they swim beneath the fish in ever-shrinking circles, blowing air bubbles as they go. The densely packed bubbles rise in similarly shrinking circles, effectively trapping the fish as the 'net' gets tighter, and then at the right moment, the whales swim up the net, mouths agape, and swallow the fish in great clusters.
The whales all have different roles: some are bubble-blowers, others dive deep to ensure the fish are driven upwards, and some even make calls to help herd the prey. Teamwork, passed on from generation to generation. Orcas also work cooperatively when hunting; those in Norway, for example, work together to herd schools of herring into tight balls.
Swimming round and under their prey, flashing their white patches to scare the fish and create a fish bait ball, the orcas then spin around and slap the balled fish with their tails, stunning them for easy catching. Finally, there are some unique examples of social learning and knowledge transfer demonstrated clearly by individual dolphins. The first is Billie. A dolphin who became trapped in a sea lock in the s, she was rescued and rehabilitated in captivity before being released back into the wild just three weeks later.
Scientists were amazed to see that, upon her return to the sea, she started tail-walking, a trick taught in marine parks for rewards that she must have observed, even though during those three weeks she was not trained herself. To have picked up the skill so rapidly is one thing… but Billie was soon teaching her wild companions to do the same, just for fun!
Then there is Kelly. A dolphin who sadly lives in a research centre in the US, she has been trained to keep her tank clean. Every time she brings a piece of litter to her trainer, she is rewarded with a fish.
Now, when she finds a piece of paper, she wedges it under a stone, and tears off individual pieces, which she brings to the surface one at a time. Thus, a single piece of litter earns her several fish. So she uses one of her fish as bait, catches the unwary birds, and presents them to her trainers for even more food. A remarkable example of social learning, and great intelligence. Perhaps we humans need to reconsider the traditional view that we are exceptional and since no other creature can think or communicate like a human, no other species can match our intelligence?
The evidence is that — in some ways - whales and dolphins have communication abilities that are superior to those of human beings. Dolphin communication is so great that there is a strong possibility that a dolphin can send a sound image of say a fish to other dolphins. Perhaps one day we will find a way to communicate with the other intelligent beings we share our planet with. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons.
Find out more about how intelligence and other factors supporting the case for whale and dolphin rights. By adopting a whale or dolphin, by making a donation, or by fundraising for WDC, you can help us save these amazing creatures. Adopt a whale or dolphin and help us protect these amazing creatures. How intelligent are whales and dolphins? What is intelligence? Big Brains Whales and dolphins have large brains; while sperm whales have the largest brain, dolphins have a brain to body ratio second only to humans.
Playful Beings. Communication experts Whale and dolphin communication skills are at the very heart of their cooperative lifestyles and social interactions. Given Names Experts have figured out that some dolphin species use distinct names for one another; they are identifiable, individual whistles sometimes known as signature whistles.
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