Intelligence

French Bulldog struggles with a test to find food and they look up at their owner for help which endears them to their owner which in turn makes them more attractive than a dog with a standard muzzle.

Flat-faced brachycephalic Frenchies are popular because they behave like infants

benefits to humans, dog behaviour, dog breeding, dog breeds, dog-human relationship, Dogs, French bulldog, Intelligence, intelligence / By MikeB / September 22, 2023 / dog adoption, dog behavior, dog breeding, dog health, dog lifespan, extreme breeding, French bulldog

STUDY REPORT PLUS COMMENT: The infantile, brachycephalic French Bulldog ‘suffers’ from a ‘condition’ called paedomorphism which means to behave like an infant. And these dogs give their owners this impression because they are less good at solving problems. They would rather look up at their owner for help. But perhaps this lack of intelligence or …

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Orangutan directs zoo visitor to the sweets

Orangutan asks zoo visitors for sweets and he’s smarter than the humans

Apes, behavior, chimpanzees, Intelligence, sentience / By MikeB / July 1, 2023 / apes, intelligence, orangutans, primate, primate behavior, Primates

My God, these humans are slow. The orangutan who is trying to direct them to hand over some sweets is smarter than the humans or at least in this episode he acts as if he is. The ape has it all worked out. He has a workable plan. The humans are fumbling their way forward. …

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Cockatoo uses two implements - a toolkit - to carry out a task

Smart cockatoo uses tools in succession (toolset) to get his cashew nut

cockatoo, Intelligence / By MikeB / February 11, 2023 / birds, cockatoo, intelligence, study

This is a study which proved that the Goffin’s cockatoo is able to use a tool set or a toolkit which shows a high degree of intelligence. What is a tool set scientifically speaking? It is the use of two or more different kinds of tools which carry out different functions applied to the same …

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Dolphins can make strategic cross-group alliances

Intelligence / By MikeB / September 2, 2022 / dolphins, intelligence, marine wildlife

At the moment, we know of only one animal, other than the human-animal, which has the ability to form cross-group alliances to boost their reproductive success and that animal is the dolphin. Dolphins off the coast of Western Australia have demonstrated that humans are not the only species to cooperate in groups. It was thought …

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Genius dogs can learn a new toy name after hearing it only four times

Intelligence / By MikeB / October 6, 2021 / dog personality, intelligence, science, study

Gifted dogs can learn the names of toys incredibly quickly. One genius dog has learned the names of a hundred toys according to scientists who conducted an experiment on bright dogs to see how fast they could learn. The dogs took part in the Genius Dog Challenge. They found that they learnt 12 new toy …

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‘Smoke breathing’ elephant thanks JCB for helping it get out of a hole

Intelligence / By MikeB / October 2, 2021 / elephants, intelligence, video

It looks to me that this elephant turns and thanks the JCB for helping him get out of the muddy hole in which he trapped. He head butts the machine but I can only believe that this was a friendly gesture before turning and jogging off. There is an unusual incident before the elephant turns …

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We need a proper test for consciousness in animals

Humans need a test for animal consciousness

Intelligence / By MikeB / April 17, 2021 / consciousness, human animal relationship, intelligence, science, self-awareness, study

Humans are learning that animals are smarter than we thought they were. This is leading to greater sensitivity and respect towards animals but it is an incredibly slow process. There are some remarkable stories of animal intelligence. However, does this translate to self-awareness or self-consciousness? Are animals conscious of their existence? Can they step outside …

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Dog intelligence varies and some dogs learn many words

Intelligence / By MikeB / January 27, 2021 / companion animals, dogs, intelligence, study

The intelligence of the domestic dog varies considerably. We know this because some clever dogs can quickly learn human words in large numbers while others can’t. A study published yesterday in the journal Scientific Reports found that Whisky, a border collie from Norway was able to learn the names of 100 objects. A well known …

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Elephants can catch a yawn from humans

Intelligence / By MikeB / September 3, 2020 / elephants, intelligence

Contagious yawning between animals is common apparently. However, it is rare for animals to “catch a yawn” from a human. But it has been seen in chimps, dogs and now elephants. A new study indicates that elephants can engage in contagious yawning between themselves and when they see a human yawning. A video has been …

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Cows make friends which creates a stronger group

Cows have a very interesting social life and have friends

Intelligence / By MikeB / August 4, 2020 / cattle, cows, friendships, intelligence, predators, study

In respect of social bonding and friendships, a study from the Austral University of Chile found that cows behave like their wild ancestors, aurochs; wild cattle which inhabited Asia, Europe and North Africa. Domestication has not removed from their memory how to instinctively protect the group from predators. Cows have a lot of strategies to …

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“Dishonest signalling” may be humankind’s first attempt to speak

Intelligence / By MikeB / July 9, 2020 / evolution, human behavior, sounds

“Dishonest signalling” describes an animal making a sound which portrays itself as bigger than it really is. Often the purpose is to attract mates. It sounds like human behaviour doesn’t it? Humans often exaggerate to impress. In this instance, however, researchers say that their preliminary findings published in the journal Biology Letters may shed some …

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Goats are smarter than we realise

Intelligence / By MikeB / May 22, 2020 / intelligence

This is another study which points to a general human ignorance about the intelligence of animals and their ability to feel emotions. Humans are gradually learning and losing some of their arrogance but it is a long road. The goat was one of the first livestock species to be domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Farming …

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The cost-benefit analysis of predators

Intelligence / By MikeB / June 10, 2019 / intelligence

Wild animal predators are constantly calculating the cost-benefit of attacking and eating another animal or in defence.

Wasps can do a type of deductive reasoning

Intelligence / By MikeB / May 8, 2019 / intelligence

For centuries the arrogant human thought that deductive reasoning was the hallmark of human intelligence. Arrogant human is now awakening to the possibility that they have been wrong with respect to non-human intelligence and sensibilities for centuries. Today, we learn in The Times newspaper that the lowly wasp, the irritating wasp people like to kill …

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Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Speciesism - 'them and us' | Cruelty - always shameful

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.