If you think humans are the only intelligent creature then you are are wrong.
We sometimes overlook the intelligence of animals due to superiority complex. But here we are going to give you reasons to rethink your idea on animal intelligence, after reading this you definitely should be agreeing that humans aren’t the only intelligent beings on planet Earth. In fact, there are plenty of them and someone of them might surprise you.
Quickly take our short animal poll!
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10) Pigs
Yes! Pigsss. By default most of us don’t know pigs as intelligent creatures, rather we perceive them as dirty and stinking animals (The reason pigs roll around in mud isn’t because they like to be dirty, but because they don’t have sweat glands and the mud helps them cool off.).
It is even said that an average pig can be smarter or equally smart as a three year old human being, and they are fast learners also and can play video games with a joystick.
Pigs are arguably the smartest domestic animal in the world, it has even been reported too that some pigs deceive others so as to eat more share of food.
9) Octopus
I personally don’t enjoy Octopus, Yuck! -But they are smart as f**k, it is known that Octopuses have the biggest brain of any invertebrate in the world and has more than 100 million neurons roaming in it’s brain. I think that is even enough to count them as smart.
But still don’t get scared, they are no where smart as we are, Humans have over 100 billion neurons in the brain. Another special attribute of an octopus is its regenerating abilities, a large number of neurons of an octopus doesn’t reside in it’s brain, as some do stay in the arm. So to say each arm has minds of it own and can act alone even when detached from the host.
They are also very intelligent hunters that hunts with patience and strategies. Octopus are also known to be great problem solvers. Remember Paul the Octopus? From 2010 World Cup. Tells you how smart these creature are.
8) Dogs
Why won’t man’s best companion be on this list? Even if Dogs aren’t smart at first, they would have learnt a whole lot from us. But most especially we define “smart” differently, some believe a dog that obeys is smart, while some believe a dog that can make decisions itself should be called smart instead.
Nevertheless dogs are considered smart on an average Human standard. Nowadays dogs are trained to sniff and find prohibited drugs from cargos and airplanes. Dogs have stayed within the human community for so long, that scientist believe they’re more like humans than even chimps.
7) Pigeons
Pigeons are one of the most intelligent creatures on earth, and have highly evolved pigeon problem-solving skills. These little birds make extremely intelligent choices and are very good at Geo location.
Their memory is also top-notch, because they have a fantastic ability to recognize places and people over a lifetime.
6) Cows
You might think “Cow!!!”. Yess…Cow!!!
The main reason Cows are present on this list of most intelligent animals is because, they possess a rich and complex emotional life. It was reported by Times that some group of researchers found out that cows have friends and enemies. They also exhibit strong emotions such as pain, fear and even anxiety — they worry about the future.”
5) Rats
When it was discovered that rats exhibits trails of intelligent activities, it was not a thing of Pinky & The Brain. There is an activity called metacognition, and is awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes.
Some years ago it was discovered that rats exhibit this intelligent activity like humans and can make decisions based on their actions or thing they do not know. They are also known to be self-aware and ticklish. And so you know rats dream too.
Years of studies of rats also prove that rats live a little like humans. Pet rats are extremely social and form strong bonds with their owners. They learn their names and come when they’re called, and they beg for time out of their cage to play and interact with their owners.
4) Owls
Even from the medieval time, Owls were known as intelligent animals. This might seem true due to thoughts and talk about their “wisdom” in movies especially, but this is the “burst your bubble” part. Owls are not even smart birds, talk less of smart animals. And yes they shouldn’t be anywhere near this list, but how else can we shatter everything you thought you knew?
3) Elephants
Think about it, Big body = Big brain. That is the case of Elephants. They have brains larger than any land animal and the cortex has as many neurons as a human brain. They are also fast-learners and are self-aware like rats too– they can actually recognize themselves in mirrors!
They also communicate with each other using their feets to help them generate seismic activity on a wide range of subjects.
2.Bottlenose Dolphins
Dolphins are popularly known to be an intelligent animal. They exhibit human-like characteristic like awareness and emotions. They also have more complex brains than us. As Emory University dolphin expert Lori Marino told Discovery News, “If human standards for intelligence are applied to non-human animals, however, dolphins come very close to our own brain aptitude levels.”
They also learn and develop vocal signatures. When a dolphin is born, it creates a unique whistle that can be used to identify it(just like a name). These vocal signs are unique to each dolphins so they can call each other by by mimicking the whistle of a dolphin they want to communicate with.
They are known to help each others during times of need i.e a dolphin is injured, they help to bring it out of water so it can breath easily. There has been report of dolphins helping human swimmers from sharks. They are known to help humans catch fish too by driving the fishes toward shore where fishermen wait to cast their nets.
1) Chimpanzees
According to science Chimpanzees and humans are remarkably similar, we share about 99% of our DNA. Chimps are the nearest animal to humans as they live in societies and can switch communities. They can also learn sign language.
Chimps can also walk upright when they choose, and can consume meat or fish. A chimp also uses stones to open nuts, reach reproductive age at similar time as humans.
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