The ten smartest animals in the world

2023-09-21 09:33:00, Blog CNA

The animal kingdom is filled with intelligent creatures. There we see behaviors previously thought to be unique only to humans, and from species distantly related to us. But out there in the wild, we see animals that use their brains as a superpower. In fact, there is such a wide variety of great minds that it is very difficult to compare
them.

Scientists don't waste their time ranking animals by intelligence. Also, there is no one-size-fits-all IQ test for every species, although there have been attempts. So we'd like to single out some of the contenders for the list of the smartest species to emerge from scientific research to date. Remember that most experiments to test animal intelligence are based on what humans can do, not what animals must learn to survive.

1. Chimpanzees
Chimpanzees and bonobos are extremely intelligent creatures with a complex social hierarchy. Actually that's not all that surprising, considering they share 98.7 percent of their DNA with us humans. Chimpanzees and bonobos are famous for their great variety of tool use. Also, both species are excellent problem solvers. The Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp in Belgium found that bonobos were more adept at solving puzzles than chimpanzees, beating them in intelligence tests. But this seems to be mostly due to their persistence.

2. Dolphins Dolphins
are fast learners, able to imitate human behavior, solve problems, teach others, and show awareness. Both whales and dolphins have larger brains than humans. But they also have the power to locate objects through sound with echolocation, as well as sophisticated communication systems.

3. Octopuses
There are stories of octopuses figuring out how to get out of tanks, and even pouring water over candles to blow them out. But they are not only smart but also aware. Philosopher Stefan Linkuit, who studied octopus behavior in a laboratory, said: “When you work with fish, they have no idea that they are in a tank. While octopuses know that they are inside this special place, and that you are outside of it."

4. Dogs
Researchers discovered in 2017 that dogs have twice the number of neurons in their cerebral cortices than cats. This gives them a cognitive advantage, and confirms claims that dogs are easier to train. Also, the study found that based on neurons, raccoons should also have similar abilities to dogs.

5. Orangutans
Among their many talents is the ability to "talk" about the past, a behavior usually seen only in humans. In 2018, researchers reported that Sumatran orangutans in Indonesia, who had been with their young, delayed sounding the alarm for up to 20 minutes after seeing a potential predator. According to the researchers, they did not want to alert the predator of their presence. But later they made a noise to teach their babies that it is dangerous to be in contact with such an animal. Communicating information about something that has happened in the past or will happen in the future is thought to be one of the main features of human language.

6. Ravens and crows
Studies show that 4-month-old ravens can be as intelligent as some adult monkeys. Experiments have also shown that ravens can prepare for the future with tools they have been taught to use by humans. On the other hand, crows have an excellent memory and remember human faces, identifying some people as friends and
others as enemies.

7. African gray parrots
Experiments have proven that they understand words, and can perform some cognitive tasks, which cannot yet be performed by 5-year-old children. In 2019, a parrot named Griffin underwent a series of experiments where he had to find where nuts were hidden in several cups. He successfully picked the cup that was sure to contain a nut, unless
the researchers tried to induce him to play a game with a 50-50 probability of success.

8.
Bees Bees are rightly called the smartest insects in the world. Because they can solve puzzles and have exceptional orientation skills. An experiment found that bees determine the shortest path to a flower through repeated visits, significantly reducing the time it takes them to get there. Another experiment found that bees create mental images of objects as humans do, and can transmit recognition of objects through their senses.

9. Gorillas
Along with chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans, gorillas can be trained to communicate using signs. The famous gorilla "Koko" went one step further and is said to have mastered sign language. She knew more than 1,000 hand signs, and understood over 2,000 words of the English language.

10. Humans
When talking about animal intelligence, there's a tendency to focus on brain size and the fact that we still don't know much about their behavior. But while this is true, it is also a fact that our intelligence as a species is superior to others. Because no other species on this list has built complex civilizations like us and has not been to the Moon./ Adapted in Albanian by CNA