Smart Critters

April 9th, 2007 Central Archivist Posted in News |

THE APRIL ISSUE of Scientific American has a fascinating article on the intelligence of ravens.  I won’t go into detail here of the experiments the researchers did, but the results showed ravens use logic and planning in problem solving.

This isn’t the first time advanced intelligence has been shown in our avian friends.   Numerous studies of African Gray Parrots show these birds have cognitive abilities that surpass those of many mammals.

But our furry friends aren’t slackers either.  A report out this past February documented chimpanzees using spears in hunting. 

So, what does all this mean?

Problem solving through logic and planning, and the manufacture and employment of tools were traits that supposedly set us apart from the rest of creation.  This is obviously no longer the case.  There are a number of folks out there who want to deny the evidence or interpret it away, but the facts stand.  Those thing that supposedly made us unique are fairly common in the animal kingdom.

While we are obviously more advanced than our animal contemporaries, that advancement is more a matter of degree, not kind.