Buzz
Animals continue to astound us with displays of intelligence that we once believed were exclusive to humans. So, the next time your partner pretends to be oblivious or someone sneaks behind your back, just remember—the animals were ahead of us.
10. Chimpanzees Set Fashion Trends
We humans often admire uniqueness, yet we also tend to mock those who don’t follow the latest fashion movements. Perhaps we share this imitative behavior with chimpanzees.
A study published in Animal Cognition reveals that the mimicry behavior of chimpanzees leads to the creation of new customs, often unique to particular groups. This is much like the way a new fashion trend emerges in human society.
For instance, one researcher observed a female chimp named Julie who repeatedly inserted a grass straw into one or both of her ears. Over time, other chimps in her group began to imitate this behavior. Some of the animals continued the practice even after Julie passed away. It’s like your uncle still rocking a mullet long after the 1980s ended. Some chimps (and people) just can't seem to let go of their traditions, even when they’re no longer in style.
The researchers concluded that the grass-in-the-ear behavior was not a random act among the chimps. They actively learn from one another and persist with actions they find rewarding, even long after the original instigator is gone.
9. Dogs Have a Better Memory for the Scents of People They Love Than for the Scents of Other Dogs
A single scent of the cologne or perfume from someone we care about can evoke an immediate emotional response. For dogs, whose sense of smell is far more acute, the reaction is even stronger. According to a study published in the journal Behavioral Processes, researchers aimed to understand how dogs react to the scents of both familiar and unfamiliar humans and dogs, even when the individuals weren’t present.
Twelve dogs of different breeds were each exposed to five distinct scents while undergoing a brain scan using magnetic resonance imaging. The scents came from the test dog itself, a dog and a human who lived with the test dog, an unfamiliar dog, and an unfamiliar human. None of the scent donors were present during the testing.
All five scents triggered a similar response in the areas of the brain responsible for detecting smells. However, in the brain region linked to emotions, the dogs showed the most positive reaction to the scents of familiar humans—more so than to familiar dogs. The reward response, though, was only triggered by familiar humans (i.e., the people the dogs loved). The researchers were unsure whether this response was driven by food, play, or other factors. Ultimately, they concluded that dogs remember us, even when we’re not around.
8. Songbirds That Sing Less Have Superior Memories
Researchers from Duke University have found that male song sparrows face a trade-off between the number of songs they sing and the strength of their other cognitive abilities. Interestingly, female song sparrows might use this information to assess the mental faculties of their potential mates.
The females may have a valid reason for being selective. When male song sparrows were tested on their ability to solve food-finding puzzles, those who sang fewer songs were able to solve the puzzles the fastest. They clearly remembered the location of the food.
The researchers suggest that this demonstrates a trade-off between learning songs and other cognitive skills, such as spatial memory. Song learning and spatial learning are governed by different areas of the bird’s brain. Therefore, as the song sparrow’s brain develops, dedicating more resources to learning songs leaves fewer resources available for other cognitive tasks like spatial memory.
However, this doesn’t apply to all birds. For instance, starlings that sang more songs were quicker at solving spatial puzzles.
7. Monkeys Know When to Take a Risk—Or Do They?
It’s a well-known fact that humans tend to see patterns in random events, often believing in streaks of wins and losses when gambling. Interestingly, it turns out that monkeys enjoy gambling too. To explore this, researchers from the University of Rochester decided to observe three rhesus monkeys to see if they shared our tendency to believe in winning streaks.
The researchers set up a fast-paced, computerized game where each monkey had to choose between right or left and would receive a reward if they made the correct choice. There were three types of play: two with clear patterns of correct answers and one that was entirely random.
In the games with patterns, the monkeys quickly learned the correct answer. However, even in the random game, the monkeys consistently favored one side as if they were expecting a winning streak. This behavior persisted for weeks, with each sequence providing over 1,200 opportunities.
The researchers suggest that this study reveals that humans may have inherited the bias toward seeing patterns in random events. They believe this behavior likely evolved to help our ancestors identify real patterns for finding food in the wild.
6. Zebra Finches Fake Health to Impress
Unlike male song sparrows, zebra finches don’t give their potential mates the chance to judge their health. If a zebra finch is unwell, it will pretend to be healthy in front of other finches, especially if there's a chance to mate. There's no word on what else they might be faking.
A study conducted by a researcher from the University of Zurich discovered that this behavior is not unique to zebra finches. From rodents to birds to monkeys, many animals will adjust their behavior based on their social context. When they’re sick, animals generally eat less and rest more to preserve the vital processes necessary to fight infections and recover.
However, when they’re around their offspring, potential mates, or intruders encroaching on their territories, animals shift their priorities and conceal their illnesses. This behavior might seem amusing or clever—until you realize how it influences the detection and spread of diseases among both animals and humans.
5. Fruit Flies Think Before They Act
A fruit fly’s lifespan is usually under 60 days, which doesn’t leave much time for developing complex mental skills. Yet, a study from Oxford University reveals that fruit flies actually think before they act. They even take longer when faced with difficult choices (though they obviously can’t take longer than 60 days).
To begin their experiment, the researchers trained Drosophila fruit flies to avoid a specific concentration of an odor. The flies were then placed in a narrow chamber. One end of the chamber contained the odor concentration to avoid, while the other end held a different concentration of the same odor.
When the odor concentrations were easy to distinguish, the fruit flies would swiftly move to the correct end of the chamber almost every time. However, when the concentrations were more similar, the flies took much longer to make a decision, leading researchers to conclude that the flies were gathering information before choosing.
The researchers were able to predict the decision-making process of fruit flies using the same mathematical models typically applied to humans and primates. This suggests that fruit flies possess a level of intelligence greater than what was previously believed.
4. Asian Elephants Comfort Others In Distress
Consolation is a rare behavior in animals, perhaps because it might require empathy. However, a study published in the journal PeerJ demonstrates that Asian elephants now belong to the select group of animals shown to exhibit this behavior. Previously, this group only included great apes, ravens, certain corvids, and canines.
A group of 26 captive Asian elephants in Thailand was observed for over a year. When one elephant became stressed by triggers such as a nearby dog or snake, its ears and tail would stand up, and it might even roar. In response, other elephants would rush over to provide both physical and vocal comfort to the distressed individual.
A comforting elephant tends to make a soft chirping sound, resembling the way humans calm a baby with a ‘shh.’ The elephant may also gently touch the distressed elephant’s face with its trunk or offer a ‘hug’ by placing its trunk in the distressed elephant’s mouth. Other nearby elephants might also join in as a group to assist. The researchers are eager to observe wild elephants to determine whether they also exhibit this consoling behavior.
3. Large Groups Of Lemurs Steal Food Behind Your Back
As part of an experiment on ‘social intelligence,’ researchers from Duke University studied whether lemurs from larger or smaller groups were more likely to steal food from a human’s plate when the human wasn’t paying attention.
In the first experiment, two humans sat with two plates of food. One person faced the plate and the lemur as it entered the room, while the other person turned away. In the second experiment, the humans sat side by side, facing the plate, with one person turned away. In the third test, both humans wore black bands over their eyes or mouths while facing the plates.
Few of the lemurs understood the black bands, but in the other tests, lemurs from larger social groups were more likely than those from smaller groups to steal food when no one was watching. Despite having similar brain sizes, this suggests that complex social intelligence in primates, including humans, may have developed from living (and stealing) in larger social groups rather than from an increase in brain size.
2. Rats Have Memories Like Computers
Rats have short-term, random-access memories similar to computers, which store information for ongoing tasks. Humans and crows also utilize these 'working memories.' In humans, this allows us to store and process information to play games, solve math problems, and follow conversations.
Researchers at the International School for Advanced Studies were surprised to find this type of memory system in a relatively simple mammal like a rat. They observed that rats responded to vibrations with their whiskers, much as humans would with their fingertips. The rats' working memories helped them recognize and determine how to respond to these environmental stimuli. Without this form of RAM, rats would be unable to use their experiences to decide the best course of action.
The researchers have not yet determined which part of the rat's brain controls working memory. Other researchers have pinpointed the region of a crow's brain that holds its working memory. Since a crow's brain is structured differently from that of a mammal, this suggests that cognitive abilities can evolve in diverse brain structures, some of which are much simpler than the human brain.
1. Wolves Are Better Copycats Than Dogs
A study published in the journal PLOS ONE revealed that wolves are significantly better at observing and learning from each other than dogs.
The researchers studied 14 wolves and 15 mongrel dogs, all around six months old. In the experiment, each animal watched a trained dog open a wooden box using either its mouth or paw to retrieve a food reward. Afterward, all the wolves, but only four of the dogs, successfully opened the box. The wolves were also more likely to replicate the exact method they had witnessed.
The scientists repeated the experiment nine months later to determine if the animals' age had an impact, but it had no effect. Next, the researchers tested whether wolves are inherently better problem-solvers than dogs. In this trial, the animals attempted to open the box without observing a trained dog first. Most of the wolves were unable to succeed.
The researchers suggest that wolves are more reliant on one another, which makes them more likely to imitate each other compared to dogs. They hypothesize that this social behavior in wolves may have been the foundation for the initial bond between dogs and humans.
