Animal Intelligence

Articles About Animal Intelligence

• In-Depth Article

  What Would a Monkey Say If It Had a Mind to?

  

  Jan. 17, 2017 from Answers in Depth

  Though monkeys can’t imitate human language despite speech-ready vocal tracts because of their brains’ wiring, their versatile alarm calls meet their needs.

• In-Depth Article

  Do Babbling Bonobos Decipher the Evolutionary Secrets of Baby Talk?

  Aug. 29, 2015 from Answers in Depth

  If additional tests reveal bonobos actually are communicating with one another, the authors’ evolutionary leaps will still be groundless.

• In-Depth Article

  Can Orangutans Talk Like Humans?

  

  Jan. 31, 2015 from Answers in Depth

  Does a "talking" orangutan fill the gap between monkeys and humans in the evolution and origin of human language?

• In-Depth Article

  Did Bugs Give Ancestral Primates a Bigger Brain?

  July 8, 2014 from Answers in Depth

  Looking for bugs in all the right places bumped human brains up the evolutionary ladder, researchers say.

• In-Depth Article

  Does Your Dog Understand You Because You Share an Ancestral Bond?

  March 10, 2014 from Answers in Depth

  Brain imaging suggests dogs and humans are wired to respond to sounds the same way.

• Crow Intelligence Said to Evolve Differently from Humans

  Dec. 9, 2013 from News to Know

  Do smart crows reveal an alternate evolutionary path to intelligence?

• Did Snakes Shape Our Brains?

  Nov. 16, 2013 from News to Know

  Grandma Primate, What good eyes you have! “The better to see snakes,” evolutionists suggest.

• Research Paper

  Do Chimp Alarm Calls Reveal How Human Language Evolved?

  Nov. 7, 2013 from News to Know

  Does the chimpanzee ability to see-a-snake and sound-a-signal recapitulate the evolutionary underpinnings of human language?

• How Did Birds Get To Be So Smart: Are They “Feathered Apes”?

  July 27, 2013 from News to Know

  Does a peek “into the minds of birds” provide a peek into the origin of ours?

• Research Paper

  Show and Tell: What Can Chimps Tell Us?

  June 17, 2013 from News to Know

  Are there “striking similarities” in ape and human communication, and what do they mean?

• Bearded Capuchin Monkeys Bash Nuts with Skill

  March 9, 2013 from News to Know

  Bearded capuchin monkeys are bright little creatures, indicating that chimpanzees and crows don’t have the market cornered on animal intelligence.

• Are Animals as Smart as Some Say?

  April 7, 2012 from News to Know

  Evolutionists who claim humans evolved from ape-like ancestors assume language and bigger, better brains gradually evolved, making humans just a higher animal.

• Correlations Between Invertebrate Intelligence and Evolution

  Dec. 10, 2011 from News to Know

  The evolutionary drive to invertebrate intelligence

• Chimpanzees Are Excellent Listeners

  

  July 9, 2011

  Panzee passes her phonics test, and Nim stars in a movie.

• Magazine Department Article

  Clear Intelligence

  April 1, 2011 from Answers Magazine

  By evolutionary standards, chimps are supposed to be our closest living relative, but when it comes to understanding humans, they don’t hold a bone to man’s best friend.

• Crows’ Intelligence

  Oct. 30, 2010

  Crows’ remarkable intelligence has been one of our favorite topics over the years (our last update came in April). Here’s the latest.

• Bird Brains

  May 22, 2010

  If someone calls you a bird brain, it may not be completely wrong to respond, “that’s right!”

• Animal Intelligence

  Feb. 27, 2010 from News to Know

  Several news stories this week examine aspects of various animals’ surprising levels of intelligence.

• Elephant Intelligence

  Feb. 20, 2010 from News to Know

  In previous editions of News to Note, we’ve frequently reported on the high intelligence of crows. Now, it’s elephants’ turn again.

• Octopus Intelligence

  Dec. 19, 2009 from News to Know

  It’s an amazing animal known for its intelligence and, now, for its tool-use: the chimpanzee? The dolphin? The crow? Not quite.

• Crow the Builder

  Aug. 8, 2009 from News to Know

  They’re the incredibly intelligent, tool-wielding animals we’ve covered frequently in the past. No, not chimps; we’re talking about crows once again.

• Genius Fish

  June 20, 2009 from News to Know

  Chimpanzees, dolphins, crows: out o’ the way! There’s a new “genius animal” in the spotlight.

• Bird Brains VI

  May 30, 2009 from News to Know

  In yet another study, scientists have revealed the intelligence and sophisticated tool-use abilities of crows.

• Chicks Can Do Math

  April 4, 2009 from News to Know

  We had to check to make sure it wasn’t an April Fools’ prank, but yes, it seems baby birds can do simple math!

• Whistling Orangutan Clue to Language Evolution

  Jan. 3, 2009 from News to Know

  Is that the sound of a wolf whistle or an orangutan whistle we hear?

• Crows May Outsmart Chimpanzees and Dolphins

  Sept. 27, 2008

  If there were an animal version of the popular trivia program Jeopardy!, it might pit a chimpanzee against a dolphin against a crow. The surprising thing is, the crow might win!

• Elephants and Their Surprising Math Skills

  Sept. 6, 2008

  Move over (again), chimpanzees: it’s not only you in the animal kingdom that has calculable intelligence.

• Apes Show Signs of Mentally Planning Ahead

  June 21, 2008 from News to Know

  Chimps and orangutans are capable of sophisticated “mental time travel,” reports LiveScience on research at Lund University in Sweden.

• Monkey See, Monkey Remember

  Dec. 8, 2007

  Based on test results published in Current Biology, chimpanzees have “an extraordinary photographic memory that is far superior to ours.” The tests were devised by Japanese scientists and pitted university students against three pairs of mother-and-child chimps.

• Crows and Their Tools

  Aug. 25, 2007

  BBC News reports on a University of Auckland study that highlights the tool-adapting and tool-using ability of New Caledonian crows.

• Monkey See, Monkey Talk: Ape Communication

  June 2, 2007

  Researchers are astounded by ape communication skills.

• Simian Sign Language

  May 5, 2007

  Simian use of gestures is the latest evidence of evolution—at least, that’s the impression given by a BBC NEWS article describing research into how bonobos and chimpanzees communicate.

• Rats: Thinking About Failing

  March 10, 2007 from News to Know

  This week, a new animal joins our showcase of “underestimated animal geniuses”: the humble lab rat.

• Gorillas and Tools?

  Sept. 30, 2005

  The BBC News and other media outlets have been circulating an Associated Press article that states that gorillas in the wild have been observed using tools.

• Magazine Article

  Birdbrains?

  Sept. 1, 1999, pp. 51–52

  David Attenborough's acclaimed television series, The Life of Birds, provided many examples of remarkable features and behaviours in birds. These provide reasons to doubt evolutionary philosophy.

• Magazine Article

  Bird-Brain Matches Chimps

  Dec. 1, 1996, pp. 47–48

  It turns out that there is at least one parrot that can rival chimps in creative language use and complexity of reasoning.

• Magazine Article

  Talking Monkeys

  Oct. 1, 1982, pp. 6–8

  An eccentric German, named Von Osten, set out to show that animals were as clever as men. He spent two years educating a horse which became known as Clever Hans.