Animal Intelligence

Ben Boresi

Dr. Crump

Bio 104

5 May 2003

Animal Intelligence

Animal intelligence is something that is some what taken for granted. Animals are looked at to be species that are totally beneath humans in intelligence. What most people are afraid to admit is that a lot of animals are able to do the same things as humans can. Animals can speak a language, whether it is in the wild or taught to them by humans, they can perform tasks that make them able to survive, such as making tools to hunt down food.

The most interesting thing I learned while doing some research was the fact that certain animals use and make tools. Thos was first discovered in the 1960s that a chimpanzee was using a grass stems to fish out termites that they eat for a dessert. This shocked a lot of scientists and was felt to unbelievable.

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Washoe

As time has gone on scientists have found more animals that use tools. Along with chimps, apes also have been known to make and use tools throughout their lifetime in the wild. Surprisingly birds are also capable of using tools. Crows are said to be able to use specially selected twigs to peck beneath the ground to help them find grubs. Crows using tools and other birds was originally thought to not exist at all as unlike chimps and apes birds only have two legs and a pair of wings, but not arms that apes and chimps have. When this was discovered it gave a new meaning to the word intelligent when talking about animals.

When scientists studied animals in their habitat they were able to realize how much intelligent things that animals have to do to survive. Things that people take for granted in our lives also come easy...