WEBVTT - How Smart Are Dolphins?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff lorn Bolba bom here. Despite the prevailing belief that

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<v Speaker 1>humans dominate the animal kingdom when it comes to smarts,

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<v Speaker 1>we're actually ranked as the third smartest species on the planet,

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<v Speaker 1>according to author Douglas Adams in his series Hitchhiker's Guide

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<v Speaker 1>to the Galaxy. But joking aside, there is something to

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<v Speaker 1>be said for Douglas's idea, at least in terms of

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<v Speaker 1>the species his narrator ranks as second smartest dolphins. His

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<v Speaker 1>stories rank mice as first. We're pretty sure that doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>hold science water. But when you correct for differences in

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<v Speaker 1>body mass, dolphins brains, and the brains of bottlenose dolphins

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<v Speaker 1>in particular are pretty comparable to the brains of humans.

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<v Speaker 1>They even come in second in terms of relative mass,

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<v Speaker 1>above all other species. Their brains also have many similar

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<v Speaker 1>features that are frequently correlated with higher brain functions. Bottlenose

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<v Speaker 1>dolphins likely possessed at a language comprehension skills, making them

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<v Speaker 1>seemingly able to understand simple series of signed gestures, both

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<v Speaker 1>in their semantic and syntactic senses. Bottlenose dolphins can understand

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<v Speaker 1>that generalized words like ball can refer to sets of

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<v Speaker 1>objects with similar characteristics. They could comprehend basic numerical concepts,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're able to understand and react to questions about

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<v Speaker 1>objects outside of their immediate vicinity. They process information received

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<v Speaker 1>both acoustically and visually, allowing them to recognize scenes presented

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<v Speaker 1>on a television screen, something that chimpanzees must be trained

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<v Speaker 1>extensively in order to do. The dolphins can then respond

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<v Speaker 1>to the image with accuracy comparable to human response levels,

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<v Speaker 1>even when the visual cues are delivered abstractly. Dolphins also

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<v Speaker 1>comprehend pointing, again something that chimpanzees typically struggle with. Considering

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<v Speaker 1>that dolphins don't have arms, this ability is perhaps all

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<v Speaker 1>the more razing, although researchers suspect the dolphins experience with

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<v Speaker 1>echolocation prepares them for the concept. Dolphins also seemed to

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<v Speaker 1>demonstrate self awareness by using mirrors to recognize and inspect

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<v Speaker 1>marks placed inconspicuously on their bodies, and they demonstrate a

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<v Speaker 1>perception for and memory of recent activities, exhibited by their

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<v Speaker 1>ability to either repeat or choose new behaviors to perform

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<v Speaker 1>as directed by trainers. Dolphins are excellent mimics both vocally

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<v Speaker 1>and behaviorally. Interestingly, they're able not only to imitate each other,

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<v Speaker 1>but humans as well, meaning that they can map their

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<v Speaker 1>body shapes onto ours using equivalent portions, such as tails

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<v Speaker 1>in the place of legs. Bottlenose dolphins have also been

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<v Speaker 1>known to teach each other new tricks. For example, and

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<v Speaker 1>injured dolphin was taught to tail walk while recuperating in captivity.

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<v Speaker 1>After release, it began passing the technique onto other wild dolphins.

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<v Speaker 1>In another case, dolphins demonstrated their adaptive problems all in

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<v Speaker 1>capabilities by picking up the habit of swimming with sea

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<v Speaker 1>sponges on their snouts, which armored them against the prick

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<v Speaker 1>of spiny fish. A third interesting scenario, albeit back in

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<v Speaker 1>the lab, allowed bottlenose dolphins to choose and I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know option during a difficult test. When the dolphins selected

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<v Speaker 1>that option, they were likely considering their own thought process.

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<v Speaker 1>This indicates the cognitive concept known as meta cognition, which

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<v Speaker 1>some consider an indicator of self awareness and higher consciousness.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Jessica Kuthman and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>topics that would surely say so long, and thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>all the fish if they had the opportunity to visit

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<v Speaker 1>how stuffworks dot com. Brain stuff It's production of iHeart

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