What marine animal is considered the most intelligent. The smartest pets. The smartest animal on earth

There are countless organisms on our planet, including animals. For a long time, scientists and narrow specialists have been trying to figure out who is the smartest animal on the planet.

But today, unfortunately, it is still impossible to determine the IQ level of each animal, since tests for them have not yet been invented. But you can rank the smartest animals without convincing any of you that some are smarter and some are dumber.

top 5 smartest animals

Smart representatives of the fauna

Clever representatives of the fauna

• raccoons, as many have noticed, is in trend today. These cute creatures are endowed with simply incredible ingenuity. In search of food, they are able to solve many difficult logical problems, and also actively use improvised tools to achieve the desired goal. They are able to remember the solution of the task for three long years.
• Seals are among not only cute and charming creatures, but also extremely smart. They are trainable and easy to train. Kittens are "equipped" with an excellent built-in navigation system. Despite the fact that these representatives of the fauna belong to pack animals, they prefer remoteness and show individualism in everything. On the hunt in wild nature sent one by one.
• parrots have not only the ability to imitate sound. For example, an African gray parrot can be compared to a three-year-old human cub in terms of intellectual development. Parrots have an excellent memory, they are capable of empathy, and they also know how to show their emotions, have good intelligence and trainability. So, parrots living in wild environment, put nuts under the wheels of the car, so that when they start, they split them. An interesting fact is that scientists have proven the development of the analytical abilities of parrots, they continue to develop rapidly.
• Horses not only smart animals, but also extremely cunning, with excellent memory. Akhal-Teke horses are considered monogamous, they can serve only one owner throughout their life. Absolutely all types of horses can be trained. For example, an Arabian skanon will never, under any pretext, step on a person’s foot, and police breeds that are trained to disperse crowds are not so delicate.
• pigeons Oddly enough, they are also very smart birds. Everyone knows about the existence of "pigeon mail", which appeared before all that existed today. "Pigeon mail" is based on the ability of pigeons to "homing" - the innate instinct to always return home. The brain activity of a feathered one is amazing, because it can not only process, but also store large amounts of information. Pigeons collect it, skillfully using all their senses. These birds are endowed sharp eyesight combined with a wonderful memory. This feature allows them to form a route home based on visual impressions.
• Sheep considered to be narrow-minded and stupid animals. However, multiple modern studies break stereotypes, they have shown that sheep have a good memory for faces, they are among the social mammals, and are also able to build relationships. Their main problem is cowardice.
• crocodiles unnecessarily demonized - admit modern scientists. For 10 years, the American zoologist Vladimir Dinets observed crocodiles and made following conclusions: firstly, crocodiles are amenable to training, and secondly, they are quite playful. The whole world knows the story when the crocodile lived until his death with a man who saved him from certain death. He let his friend swim with him in the pool, hug and kiss him on the face, they were fooling around.
• bees considered the most intelligent insects in the world. They are able to navigate in space according to the Sun, as well as perfectly feel the Earth's electromagnetic field and remember visual objects. In addition, it is worth noting that bees are social insects. They are able to communicate with each other thanks to the floating dance.
• cephalopods are considered the most intelligent representatives of mollusks. Most of them have the ability to mimicry, and octopuses manage to successfully pass the "look and remember" tests. Among other things, they are characterized by an excellently developed built-in navigation system. Squid form in schools and scientists believe they are social and communicate with each other through a codified language.
• Turtles. Numerous studies show that turtles have excellently developed intellectual abilities. Turtles are amenable to learning, they manage to find a way out of the mazes. Within a short period of time, they are domesticated, after which they quickly cease to be afraid of a person and begin to eat from his hands.

1. Britain's smartest parrot in a world that knows how to sew. His professionalism as a tailor is estimated at 90%.
2. toothed whales refer to warm-blooded animals that are able to mysteriously move and find each other in the ocean.
3. Dogs able to memorize up to 250 gestures and words, and count up to 5 no worse than smart crows.

Conclusion

Scientists continue their research actively and scientific achievements do not stand still, perhaps something will change. But people should always remember that they are responsible for those they have tamed!

Animals are the most amazing living creatures on our planet. The diversity of their species is so great that sometimes it is difficult to appreciate their intelligence. After all, all animals live, driven by instincts that they have developed over the long centuries of existence and the struggle for survival. It is for this reason that it is not an easy task to adequately assess their intelligence. Still more complicates the desire of man to anthropomorphize animals, and try to find signs of human intelligence in them. However, there are also animals that fall into the latter category, meeting many of the criteria for intellectual development that people so diligently look for in them. Today we invite you to get acquainted with the twelve most intelligent animals of our planet, selected not only on the basis of human ideas about intelligence, but also from their abilities, laid down by nature itself and inherited from their ancestors.

12. Rats

Usually rats are considered disgusting disease vectors, living in sewers, scurrying through sewer pipes and garbage cans in search of food. And in fact, all this is not so far from the truth, after all, it was the rats that were the carriers of the plague that claimed countless lives. But besides all this negativity, rats are also incredibly intelligent creatures, this is especially evident when it comes to adaptation. Rats will live and thrive in almost any environment. In addition to this feature, they are endowed with excellent memory.

11. Proteins


And although proteins do not really stand out against the background of the rest of the inhabitants of the animal world, their amazing ability to collect and prepare stocks of food for the winter, attracted our attention. Squirrels have become so good at this activity that they have developed special camouflage and deception techniques that allow them to steal food from other animals. Studies have shown that squirrels are excellent at predicting the behavior of other animals, which makes it easier to rob. In addition, the rodent has an almost flawless memory, creating its own maps of the area, where all the caches are marked.

10. Crows


Crows are one of the most intelligent birds in the world. They learn from older birds the ability to adapt and solve complex problems. What's more, crows are great at different kind tools, whether it be an ordinary leaf, a stick or a stone. In addition, crows are well versed in social conflicts and love to use them for their own good.

9. Raccoons


More often than not, these masked thugs are seen as real pests, which is worth the rubbish scattered across the lawn left after the nightly visit of the raccoons! All this is understandable, but in addition to their harmful disposition, these animals are distinguished by intelligence and ingenuity. They are able to make good decisions challenging tasks and use the tools. After all, how did the raccoon manage to open the garbage can, if not using intelligence? Among other things, raccoons are famous for their high level of sociability, which allows them to alert their brood about the status of your bin and when to go out next.

8. Cats


Everyone's favorite cats are widely known as smart and cunning animals. And although they can be taught almost all of the same commands as dogs, cats are better able to adapt to environment compared to dogs. If there is nearby tasty food and a great place to sleep - the cat will choose it. By nature, cats are loners. This trait, combined with a highly developed instinct for self-preservation, has allowed cats to perfectly adapt to almost any environment.

7. Elephants


Elephants, with their inherent self-awareness, stand out in a separate group of animals. They are able to show sympathy not only to representatives of their kind, but also to other species of animals. The most amazing talent of elephants is their ability to recognize themselves in the mirror. This proves that the giants of the animal world are perfectly aware of their existence in the world around them.

6. Octopuses


One of the most intelligent creatures in the sea, the octopus is an adept hunter, devising complex strategies for effective ambush. Octopuses, like elephants, have shown signs of self-awareness and have shown excellent abilities in the use of tools at hand and in the processing of visual information. Curiosity and the desire to avoid boredom make the octopus related to humans. And although for the most part the intelligence of the octopus has not yet been fully understood, there is no doubt that this is one of the smartest marine life, and probably the most intelligent invertebrates in the world.

5. Dogs


Dogs are interesting because their level of intelligence varies depending on the breed. Despite this difference, all dogs, without exception, are very easy to train and obedient. Based on the ability of dogs to respond to commands and follow them, scientists suggest that they have more emotional intelligence than other animals. This allows dogs to empathize with their owners. Some studies have shown that dogs are able to recognize pictures of other dogs and themselves.

4. Bottlenose dolphins


Bottlenose dolphins have one of the most large sizes brain in the animal world. This allows dolphins to use the most complex forms of social communication with relatives through language, moreover, they even use separate names for each member of the pack. Moreover, they are able to teach the youngsters everything that they themselves have been taught, as well as use a system of praise and reward for success. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of dolphin intelligence is their ability to recognize themselves in a mirror, which also proves that they have a sense of self-awareness.

3 Pigs


Studies show that a middle-aged pig has the same level intellectual development like a three year old. Ironically, pigs are actually clean, even cleaner than most domestic animals. During research conducted in the 1990s, the intelligence of pigs was studied and their ability to form complex memories was evaluated. The animals were shown a set of figures on the screen, and then they were required to restore the order of the figures they saw already in another drawing using a patch. By the way, the same study was conducted with chimpanzees, which showed the same results as kK and pigs.

2. Chimpanzee


The chimpanzee's genetic makeup is 98% identical to that of humans, so it would be fair to assume that they are the smartest animals in the world. They are very familiar with the skills of using tools and can adjust their territory to suit themselves. During laboratory experiments, chimpanzees also showed signs of self-awareness, empathy, and even mercy towards other animals. Made the biggest splash laboratory research memory of chimpanzees, where their performance surpassed even that of humans.

1. People


We are all animals, right? Therefore, we decided to add a person to our list. Enough to take a look the world to understand what is this moment Man is the smartest animal in the world. Aside from social skills, our emotional spectrum, our ability to create and improve, all of these show the superiority of humans over other species.

Animals often surprise people with their intelligence. This is not surprising, because nature itself exists on the basis of a clear logic, and all its parts are interconnected. But some representatives of the fauna are so striking in their mental abilities that they become the object of research by scientists. We offer the TOP 11 most intelligent animals that live on planet Earth.

Rat

The rat is very intelligent, but not the most attractive animal for Western cultures. Often used in research, lab rats are able to find shortcuts, loopholes and exits from mazes designed by the best scientific minds of our time. In Chinese culture, the rat is revered for cunning and resourcefulness. And not in vain, because rats have successfully colonized all the continents of the Earth, except for Antarctica. On the other hand, perhaps the indifference to the cold, lifeless and snowy desert further proves their intelligence.

Octopus

The octopus is one of the most intelligent and unusual sea ​​creatures. This animal is still poorly understood, but scientists are constantly discovering new impressive abilities in it. Octopuses play, solve problems, screw and unscrew jar lids, navigate mazes, and have decent short-term memory. But how is an animal that belongs to the same class as the snail capable of such intellectual accomplishments? This mystery is yet to be solved.

Pigeon

Pigeons live all over the world. They live in major cities, and they are mostly considered simple pests, and not particularly smart. However, this ubiquitous bird is actually quite smart. Pigeons have often been the subject of countless scientific experiments, so there is a lot of data about their intellectual abilities. For example, pigeons are able to recognize hundreds of images even after several years of being seen. They can also recognize themselves in a mirror, memorize sequences of actions, and see subtle differences between two objects. Pretty impressive for a simple pest!

Squirrel

The stubbornness and good memory of squirrels have made them the enemies of gardeners around the world. Squirrels display an impressive array of tricks and strategies to help them survive. First, being forest dwellers, they have learned how to survive in the world of people: take food from feeders, raid gardens and so on. They also make large stocks of food in different places, and then find caches after many months (though only a small part, but, thanks to their forgetfulness, tree seeds spread through the forest). In addition, squirrels can deliberately deceive would-be thieves by pretending to hide food. According to researchers, this indicates an advanced level of intelligence.

Pig

Pigs don't have the best reputation for being gluttonous and filthy, but they are actually very intelligent animals. They can be as trainable as cats and dogs, and the fashion for guinea pigs as pets is taking over the world. Another one of them distinguishing feature- the ability to adapt to different environmental conditions. Unlike most other ungulates, which eat only grass, the diet of pigs and their relatives can include anything, including worms and small vertebrates. Therefore, pigs easily compete with local species wherever they find themselves. Not the best news for these native species, but nonetheless more solid evidence that the phrase "pig intelligence" is not an insult.

Crow

We are all told how important it is to cross the street on a green light. Looks like the crows don't know about it worse than people. "Urban" birds pick nuts from trees and then put them on the road under the wheels of cars so that they open the shell. Then they patiently wait for the cars to pass and “green” lights up again, and return to the track to collect loot. Ravens communicate with each other in complex dialects, and also play games with each other. Some scientists even believe that crows are smarter than primates.

Elephant

Contrary to popular belief, elephants are not just clumsy giants with big ears and good memories. In fact, they are quite elegant, well-mannered and curious. For example, elephants clean their food and use various tools in the wild, and can also follow human commands in captivity. Elephants are also extremely caring and empathetic towards other members of their group and, most importantly, other species, which is considered a highly developed form of intelligence.

orangutan

Great apes are considered the most smart creatures after people. Of course, people are biased in this matter, but the intellectual abilities of our “little brothers” are hard to deny. Among the great apes, orangutans stand out as especially gifted. They have a developed culture and communication system, many of them use tools in the wild. Orangutans live in widespread communities and form strong social bonds that may be the key to their advanced cognitive skills. The females stay with the young for many years, teaching them everything they need to survive in the forest.

Dolphins

Dolphins are extremely social animals. They are happy to join people who are surfing, water skiing or other marine activities. Dolphins have their own complex "language" that humans have only just begun to unravel. Dolphins use tools in their natural environment and can learn an impressive array of behavioral commands from human trainers. Like many of the smartest animals on Earth, females raise their young for several years, passing on all their knowledge.

Chimpanzee

Another representative of the great apes can create and use tools, organize collective hunting, and also solve complex problems in non-trivial ways. Chimpanzees can also learn sign language to communicate with humans and even remember the name sign for people they haven't seen in years. But perhaps the most amazing feature chimpanzee is the ability to use symbols to represent objects and to combine symbols in sequence to convey a complex idea. Such intellectual abilities help chimpanzees maintain complex hierarchical structures in social groups.

Crow

The raven (not to be confused with the crow) is perhaps the most intelligent bird in the world. These birds are able to assess the consequences of their actions for the future, they can plan ahead, solve complex problems, have excellent memory and logical thinking. Ravens are able to distinguish between different textures of materials (sand, wood, glass, and so on), they know the quality of each material and draw their own conclusions from this. For example, during one experiment, a raven could not reach the water in a narrow vessel with its beak and began to throw objects into it to raise the water level. At the same time, the bird was only interested in heavy objects that are really capable of displacing liquid, and she ignored the foam and wood.

There are a huge number of beautiful animals on our planet. Scientists and specialists have been trying for a long time to determine whether which one is the smartest.

Today is the first part of our big Animal Planet review.

10th place: Rats

Yes, yes, we were not mistaken. Usually, when the word "rat" immediately appears the appearance of a gray, unpleasant creature with long tail. In criminal jargon, a "rat" is a term used to refer to a person who steals from his own people. But read the next few paragraphs and you may change your mind about these highly intelligent animals.

They are always where we are. They feed on what we have left. We may not even notice them, but they are here and building their dark kingdoms right under our feet. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. And they are not going anywhere. This is a well-oiled machine for conquering the world.

The fact that rats are among the most intelligent animals has long been known. For example, let's cite the story of the head of one of the departments of the famous Moscow Eliseevsky store Larisa Darkova.

It all started with the fact that rats managed to steal eggs without breaking them. For a long time unnoticed by these gray rodents, observation was carried out in the cellars of Eliseevsky. And here's what turned out. “In order not to damage the fragile shell,” says Larisa Darkova, “these clever ones came up with the following: one rat lies on its back and rolls a chicken egg with its muzzle into the hollow formed on the stomach. At this time, another "accomplice" grabs her by the tail, and in this way they drag the egg into the hole.

Mankind has been at war with rats for centuries, but we cannot win. Some biologists believe that gray rats possess collective mind, which controls the actions of each individual. This hypothesis explains a lot: both the speed with which gray rodents dealt with other species, and their success in the fight against humans.

It is the collective mind that helps rats avoid inevitable death. The well-known phrase "rats flee from a sinking ship" has behind it numerous, officially registered cases when rats leave doomed ships in advance. Another example is earthquakes, which scientists say cannot be accurately predicted. And the rats just leave the city a day or two before aftershocks that can destroy buildings. Perhaps the rat collective mind is able to see the future better than us humans.

Rats have a clear hierarchy. In addition to the leader and subordinates, there are so-called "scouts" in the rat society. Thanks to this, all the efforts of mankind in the invention of ingenious mousetraps and rat poisons are nullified. The “suicide bombers” “appointed” by the leader go on reconnaissance and try poisoned baits. Having received the SOS signal, the other members of the rat pack stop paying attention to poisonous products. And the "kamikaze" sit in their holes and drink water, trying to wash their stomachs. The same is true with traps. If the rats notice their relative in a trap, then the flock will immediately leave the dangerous place.

The point is that, unlike humans, a rat never steps on the same rake twice, and therefore it is practically indestructible.

We may hate these gray rodents, but when you recognize their abilities, a sense of respect involuntarily arises. The rat is a real superorganism, able to live and thrive in almost any conditions, the vitality of which has been worked out for 50 million years.

They perfectly climb almost any surface, pipes and trees, they can climb sheer brick walls, crawl into a hole the size of a five-ruble coin, run at speeds up to 10 km / h, swim and dive well (there is a known case when a rat swam 29 kilometers) .

When bitten, the teeth of a rat develop a pressure of 500 kg/sq.cm. This is enough to gnaw through the bars of the lattice. A wild rat in an aggressive state can jump to a height of up to 2 meters. Rats can survive in absolutely extreme conditions in which other animals would surely die. So, these, in general, heat-loving animals can live in refrigerators at a temperature of minus 17 degrees and even multiply.

Rats, these practically invisible, nimble and intelligent creatures, are not afraid of a clumsy two-legged man who, over many millennia of war, has not come up with anything smarter than a simple mousetrap.

9th place: Octopus

No. 9 on our list of the smartest animals is octopus is one of the most intelligent sea creatures. They know how to play various forms and patterns (such as colored light bulbs), solve puzzles, navigate mazes, and have short and long-term memory. As a sign of respect for the mind of octopuses, in some countries of the world even laws have been passed requiring the use of anesthesia before performing operations on them.

Octopuses are invertebrates, and the closest species to them are squid and cuttlefish. In total, there are more than 200 species of various octopuses in the world that inhabit the seas and oceans of the Earth.

Octopuses are skilled hunters, acting from ambush. Open battle is not for them. This attack tactic also performs the function of protecting the octopus itself. If necessary, the octopus throws out a cloud of ink, which disorients the predator attacking it. Octopus ink not only allows the owner to hide from view, but also partially deprives the predator of the sense of smell for a while. Max Speed the movement of the octopus is just over 30 km / h, however, they can maintain this pace for a very short period of time.

Octopuses are very curious, which is usually associated with intelligence. In nature, they sometimes build their shelter houses from stones - this also indicates a certain intellectual level.

However, octopuses cannot figure out that glass is transparent. This is proved by the following simple experiment: we give the octopus a treat in the form of his favorite crab, but in a "package" - a glass cylinder without a top lid. He can continue fruitless attempts to get food for a very long time, knocking his body against the walls of a transparent vessel, although all he had to do was climb the glass by 30 centimeters, and he would freely penetrate through the open top of the cylinder to the crab. But it is enough once that his tentacle accidentally jumps over the upper edge of a glass vessel, and he develops conditioned reflex. Just one successful attempt is enough, and now the octopus knows exactly how to get the crab out of the glass.

Octopus tentacles perform irreplaceable functions:

• they crawl on tentacles along the bottom;
• bear weight;
• build nests with tentacles;
• open shells of mollusks;
• attach their eggs to stones;
• They also serve as guards.

The upper pair of hands is intended for feeling and examining surrounding objects. The longer tentacles of the octopus are used as an attacking weapon. When attacking prey or defending themselves from the enemy, they try to grab the enemy with them. In "peaceful" time, "combat" hands turn into legs and serve as stilts when moving along the bottom.

The development in animals of such organs that they can use as simple tools leads to the formation of a more complex brain.

Various experiments show that in octopuses excellent memory . And the “intelligence” of an animal is primarily determined by the ability of its brain to remember experience. When everything is in order with memory, the next step is ingenuity, which helps to draw conclusions from the experience gained.

Over the past 10 years, the most advanced experiments on the behavior of octopuses have been carried out at the marine station in Naples. Scientists have found that octopuses are trainable. They are no worse than elephants and dogs distinguish geometric shapes- a small square from a larger one, a rectangle shown vertically and horizontally, a white circle from black, a cross and a square, a rhombus and a triangle. For the right choice, the octopuses were given goodies, for the mistake they received a weak electric shock.

Octopuses are easily hypnotized that says enough high organization his brain. One of the methods of hypnosis is to hold an octopus in the palm of your hand for a while with your mouth up, the tentacles should hang down. When an octopus is hypnotized, you can do anything with it - it does not wake up. You can even throw it, and it will fall lifeless, like a piece of rope.

These intelligent marine animals are still poorly understood, but scientists are constantly discovering new and impressive abilities of octopuses.

8th place: Dove

pigeons in in large numbers can be found in all major cities, and most of us consider these birds to be "bad" creatures that get in the way. But numerous scientific experiments show that they are very intelligent birds. For example, pigeons can remember and recognize hundreds of different images over the years.

The most common and well-known dove is the rock dove (lat. columba livia) - a bird whose homeland is considered to be Europe. A group of scientists from the Japanese university Keio University as a result of experiments showed that rock doves are able to recognize themselves in the mirror better than small children. Prior to these studies, it was believed that only humans, primates, dolphins and elephants had such abilities.

The experiments were carried out as follows. Pigeons were shown 3 videos at the same time. The first video showed them in real time (i.e. a mirror), the second showed their movements a few seconds ago, and the third was recorded a few hours before now. Birds made their choice with their beak, pointing in a certain direction. According to the results of these tests, it turned out that pigeons remember their actions with a delay of up to 5-7 seconds.

Pigeons can be trained to perform a sequence of movements and distinguish between two objects with slight differences - quite impressive for a simple pest.

In Tsarist Russia, pigeons were valued no less than large household animals. Noble families bred their own breeds of pigeons, and these birds were a source of special pride and were inherited.

The useful skills of pigeons have always been valued. For example, the ability of these birds to find their way home and their fast flight made it possible to use them to transmit mail.

7th place: Belka

This nimble animal has a brain the size of a large pea. However, studies show that proteins are perfectly oriented in space, have extraordinary intelligence and phenomenal memory, and can think and analyze.

Thanks to their intelligence and ability to survive, squirrels can be found everywhere. They have penetrated almost all corners of the globe. Squirrels are everywhere. From alpine marmots on snowy mountain peaks to squirrels living in the hot Kalahari desert in South Africa. Underground squirrels - prairie dogs and chipmunks - have infiltrated underground space. Squirrels have penetrated all cities. And the most famous of the squirrels is gray.

One of the widely known distinctive features protein is their ability to store nuts for the winter. Squirrels do not hibernate and must find up to 3,000 hidden nuts to survive. They bury some types of nuts in the ground, others are hidden in the hollows of trees. This work requires incredible effort.

Thanks to their phenomenal memory, squirrels can remember the location of a nut 2 months after it was buried. Fiction! Try to hide 3,000 coins. We guarantee that in a month you will be able to find only the one that is in your wallet.

Squirrels have their thieves, too, who decide not to forage for nuts, but wait and watch from ambush until other squirrels begin to bury their winter diet. But for every action there is a counter-action. If the squirrel notices that they are starting to follow it, it pretends to bury the writing. While the thief is wasting time on the empty hole, the squirrel moves his nut to another, more secret location. Isn't this the best proof that squirrels have intelligence?

Planning and remembering the right route to food is vital. Mind and memory test: on the top of the wall are 2 round holes, both have doors that open to one side. One leads to a dead end that will force the squirrel to start over, and the twisted tube - a more difficult path - leads to nuts. Question: Will the squirrel choose the correct hole?

Studies show that squirrels have excellent spatial orientation, and already from the ground they can see which hole leads to nuts. Proteins without hesitation fit into the right hole leading to food.

The ability to pave the way, agility, phenomenal ingenuity, spatial orientation and lightning speed - this is the secret of the success of squirrels on our planet.

Very often, squirrels are considered pests. After all, they gnaw everything that is possible and impossible.

6th place: Pigs

Despite the reputation of gluttonous and perpetually dirty creatures (he can find dirt everywhere), pigs are, in fact, very intelligent animals. Whether domestic or wild, pigs are known for their ability to adapt to different environments.

The American zoologist E. Menzel believes that in terms of the development of their own language, pigs are second among animals after monkeys. Pigs respond well to music, for example, they can grunt to the beat of the melody.

Thanks to high intelligence pigs are highly stressed. Piglets are very attached to their mothers, and if they are separated, especially in early age, they experience it very painfully: the pig eats poorly and loses a lot of weight.

The biggest stress for pigs is moving from one place to another. No wonder Academician Pavlov stated that the pig is the most nervous of the animals surrounding a person.

Some scientists claim that the intelligence of a pig is approximately corresponds to the intelligence of a three-year-old child. In terms of learning ability, pigs are at least at the level of cats and dogs, and often surpass them. Even Charles Darwin believed that pigs were at least as intelligent as dogs.

were held various studies on quick wits among the pigs. In one test, a feeder was connected to a computer. A cursor was displayed on the monitor screen, which could be moved with a joystick. Also, the monitor showed special area: if you hit it with the cursor, the feeder automatically opens and feed is poured out. Surprisingly, the pigs were excellent with the Piglet joystick and move the cursor to the right place! Dogs cannot repeat this experiment and lose here to pigs in intelligence.

Pigs have a fantastic sense of smell! It is them, for example, that are used as truffle seekers - underground mushrooms - in France. Pigs were used to find mines during the war, trained sniffer pigs can easily cope with the search for various drugs.

According to the composition of the blood, the physiology of digestion and some other physiological characteristics Pigs are very close to humans. Closer only monkeys. That is why transplantation often uses donor material taken from pigs. Many organs of pigs are directly or indirectly used in the treatment of dangerous human diseases, and their gastric juice is used in the manufacture of insulin. A pig often suffers from the same diseases as a person, and it can be treated with almost the same drugs in the same doses.

5th place: Crows

Crows are extremely intelligent animals. Scientists believe that their ability for analytical thinking is not inferior to those of higher primates.

Crows are extremely adaptable and have adapted exceptionally to living alongside humans. Our actions force them to adapt each time in a new way. Crows don't survive with us, they thrive. On the planet, they are everywhere, except for Antarctica and part South America. And throughout the territory you are unlikely to meet crows further than 5 km from a human dwelling.

We are finding more and more evidence that ravens are very, very smart. Their brain size is about the same proportion as that of a chimpanzee. There are many examples of various manifestations of their ingenuity.

better than most people understand, which means red and green light when crossing the street. Crows living in the city collect nuts from trees and place them on the roadway under the wheels of passing cars to open the shells. Then they wait patiently, waiting for the light they need, return to the road and collect their shelled nuts. An impressive example of innovation in the animal world! The important thing is not that the crows have learned to do this, something else is important. This method was first seen in crows about 12 years ago in Tokyo. After that, all the crows in the area adopted this method. Crows learn from each other - it's a fact!

Another incredible study was carried out with a crow from New Caledonia. On this island, crows use twigs to pluck insects from the bark of trees. In the experiment, the crow tried to get a piece of meat from a narrow glass tube. But the crow was given not the usual stick, but a piece of wire. She had never dealt with such material before. In front of the astonished researchers, the crow independently bent the wire into a hook with the help of its paws and beak, and then took out the bait with this device. At this point, the experimenters fell into ecstasy! But the use of tools is one of the highest forms of animal behavior, indicating their ability to intelligent activity.

Another example is from Sweden. The researchers noticed that the crows wait for the fishermen to throw their lines into the water, and when they leave, the crows flock, reel in the line and eat the fish that was the bait.

You can talk endlessly about the intelligence of crows. These observations were made at the University of Washington and speak of crows have an amazing memory. Here, the researchers had to catch a pair of crows flying around the area. The students went out, caught the birds with a net, measured, weighed, and then released them back. And they could not forgive such an attitude towards themselves! Subsequently, the crows flew up to those students when they walked around the campus, and shit on them, flew around in a flock, in short, spoiled their lives in every possible way. This went on for a week. Then it went on for a month. And after the summer holidays...

Writer Joshua Klein has been studying ravens for over 10 years. To confirm the presence of intelligence in these birds, he decided to conduct a rather complicated experiment. In short, he created a special vending machine and put it in the field, and scattered coins around. The machine was filled with nuts, and to get them, you need to throw a coin into a special slot. Surprisingly, the crows quickly figured out this task, picked up coins, lowered them into the slot and got nuts.

We know a lot about the species that are disappearing from the planet as a result of the expansion of human habitats, but no one pays attention to the species that live and thrive. There are about 1 million crows in Moscow alone. These smartest representatives birds have adapted perfectly to the human environment.

4th place: Elephant

These are not just clumsy giants with big ears and a good memory. The philosopher Aristotle once said that an elephant is "an animal that excels in wit and intelligence."

With a mass of more than 5 kg, the brain of an elephant is larger than that of any other land animal, but small compared to total weight body: total ~ 0.2% (chimpanzees - 0.8%, humans about 2%). Based on this, one would think that elephants are rather stupid animals. But evidence suggests that relative brain size cannot be an accurate indicator of intelligence.

Elephants are animals that are good able to show their emotions, both positive and negative. Their "facial expressions" are made up of movements of the head, ears and trunk, with which the elephant can express all sorts of, often subtle, shades of good or bad mood.

Elephants are extremely caring and sensitive towards other members of their group, as well as other animal species, which is considered highly advanced form of intelligence. For example, elephants feel very deeply the loss of someone from the herd. They may congregate around dead body for several days. Cases of "burials" have been recorded, when elephants covered their dead comrades with a layer of vegetation.

Elephants incredibly good memory. A person who treated them well or badly, elephants remember all their lives. There are many examples when the owner offended the elephant, and only years later the elephant took revenge on him, and sometimes even killed him.

As we already know use of tools animals directly points to capacity for intelligent activity. To determine this, the following studies were conducted at the Washington Zoo. In the elephant enclosure, fruits and young bamboo shoots were hung high on a tree. Animals, standing on the ground, could not even reach them with their trunks. Not far from this place, the researchers put a stand in the form of a cube and began to observe ...

At first, the elephant simply moved the cube around the enclosure, and in fairness it should be noted that he did not immediately figure out what to do: the experiment had to be repeated 7 times. And suddenly the elephant was enlightened: he got up, went straight to the cube, pushed it to the place where the treat was hanging and, standing on it with his front legs, took it out with his trunk. After that, even when the cube was out of reach, the elephant used other items - car tire and a big ball.

Elephants are believed to have good musical ear and musical memory, and are also able to distinguish melodies from three notes. In general, these huge animals are amazing artists. They are well known for their ability to draw on the ground while holding a stick with their trunk. In Thailand, they even made an attraction when several Thai elephants drew abstract drawings in front of the audience. True, it is not known whether the elephants really understood what they were doing.

3rd place: Orangutans

Great apes are considered the most intelligent creatures on Earth after humans. Of course, people are biased in this matter, but the mental capabilities of great apes are hard to deny. So, 3rd place in the list of the most intelligent animals is the orangutan or "forest man" (orang - "man", hutan - "forest").

They have a high culture and strong social ties. Females stay with their children for many years, teaching them everything they need to survive in the forest. For example, orangutans cleverly use leaves as umbrellas from the rain, or memorize places where in different time trees bear fruit for years. By the age of 10 years, an orangutan can taste and identify more than 200 species of various edible plants.

Greater primates, such as chimpanzees and orangutans, are able to recognize themselves in the mirror, while most animals react to their image in the mirror as a different individual.

If intelligence is defined as the ability to solve various problems, then orangutans in this sense have no equal in the animal world.

Researchers have often observed orangutans using tools in the wild. So, one male guessed to use the “pole” left by a man as a spear. He climbed up on the branches hanging over the water and tried to pierce the fish swimming below with a stick.

True, he did not succeed in getting fish in this way, but this impressive example the use of a spear to catch fish is just one illustration of the high intelligence of orangutans.

2nd place: Dolphins

Dolphins appeared on Earth for several tens of millions of years before people, and they are smarter than almost any creature on the planet.

Like other most intelligent animals, female dolphins stay with their children for many years, passing on their knowledge and experience to them. Much of the behavior of dolphins is passed down "through generations".

Dolphins can use tools, which, as we already know, is a sign of intelligence. So, the researchers observed a female dolphin, who taught her dolphins to look for food, after putting on her nose sea ​​sponge, so as not to get hurt and not get burned by a stone fish that has poisonous spikes on its back.

Dolphins are very social animals. They are characterized by self-consciousness and division into separate individuals, who, moreover, think about the future. Studies show that the "society" of dolphins has a complex social structure and consists of individuals who cooperate with each other to solve complex problems, obtain food, etc. In addition, dolphins pass on new behavioral traits and acquired skills to each other.

Dolphins have very well developed imitation behavior. They easily remember and repeat the actions of both their fellows and other individuals from the animal world.

Dolphins are one of the few animals that not only recognize themselves in a mirror, but can also use it to "examine" parts of their body. This ability was previously found only in humans, monkeys, elephants and pigs. The ratio between the size of the brain and body in a dolphin is second only to that of a human and is much larger than that of a chimpanzee. Dolphins have convolutions similar to those of the human brain, which also indicates the presence of intelligence.

Dolphins love an exploratory approach to everything, they quickly assess the situation and adjust their behavior to it, being well oriented in what is happening.

When preparing various attractions with dolphins, it was noticed that they are not only able to follow commands, but can also be creative in the process, and in addition to the necessary movements, invent, add their own tricks with objects (balls, hoops, etc.).

Dolphins remember sounds much better than pictures. Thanks to this, they distinguish each other well by whistling. The range of sounds in which a dolphin can communicate is very wide - from 3,000 Hz to 200,000 Hz. Each dolphin knows the voices of individuals from its flock and has its own personal "name". With the help of whistles of different lengths, tonality and melody, dolphins communicate with each other. So, one dolphin, without seeing the other, can “tell” which pedal to press in order to open the feeder and get the fish.

The ability of dolphins to onomatopoeia is widely known. They can imitate the chirping of birds and the creak of a rusty door. Dolphins can even repeat some words or laughter after a person.

Fact that not everyone knows: the Japanese still eat smart dolphins killing them by the thousands.

1st place: Chimpanzee

These great apes are leaders in the use of tools. So, during observations of chimpanzees in the savannah in the southeast of Senegal, more than 20 cases of the use of 26 different tools by these animals, from stone hammers to sticks for picking out termites, were recorded.

But the most striking thing was to observe the manufacture and use of half-meter spears. Chimpanzees not only broke off branches of the required length and thickness, but also cleaned them of leaves and smaller branches, peeled off the bark, and even sometimes sharpened the tip of the tool with their teeth.

Anthropologists from the Universities of Iowa and Cambridge, during research in 2005-2006, first discovered how chimpanzees hunted other vertebrates with spears, and all this is strikingly reminiscent of the early steps of Homo sapiens on his path to becoming a dexterous hunter.

Just like orangutans, dolphins, elephants, chimpanzees are able to recognize themselves in the mirror, and not see another individual in it.

Another impressive example of the presence of intelligence in chimpanzees. When scientists set the task for the monkeys - to get a nut from the bottom of a firmly fixed plastic test tube - some of the monkeys (14 out of 43 individuals) guessed that if you take water from the tap into your mouth and spit it out into a narrow neck, then the nut will rise to the surface. 7 chimpanzees brought this task to a victorious end and got to the nut. In addition to chimpanzees, researchers at the Uganda Monkey Sanctuary and the Leipzig Zoo have done similar experiments on gorillas. However, none of the gorillas managed to lift the nut. to the surface by transferring water in the mouth from a tap into a test tube.

Moreover, in this matter Chimpanzees are smarter than children. The scientists conducted the same experiment with several groups of children: 24 children of four years of age and the same number of children of six and eight years. Only instead of a tap, the children were given watering cans so that they would not have to carry water with their mouths. The results of four-year-old children were worse than those of chimpanzees: only two out of 24 coped with the task. Most high percent success was expected in children of 8 years old: 14 out of 24.

However, we will not overestimate the abilities of these monkeys, although the genetic similarity between humans and chimpanzees is so great that it was even proposed to combine them into one genus Homo.

This is our review 10 smartest animals on earth came to an end according to Animal Planet.

There are a huge number of beautiful animals on our planet. Scientists and experts have been trying for a long time to determine which of them is the smartest.

10th place: rats

Mankind has been at war with rats for centuries, but we cannot win. Some biologists believe that gray rats have a collective mind that controls the actions of each individual. This hypothesis explains a lot: both the speed with which gray rodents dealt with other species, and their success in the fight against humans.
We may hate these gray rodents, but when you recognize their abilities, a sense of respect involuntarily arises. The rat is a real superorganism, able to live and thrive in almost any conditions, the vitality of which has been worked out for 50 million years.

9th place: octopuses

The octopus is one of the most intelligent sea creatures. They can play, recognize different shapes and patterns (such as colored light bulbs), solve puzzles, navigate mazes, and have short-term and long-term memory. As a sign of respect for the mind of octopuses, in some countries of the world even laws have been passed requiring the use of anesthesia before performing operations on them.
Octopuses are very curious, which is usually associated with intelligence. In nature, they sometimes build their shelter houses from stones - this also indicates a certain intellectual level.
Various experiments show that octopuses have an excellent memory. And the “intelligence” of an animal is primarily determined by the ability of its brain to remember experience. When everything is in order with memory, the next step is ingenuity, which helps to draw conclusions from the experience gained.

8th place: pigeons

Pigeons can be found in large numbers in all major cities, and most of us consider these birds to be "bad" creatures that get in the way. But numerous scientific experiments show that these are very smart birds. For example, pigeons can remember and recognize hundreds of different images over the years.
A group of scientists from the Japanese university Keio University as a result of experiments showed that rock doves are able to recognize themselves in the mirror better than small children. Prior to these studies, it was believed that only humans, primates, dolphins and elephants had such abilities.
The useful skills of pigeons have always been valued. For example, the ability of these birds to find their way home and their fast flight made it possible to use them to transmit mail.

7th place: squirrels

One of the well-known distinguishing features of squirrels is their ability to store nuts for the winter. Squirrels do not hibernate and must find up to 3,000 hidden nuts to survive. They bury some types of nuts in the ground, others are hidden in the hollows of trees. This work requires incredible effort.
Thanks to their phenomenal memory, squirrels can remember the location of a nut 2 months after it was buried. Fiction!
Squirrels have their thieves, too, who decide not to forage for nuts, but wait and watch from ambush until other squirrels begin to bury their winter diet. But for every action there is a counter-action. If the squirrel notices that they are starting to follow it, it pretends to bury the writing. While the thief is wasting time on the empty hole, the squirrel moves his nut to another, more secret location. Isn't this the best proof that squirrels have intelligence?
Studies show that squirrels have excellent spatial orientation, and already from the ground they can see which hole leads to nuts. Proteins without hesitation fit into the right hole leading to food.

6th place: pigs

Some scientists argue that the intelligence of a pig is about the same as that of a three-year-old child. Due to their high intelligence, pigs are highly susceptible to stress. Pigs are very attached to their mothers, and if they are separated, especially at an early age, they experience this very painfully: the piglet does not eat well and loses a lot of weight. No wonder Academician Pavlov stated that the pig is the most nervous of the animals surrounding a person.
In terms of learning ability, pigs are at least at the level of cats and dogs, and often surpass them. Even Charles Darwin believed that pigs were at least as intelligent as dogs.
Various studies have been conducted on intelligence among pigs. In one test, a feeder was connected to a computer. A cursor was displayed on the monitor screen, which could be moved with a joystick. Also, a special area was depicted on the monitor: if you get into it with the cursor, the feeder automatically opens and feed is poured out. Surprisingly, the pigs were perfectly controlled with the Piglet joystick and moved the cursor to the right place! Dogs cannot repeat this experiment and lose here to pigs in intelligence.

5th place: crows

Crows are extremely intelligent animals. Scientists believe that their ability for analytical thinking is not inferior to those of higher primates.
Crows understand better than many people what red and green lights mean when crossing the street. Crows living in the city collect nuts from trees and place them on the roadway under the wheels of passing cars to open the shells. Then they wait patiently, waiting for the light they need, return to the road and collect their shelled nuts. An impressive example of innovation in the animal world! The important thing is not that the crows have learned to do this, something else is important. This method was first seen in crows about 12 years ago in Tokyo. After that, all the crows in the area adopted this method. Crows learn from each other - it's a fact!
Another example is from Sweden. The researchers noticed that the crows wait for the fishermen to throw their lines into the water, and when they leave, the crows flock, reel in the line and eat the fish that was the bait.

4th place: elephants

Elephants are animals that are good at showing their emotions, both positive and negative. Their "facial expressions" are made up of movements of the head, ears and trunk, with which the elephant can express all sorts of, often subtle, shades of good or bad mood.
Elephants are extremely caring and sensitive to other members of their group, as well as to other animal species, which is considered a highly advanced form of intelligence. For example, elephants feel very deeply the loss of someone from the herd. They can gather near a dead body for several days. Cases of "burials" have been recorded, when elephants covered their dead comrades with a layer of vegetation.
Elephants have an incredibly good memory. A person who treated them well or badly, elephants remember all their lives. There are many examples when the owner offended the elephant, and only years later the elephant took revenge on him, and sometimes even killed him.

3rd place: orangutans

Great apes are considered the most intelligent creatures on Earth after humans. Of course, people are biased in this matter, but the mental capabilities of great apes are hard to deny.
Orangutans have a high culture and strong social bonds. Females stay with their children for many years, teaching them everything they need to survive in the forest. For example, orangutans cleverly use leaves as umbrellas from the rain, or memorize places where trees bear fruit at different times of the year. By the age of 10 years, an orangutan can taste and identify more than 200 species of various edible plants.
Greater primates, such as chimpanzees and orangutans, are able to recognize themselves in the mirror, while most animals react to their image in the mirror as a different individual.
If intelligence is defined as the ability to solve various problems, then orangutans in this sense have no equal in the animal world.

2nd place: Dolphins

Like other most intelligent animals, female dolphins stay with their children for many years, passing on their knowledge and experience to them. Much of the behavior of dolphins is passed down "through generations".
Dolphins can use tools, which we know is a sign of intelligence. So, the researchers observed a female dolphin who taught her dolphins to search for food by first putting a sea sponge on their nose so as not to get hurt and get burned by a stone fish that has poisonous spikes on its back.
Dolphins are very social animals. They are characterized by self-consciousness and division into separate individuals, who, moreover, think about the future. Research shows that the "society" of dolphins has a complex social structure and consists of individuals who cooperate with each other to solve complex problems, obtain food, and so on. In addition, dolphins pass on new behavioral traits and acquired skills to each other.
Dolphins have very well developed imitation behavior. They easily remember and repeat the actions of both their fellows and other individuals from the animal world.

1st place: chimpanzee

These great apes are leaders in the use of tools. So, during observations of chimpanzees in the savannah in the southeast of Senegal, more than 20 cases of the use of 26 different tools by these animals, from stone hammers to sticks for picking out termites, were recorded.

But the most striking thing was to observe the manufacture and use of half-meter spears. Chimpanzees not only broke off branches of the required length and thickness, but also cleaned them of leaves and smaller branches, peeled off the bark, and even sometimes sharpened the tip of the tool with their teeth.

Another impressive example of the presence of intelligence in chimpanzees. When scientists set the task for the monkeys - to get a nut from the bottom of a firmly fixed plastic test tube - some of the monkeys (14 out of 43 individuals) guessed that if you take water from the tap into your mouth and spit it out into a narrow neck, then the nut will rise to the surface. 7 chimpanzees brought this task to a victorious end and got to the nut. In addition to chimpanzees, researchers at the Uganda Monkey Sanctuary and the Leipzig Zoo have done similar experiments on gorillas. However, none of the gorillas managed to bring the nut to the surface by transferring water in their mouths from a faucet to a test tube.
Moreover, in this matter, chimpanzees turned out to be smarter than children. The scientists conducted the same experiment with several groups of children: 24 children of four years of age and the same number of children of six and eight years. Only instead of a tap, the children were given watering cans so that they would not have to carry water with their mouths. The results of four-year-old children were worse than those of chimpanzees: only two out of 24 coped with the task. The highest percentage of success, as expected, was in children of 8 years old: 14 out of 24.