Einstein - The Smallest Horse In The World. Dolphins ‘talk’ like humans + efforts at a translator. Elephant Makes a Stool—First Known Aha Moment for Species. In an apparent flash of insight, a young Asian elephant in a zoo turned a plastic cube into a stool—and a tool—a new study says. That eureka moment is the first evidence that pachyderms can run problem-solving scenarios in their heads, then mentally map out an effective solution, and finally, put the plan into action, researchers say.
Video: Kandula the Elephant's Aha Moment Correction to video title: Action shown is not first instance of Kandula exhibiting this behavior. During the study seven-year-old Kandula was eager to reach a cluster of fruit attached to a branch that was suspended from a wire, just out of reach. After some apparent thought, the young male rolled a large plastic cube under the branch and stepped up to snatch the treat with his trunk—a feat he repeated several times over multiple days with the cube and with a tractor tire.
(Related: "How Smart Are Planet's Apes? 7 Intelligence Milestones" and "Crows Have Human-like Intelligence, Study Says. ") No Blocked Nasal Passages. Dolphin hunts with electric sense. Psychedelic frog comes back from the deads. FOR NEARLY 90 YEARS the only testament to the existence of the Bornean rainbow toad - pictured above - were a few sketches of the weird spindly legged creature penned in 1924 by the European explorers who discovered it. Since then the animal had never been seen again, leading many to believe it had become extinct, and the IUCN placed it on their list of the 'World's Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Frogs'. But after an 87-year wait, the psychedelic amphibian (Ansonia latidisca) has been spotted once more - and this time photographed in exquisite detail.
According to Conservation International, which released the images this week, three of the toads were discovered last year in the dense forest of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Dr. Indraneil Das of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, led an expedition in mid-2010 to explore the 1,300m-high ridges of the Gunung Penrissen range of Western Sarawak, which forms a natural border with the Indonesian part of Borneo. iGoogle: Get Spider on your Google homepage. A spider widget! Full Size Photo. Need help? Watch our tutorial video: If you need additional assistance, please visit our Help Center. Webshots has been a trusted brand since 1996. Its software has been downloaded over 100 million times. BBC Nature - Lizard has problem-solving skills. 13 July 2011Last updated at 08:33 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature The lizard used a novel "head-butting" technique to retrieve its treat A vibrant green tree-dwelling lizard has surprised scientists with its mental prowess by succeeding in a problem-solving test.
The tropical lizard Anolis evermanni was able to associate the colour of a disc with a food reward - flipping over the correct disc to reveal a worm secreted underneath. The results, published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, suggest that reptiles are more intelligent than previously thought. The scientists gave six lizards the colour discrimination task. First they concealed a worm underneath a disc to find out if the lizard would be able to negociate the obstacle. Manual Leal, the Duke University researcher who led the study, explained: "The first thing we wanted to know was: can they flip over the disc to get the worm? " "I was surprised by this second method," said Professor Leal.
Colourful life. Gorilla is given a video camera, awesomeness ensues. This is the first ever photo of a fish using tools. Because people are uncomfortable about eating intelligent beings. even though they are so delicious. also i guess they are afraid that they actually might be less intelligent than another animal I am not if it smart enough to use a tool than how come it couldn't get away from being on my plate then? Because skepticism is the default position of any and all scientists. What we think of as intelligent behaviors may not actually be intelligence at all. the start of your sentence confused me, but i got it. That's a nice way of looking at it, however most of the time you aren't the one who killed the animal, and if you did it just means you are good with that weapon that someone else made or you're just stronger or whatever. July Fourth tragedy: Dolphins 'carried Luis Arturo Polanco Morales' body to shore'
By Daily Mail Reporter Updated: 09:02 GMT, 6 July 2011 July Fourth weekend ended in tragedy for one family when a man drowned after being caught in an undertow. The body of 47-year-old Luis Arturo Polanco Morales, of Denham Springs, was found by authorities about ten to 15 feet from the shore line. At first they believed the tide had washed Mr Morales up but witnesses to the sad event at Grand Isle, Louisiana, reported the body had been carried to shore by dolphins. Scroll down for video Did they help? Tragic: Mr Morales, a young girl and another man had been fishing on rocks in Grand Isle when the girl fell in, left, while right, dolphins are often spotted off the shoreline at the beach Washed up: Grand Isle Fire Chief, Aubrey Chaisson, gestures to where Mr Morales' body was found drifting about ten to 15 feet out to sea Could be: For Cesar Zuniga, a holidaymaker from McAllen, Texas, reports of dolphins bringing the body to shore is credible. 'They're mammals. 'They're keeping an eye on us.'
BBC Nature - Chimp recognises synthetic speech. 7 July 2011Last updated at 00:37 By Matt Walker Editor, BBC Nature Panzee, a chimp with a talent for words A talented chimpanzee called Panzee can recognise distorted and incomplete words spoken by a computer, scientists have discovered. That suggests that apes may be more capable of perceiving spoken sounds than previously thought, and that the common ancestor of humans and chimps may also have had this ability. It also refutes the idea that humans have brains uniquely adapted to process speech, say the scientists who have published their findings in the journal Current Biology. Panzee was raised from 8 days old, by humans, and was spoken to and treated as if she were human. At the same time, she was taught to use symbols called lexigrams to communicate. "This has resulted in Panzee showing proficiency in understanding approximately 130 English words," researcher Lisa Heimbauer told BBC Nature. Panzee uses symbols called lexigrams to communicate.
Black macaque takes self-portrait: Monkey borrows photographer's camera. By Daily Mail Reporter Created: 10:08 GMT, 4 July 2011 To capture the perfect wildlife image, you usually have to be in exactly the right place at precisely the right time. But in this instance, David Slater wasn’t there at all and he still got a result. Visiting a national park in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, award-winning photographer Mr Slater left his camera unattended for a while. It soon attracted the attention of an inquisitive female from a local group of crested black macaque monkeys, known for their intelligence and dexterity.
Fascinated by her reflection in the lens, she then somehow managed to start the camera. Say cheese: The monkeys were intrigued by their reflection in the camera lens You can be in this one too: The monkey even snapped a shot with photographer David Slater in the frame Chimply marvellous: The images taken by the monkeys at a national park in Indonesia are perfect portraits 'The sound got his attention and he kept pressing it. How humpback whales catch prey with bubble nets. Marine biologist David Wiley of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and others report in the latest issue of Behaviour how humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine catch prey with advanced water technology.
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are large baleen whales (up to 14 m long) that feed on a small prey in dense concentrations, such as krill or herrings. Humpbacks whales have large flukes relative to their size providing greater thrust for quick maneuvers. While other baleen whales feed by swimming rapidly forward, humpbacks are adapted for fine-scale movement to create bubble nets. Behaviorally, humpback whales capture prey by engaging in complex feeding maneuvers that are often accompanied by the apparently directed use of air bubble clouds (the production of single or multiple bursts of seltzer-sized bubbles) to corral or herd fish. Orangutan saves drowning chick. Dolphins use double sonar. Animals. Embryotic Similarities.
Cool Dogs. Cool Cats.