Ordered list of intelligent species?

[TechBear_Seattle]

I'm looking for a list of the most intelligent, say, 25 species, preferably a ranked list. I know that there is considerable debate on what would appear where on such a list, so a "generally recognized" or an "according to this group of leading researchers" would be fine.

[lazer47]

1. I don't know about the others but

Democrats on DU are #1 and Repugs are #10 right below dogs...

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. And that is EXACTLY the kind of joke I was hoping to avoid

Personally I think you are overly optimistic with regards to GOPpers, but that is neither here nor there. :hi:

[lazer47]

3. I apologize,, But i just couldn't help myself

[tinrobot]

4. I found this...

According to Edward O. Wilson, a behavioral biologist (scientist who studies the behavior of animals), the ten most intelligent animals are the following:

1. Chimpanzee (two species)
2. Gorilla
3. Orangutan
4. Baboon (seven species, including drill and mandrill)
5. Gibbon (seven species)
6. Monkey (many species, especially the macaques, the patas, and the Celebes black ape)
7. Smaller-toothed whale (several species, especially killer whale)
8. Dolphin (many of the approximately eighty species)
9. Elephant (two species)
10. Pig

Source: Wallace, Irving. The Book of Lists #2, p. 104.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Thanks, that is just what I was looking for

Presumably, the correct definition of "animal" would put humans at the top (pending debate on whether our trashing of the planet constitutes intelligence.) Thanks!

[supernova]

6. Baboons smarter than dolphins and elephants?

I'm having a hard time with that.

And interesting that there are no birds on that list, crows and parrots come to mind.

[Tesha]

7. Parrots (esp. African Greys) are probably right up there.

Crows are pretty bright too.

Tesha

[supernova]

9. I saw a special on parrots a while ago

may have been PBS's Nature, and the current thinking is that having a parrot around is about equivalent to having a 5 year old human around.

[jgraz]

30. I can attest to that

Except for the fact that they stay 5 for 40, 50, up to 100 years.

[hunter]

10. E.O. Wilson is missing birds.

I've known some very bright birds, both wild and domestic. I call my own parrot a flying monkey. She's got the patience to solve problems a monkey wouldn't attempt.

We know very little about whales and dolphins. The environment they live in and the sorts of intelligence practiced there are alien to us.

[TZ]

11. EO Wilson is a sociobiologist who is VERY familiar with bird behavior

Birds are intelligent animals, but just not in the top ten. But probably the most intelligent of the domestic pet group. Chimps are indeed amazing tool users and problem solvers..I would trust this list..As a biologist who studied animal behavior in college it sounds spot on.

[TechBear_Seattle]

12. That is one of the reason I am trying to find a longer list

Top ten is interesting, but not as extensive as I want.

[TZ]

15. Here's how its thought out in general neurologic complexity

Which is thought to be a reflection of intelligence..In general mammals (esp primates), then birds, then reptiles, then fish I think..
Thats probably why there are no birds on this list because most biologists give the nod to any intelligent mammal over the most intelligent bird. However I believe there is some disagreement because of studies with African Gray Parrots...
On edit: Probably the best source for a list is going to be an ethology (animal behavior) textbook of sometype....

[hunter]

16. Birds probably have a more sophisticated neurologic structure.

There is less of a penalty for unnecessary complexity in an animal that doesn't fly.

[TZ]

17. if you look a brain size to body ratio

its much smaller than in mammals which may or may not be due to flight But thats another reason why birds are considered less smart than mammals..example..the ostrich is one of the largest birds and it doesn't fly and it has a walnut sized brain basically.
Look even though there are very intelligent birds, there is a reason you hear the expression "bird brained" for something stupid

[semillama]

19. New studies with New Caledonian Crows suggest they're on par with primates

Basically, these crows have been shown to not only make and use a variety of tools, they've been recorded carrying a favorite tool around with them, which suggests an ability to foresee a future need. That's pretty major.

here's a couple links to the study:

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~kgroup/tools/introduction.shtml

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/071004-crows-tools.html

[IzaSparrow]

34. the niche crows occupy heavily selects

for increased intelligence.

[hunter]

14. I think the greater problem is that it's not clear what "intelligence" is.

We simply don't see the various sorts of intelligence that are alien to our own.

"Artificial Intelligence" has been an especially tough nut to crack because we can't come up with any good definition for "intelligence." We almost certainly have the computing hardware required to create an artificial intelligence, but the software eludes us.

In my own observations birds are aware of time and spatial patterns that we don't notice at all. Our definition of "intelligence" is prejudiced toward monkey sorts of intelligence, and most certainly mammalian sorts of intelligence. I think it is likely we underestimate the intelligence of whales for this reason, especially animals such as the orcas. Much of the orcas' natural existence is invisible to us.

The problem of recognizing intelligence is greater when we move to species less related to us than birds. One of my own obsessions is ants. Stable older ant colonies seem to be much more "intelligent" than younger unstable ant colonies. The argentine ants on my own property have become much more efficient (and much less annoying!) in their activities since my wife and I moved here and placed them under the protection of our "organic" gardening.

[IzaSparrow]

35. an operative definition for intelligence would have to include

capacity for learning
reasoning skills
and the ability to understanding

a good measure of intelligence would have to include a novel problem, a brief explanation/learning session, and then a produced solution

[lynnertic]

13. Wot no birds?

My parrot is brilliant. Makes up words, uses tools, and he's not even Alex the Grey. And he's not as smart as the crows in my neighborhood.

[Tesha]

18. 'Good thing, given the fact that Alex is now "pushin' up the daisies"!

> and he's not even Alex the Grey.

'Good thing, given the fact that Alex is now "pushin' up the daisies"
or "pinin' for the fjords"!

What species of parrot?

Tesha

[lynnertic]

20. Military Macaw

[Tesha]

21. McCaws are great -- thanks!

Ours is just a little six-year-old adopted Sun Conure.

Tesha

[Evoman]

24. I saw this interesting show (Passionate Eye) about birds and migration. In one scene,

they were filming this boat that was carrying animals out of the jungle (may have been brazil...there was not narrator) presumably to sell. On the boat were a variety of animals, including what looked like a monkey in a cage, as well as a parrot in the cage. As they are filming this boat, the parrot is playing around with the latch. He actually lifts up the latch (which was difficult, because he was using his beak), then pushes open the cage door and flies away. It was amazing. And there is no way it was an accident...that bird knew exactly how to open the latch.

For a second, I thought that maybe it was a stunt bird or something, but the show really is a documentary. Who knows though...

On edit: Oh yeah..and the monkey? Just sat there and looked around sadly. Didn't try to escape at all (while they were showing him on camera anyways).

[Tesha]

25. Parrots are *VERY* agile with their beaks

> He actually lifts up the latch (which was difficult, because
> he was using his beak), ...

Parrots are *VERY* agile with their beaks and tongues,
using them for many purposes besides cracking open
sunflower seeds. Not having fingers, they use their
tongues as fingers, touching many things with them
to see how they feel. Their beaks are used as a third
limb so they will climb a bit with their feet, hang
on with their beak, and move their feet up. They are,
naturally, *POWERFUL* chewers and it's very common
to give a parrot a large wooden toy and they'll reduce
it to toothpicks within a day or two. Alternatively,
they'll happily chew your clothes to shreds.

It's pretty safe to think of a parrot as a "perpetual
two year-old (human)" and this is another area where
it's true: they experience a lot of the world through
their mouths.

Tesha

[hunter]

28. Our parrot is the most destructive animal we've ever owned.

She is also a keen observer of human behavior and frequently thinks up new plans for getting her own way. Even the dogs respect her intelligence.

The funniest interaction I ever saw between our parrot and the dogs was when she flew to a high shelf and chewed open a new box of dog treats. When I walked into the room she was flinging the dog treats one-by-one to the dogs waiting patiently below. She didn't stop when she saw me. It was an expression of social dominance that everyone in the room clearly understood.

[jgraz]

26. What kind of parrot do you have?

I have a pionus and a blue-crowned conure. The pionus is scary smart and the conure, well, the conure is very cute ;)

[Tesha]

29. In a reply above, Lynnertec told us the bird's a Military Macaw (NT)

[jgraz]

31. Oh, I love those birds

Beautiful and very very smart.

[RL3AO]

8. I would guess that chimps are number 2 behind humans.

but that is just my opinion

[BearSquirrel2]

22. Mice, Dolphins, Humans, Chimps, Creationists ...

Don't you know the mice are experimenting on us in the most cunning fashion.

[jody]

23. I found the Wikipedia summary and links on "Animal cognition" interesting, link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_cognition

[jgraz]

27. It really depends on the definition of intelligence

It's been pointed out before that if we measured intelligence by ability to process smells, dogs would be listed much higher than we are.

Even among birds, you can see divisions in mental processing. Cockatoos are mechanical geniuses who have been known to take locks apart in order to escape, but their verbal abilities aren't on par with Amazons or Greys. Budgies can be excellent talkers (close to Greys) but they suck at mechanical tasks.

[TechBear_Seattle]

33. If it helps clarify, the reason I'm asking for such a list is...

I am writing a science ficiton novel, which I hope to start shopping around this summer. One of the basic premises is that while life is universal (anywhere there is materials and a reliable source of energy, there is life), organized life is rare and intelligent life is rarer still. After almost three centuries of interstellar travel and the exploration of more than 800 star systems, a list of the most 25 intelligent lifeforms has only three or four of non-terrestrial origin, with the first one appearing a few down from dogs. When we first encounter intelligence that is close to our own, it is neo-lithic technology on a planet that seems to have been sterilized of every large form of life.

I'm just curious as to what such a list might look like.

[Thirtieschild]

32. Let's not forget dogs. They have reasoning ability

Case in point: We had a Great Dane puppy who had the idea that he wasn't supposed to go anywhere, ever. One dark night Mr. Disorganized took him out to the backyard and showed him. He immediately made the connection, hiked his leg on the nearest tree and from that point on was housebroken.

[MadAsHell]

36. In Richard Dawkin's book An Ancestor's Tail ...

He includes a discussion of the a scale which tries to look at intelligence. The scale basically graphs body size against brain volume and looks at the outliers as the likely stars or maybe "duds" in the arms race that is intelligence.

Here is a page that talks about the same subject ...

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Int3.html

Here a graph that is included ...