Intelligent animal list

Dolphins are intelligent(spelling?) and are self aware(Like humans).

Toolmaker

I know, but I cannot use sea based creatures. Just land. Thanks though.

Mice are pretty smart. They built the Earth, you know.

Do you mean stereotypical dumb/intelligent, or real dumb/intelligent? By example, a donky is usually labeled dumb, while it really is one of smartest animals around, and an owl, which is usually associated with wisdom, is in fact a very dumb animal.

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Original post by quasar3d Do you mean stereotypical dumb/intelligent, or real dumb/intelligent? By example, a donky is usually labeled dumb, while it really is one of smartest animals around, and an owl, which is usually associated with wisdom, is in fact a very dumb animal.

Excellent point. Perhaps if someone created a list they could label it with the options you gave, so I knew which set they were talking about.

Good thinking. Could anyone assemble a list? I need a few from different people to cross-reference. I want to know what different people are thinking. This is an experiment, so I need several different data sources (several different lists.. your opinions if you will).

Thanks.

The thing is, many of the more intelligent animals (dolphins, octopuses, vultures, crows, whales, etc) aren't land animals. As for stupid animals, nematodes would probably top the list. Chimps would probably be the smartest.

It is rather hard to understand exactly what you want from your example, perhaps you could specify?

I take it 'American' would be a subset of human, so therefore wouldn't qualify for the list? Shame because I couldn't think of what else to put in my number 2 slot...













DISCLAIMER: SORRY! I apologise unreservedly for my blatant anti-American stereotyping and jibing. I couldn't resist it, and if I didn't do it someone else would. If it makes you feel better I'm an artist/designer, so am in all probability occupying the number 1 spot as least intelligent [smile]

We can't accurately guage human intelligence, how can we possibly guage animal intelligence? Some people arbitrarily decide that x, y, and z animals are "smarter" than a,b, and c, based on their own definition of 'Intelligence', and it's supposed to be accepted? er.

Least Intelligent animal: Human beings.

I would say that a gorilla who can ask for a doctor is pretty high on the list.

Meh... I think you'd better define 'intelligent'.

It seems to be a fairly continuous spectrum, but there are distinct milestones that people generally use to judge it. Two such are tool using (ie. chimpanzee > rat, because while they both have grasping hands, chimpanzees can use rocks to crack nuts) and... umm... can't remember what it's called. The one where you have a model of what another entity 'knows' and use that to predict what it'll do. I'm sure someone here knows the name. An example would be: Bob and Fred are in a room. Bob puts a book on the table. Fred goes out of the room, and says that when he comes back in he'll want the book. After Fred has left the room, Bob moves the book. Joe, who has been observing all the time, will reason that Fred will look on the table where the book was, because Fred doesn't know it's been moved. Apparently only humans over the age of 5-ish can do this.

Obviously it's hard to judge how intelligent something is if you can't converse with it. It may be unable to talk to you because it's a pidgeon (stupidest creature on earth, will stand still and let itself be run over by a truck moving at 5km/h), or because it's a Japanese automotive engineer (highly intelligent but doesn't speak English).

Anyway... so as to be not totally unhelpful; if it's *perceived* intelligence, I'd say:

0. Pidgeons
1. Arachnidae
2. Insects
3. Rodents (Rats > Mice)
4. Dogs, cats
5. Lamas
6. Primates (roughly in the order of small monkeys, large monkeys, great apes)

Chimps. They make tools and use them, after all. (Then again, considering us humans, perhaps that puts them on our end of the list. :p )

Amoebas
Jellyfish
goldfish
etc.

1. ducks
2. squirrels
3. dolphins
4. pigs
5. Monkeys (chimps)

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Original post by smart_idiot Mice are pretty smart. They built the Earth, you know.

1. Worms
2. snails
3. Seagels
4. Pigeons

// LARGE gap

There's a gorrila who can recognize colors and things when you say their name, and count numbers. Not sure if that's higher in my list than the 'i need a doctor' gorrila.

By the way, dogs aren't smart, really trust me, they are DUMB. beavers are a lot smarter, they are the ones that can build whole communities so wel hidden that most won't see them easily, dogs can't even burry a bone properly, they can obey orders very well (and just as easily and effectively NOT obey them) but that has more to do with being rewarded and not, not with intelligence.

Anyways that are just the beavers i've been pointed at and the dogs i have lived with.

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Original post by smart_idiot Mice are pretty smart. They built the Earth, you know.

I so knew that was coming. [smile]

Stereotypically dumb to smart animals? Hmm ...


cockroach
turtle
penguin
rabbit
horse


[smile]

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Original post by fractoid Meh... I think you'd better define 'intelligent'. It seems to be a fairly continuous spectrum, but there are distinct milestones that people generally use to judge it. Two such are tool using (ie. chimpanzee > rat, because while they both have grasping hands, chimpanzees can use rocks to crack nuts) and... umm... can't remember what it's called. The one where you have a model of what another entity 'knows' and use that to predict what it'll do. I'm sure someone here knows the name. An example would be: Bob and Fred are in a room. Bob puts a book on the table. Fred goes out of the room, and says that when he comes back in he'll want the book. After Fred has left the room, Bob moves the book. Joe, who has been observing all the time, will reason that Fred will look on the table where the book was, because Fred doesn't know it's been moved. Apparently only humans over the age of 5-ish can do this. Obviously it's hard to judge how intelligent something is if you can't converse with it. It may be unable to talk to you because it's a pidgeon (stupidest creature on earth, will stand still and let itself be run over by a truck moving at 5km/h), or because it's a Japanese automotive engineer (highly intelligent but doesn't speak English). Anyway... so as to be not totally unhelpful; if it's *perceived* intelligence, I'd say: 0. Pidgeons 1. Arachnidae 2. Insects 3. Rodents (Rats > Mice) 4. Dogs, cats 5. Lamas 6. Primates (roughly in the order of small monkeys, large monkeys, great apes)

mostly agree with some exception:
heh,why Arachnidae are lesser than Insects?
There are some stupid insects,and also there are some stupid spiders as well... i'd guess,dumbest insect are not more dumb than dumbest spider....
but smartest insects are probably smarter than smartest spiders/scorpions.

So,how i'd subdivide insects:
1: smallest non-flyuing insects ,smallest....can't remember exact name, i mean very-very small Arachnidae.
2: Big spiders,flies,etc. - most insects.
25: insects that can survive in human houses, Blattidae(cockroach (?))
3: Spiders that are working together to build big net.
4: Hymenoptera Aculeata: Ants,bees,wasps and hornets.Isoptera: Termites.


and all animals:

1:Protozoa - simplest animals,single-cell ones.(maybe in English it's not named animals.) Example: Infusoria,Ameba ,etc.
2:Hydras ,meduses,etc. and simplest worms.
And so-on till shimpanze and delphins,too long to list 'em all..

Quote:

cockroach turtle penguin rabbit horse

odd list. what makes rabbits so smart in your opinion? afaik they have only one skill and its running away. i wouldnt consider horses to be exeptionally smart either. id rate a turtle over a rabbit any day of the week anyway. turtles just arnt very expressive, but they seem not so stupid to me. they are much more resourcefull in braking out of their confinement than rabbits in any case.

rating animals for stupidity is a tad pointless if you ask me. id wager al insects (to name just one huge group) have neglictible 'intelligence' in the human form. there isnt really a clear winner in this catogory.

as for inteligent landanimals... i agree primates, but thats not really an insight, now is it [grin]

but a lot of rodents are exceptionally smart for their size, like rats and stuff. theyd probably be third, after primates and then catlike species.

1) George W. Bush
2) Yann L.

Seriously though, I would say humans are the smartest on the planet.