Studies of worms and tadpoles suggest that cells communicate and coordinate their activities electromagnetically

A Tufts University experiment on worms directly challenges modern evolution theory.

The four recently hatched iguanas formed a group and a leader emerged. When walking in single file the leader looks back to check if everyone is there and okay. Now, after several months, they are going to leave the nesting island and swim back to their homeland. The leader swims out first. When all of the others didn’t follow he circles back checking and waiting for those who are anxious about swimming. Finally, when everyone is able to go, they swim on as a group. Reptiles

How can we not appreciate the intelligence, empathy, and wisdom of elephants?How can we allow them to be murdered for their ivory? For generations, those who have known elephants have witnessed their very complex society with highly evolved social capabilities and wise, loving behavior. Legends for a thousand years have described their extraordinary memory and cleverness in their natural surroundings. In captivity, some elephants have become artists. Science is just now provi

The octopus has advanced intelligence despite 500 million years of separate evolution from mammals, birds, insects and reptiles. Octopus ancestors are, perhaps, the first intelligent beings on Earth. Recent research is beginning to describe their very unusual talents, behavior and brain, as well as their unique genetic makeup. The fact that such an intelligent creature has no bones or spine has upended theories of animal intelligence. This post will describe recent research a

Many birds have remarkable abilities, far greater than has been considered possible with their small brains. Songbirds are a large category of thousands of species of birds that have advanced vocal learning ability, similar to humans. (See post on vocal learning similarities between humans and songbirds). Some of these bird species are among the most remarkable intelligent animals on earth—crows, jays, magpies, parrots and ravens. Recently, it has become clear that crows are

Bees use abstract thought and symbolic language. Bees routinely solve the advanced mathematical problem of the travelling salesman. Bees mix medications for their hive and know when a fungus is dangerous. Bees distinguish landscapes scenes, types of flowers, shapes and patterns. Bees forage for information.Bees learn categories, sequences, combinations, and the changes of future rewards.All of these are accomplished by INDIVIDUAL bees, not hives.How can such a small insect be

Previous posts discussed the increased scientific awareness of advanced cognitive abilities in animals both large and small, on land and in water. Although animals other than humans have many intelligent qualities, can they really think, and do they have a complex inner life? Currently, it is not possible to study the subjective inner experience of human beings. How much more difficult is it to understand the inner life of animals with vastly different sensory, and motor sy

Termites are the oldest social animals, starting elaborate societies 200 million years ago—50 million years before ants and bees. They began agriculture with fungus farming before ants. Like ants and bees (described in previous posts Remarkable Bee Brain and Ant Intelligence Update), termites exhibit remarkable individual and group intelligence. The amazing behavior of termites is described in this termite intelligence update. Insect intelligence has been described in other p

Because of the remarkable intelligence of insects with tiny brains, such as bees, ants and termites, many ascribe their capabilities to the hive or colony. In fact, there is increasing evidence that individual ants, bees, and termites are very intelligent, which allows for intelligent actions of the colony. In the case of humans, the fact that the Internet is becoming a form of super-organism does not mean that individual humans are not intelligent themselves. A previous post

As more animals are found to have advanced cognitive ability, it is clear that the human brain is not the model for all advanced abilities. There are animals that have greater capacities; and those with similar capacities can use very different brain structures. Intelligence evolved a number of different ways. Last week 28 studies revealed unprecedented detail about the songbird’s brain. They, for the first time, compared vocal learning similarities in songbirds and humans. T

Flying overhead the scrub jay sees a comrade is dead. The observant bird continues to fly, but is now agitated and calling loudly enough for birds to hear far away. Others now call out and spread the word. The flock of jaybirds all come to sit near the dead bird, still making a very loud chaotic noise. The large congregation of birds then sits together observing the dead. Despite the need for food, the group doesn’t forage for up to 48 hours while they sit near their fallen b

Discussion of the complexity of an ant's mind.

The killer whale pokes his head up onto the floating ice to see the sleeping seal. Other whales come over to investigate the find. The first whale then gathers three other whales and they all line up in a row with their tails towards the seal on the ice, and their heads pointing away. All four then start to beat their tails up and down in unison, creating waves that wash over the floating ice sending the seal into the water. When they kill the seal, they do it very precise