Are dolphins more intelligent than humans?
451859
Depends on your definition of intelligence.They are most definatly able to problem solve and communicate but they cant nip down the shops for some fags and a newspaper.Although would you really say that a species that doesnt seem to have its own survival at its highest priority was intelligent?i think not.It depends on your definition!
83505
Humans like to think we are special and unique and different than our animal brethern, but are we?\n\n1. We share many characteristics, instincts, genetics, phenotypes etc with animals\n\n2. We use tools, but so do many animals, contrary to what was believed previously.\n\n3. We have languages, but the animals appear to as well, and appear to be able to understand some of language (dogs, horses, chimps). Some animals, like chimps, have been taught to use sign language and even type on computers, and some claim appear to use language creatively. \n\n4. Some animals have similar ratios of brain mass to body mass as humans, or even have better ratios. Many cetaceans might be as intelligent as humans, but not have the ability to manipulate the environment in the same way since they do not have hands. \n\nSo the entire premise of this question is a bit suspect, frankly.
132627
Human brain - our capability to think, problem solve and communicate.\n\nIf you compare human brain volume with other animals, we have the biggest (and most complex/developed) brain in relation to the body mass.  \n\nIt is our brain that gave us a distinct advantage to survive natural selection.  We have never been the strongest animal, but we're the smartest and most resourceful by far.  If not for our ability to adapt and invent, we’d have been hunt to extinction by other stronger carnivores.
14634
becuz we didnt evolve from monkeys.\nhonestly if u idiots want to say u evolved from a hairy stupid animal then go ahead and make fools of urselves.\nyea yea the ape is smart not as smart as humans.
294418
Sharks are fish and Dolphins are mammals. They have no scientific relationship, totally different species.
1119212
Well they are definately smarter.  Thats for sure
448373
Much to the dissmay of Noam Chomsky, it appears that differnent non-human animals do have varying degrees of linguistical comprehension ability.\n\nChimps and Gorillas can be taught the ability to use sign language to some degree and they demonstrate the ability to understand spoken language. \n\nMany mammals can understand certain phrases and/or words, some relying more heavily on tones than others. Parrots of course can speak more clearly than any non-human animal and African Grey's have demonstrated actual understanding of some of the words spoken to them by picking out objects asked of them, such as a toy car, and even identifying the color. \n\nResearch has even shown that even the lowly rat can distinguish the difference between the sound patterns of different human languages. Of course it's unlikely they are able to understand any words to any degree but it does underscore the importance of communication and the fact that social animals are biologically hard wired for it.
602970
It all depends on how exactly you measure intelligence.\n\nPsychologists have long known, and a small handful of educators are slowly attempting to point out to their hidebound school boards that not every person has the same kind of intelligence, and not everyone's mind works the same way.\n\nJust as some people might be superlative in solving logical problems, working mathematical equations and writing elegant code, but be totally abyssmal in inter-personal relationships, or be incapable of remembering what they were supposed to buy on the way home, there may well be different types of intelligence in the animal kingdom.\n\nFor example, there is a large body of evidence that indicates that camels are actually masters at complex theoretical and practical mathematics.  Their lack of natural curiosity and obstinate, ornery natures tends to restrict the expression of this genius to the real-world practical applications of applied ballistics, and use their talents only for accurately placing fetid gobs of spit.\n\nDolphins are often noted for their large brain size, and their intricate social lives that include clever strategems used in pack hunting of reef fish, but as it turns out reef fish aren't really that difficult to outsmart, and the dolphins don't even use most of their capability for intelligence.  They are afraid it makes them look too dorky, and so they spend most of their time gossipping, discussing which other dolphins are the cutest, what the latest fashions in coral colour are, how cool it would be if someone invented waterproof make-up, Tom Cruise, and other mindless drivel.  Sometimes it just breaks their mother's heart when she thinks of all that wasted talent.\n\nHippos are indeed fairly intelligent, but mostly in the fields of biochemistry and Russian literature.  Because they are rarely exposed to these stimuli, they tend to be very ornery, and work out their frustrations by tearing people and crocodiles in half, and then spreading poo everywhere.  Which, if you read carefully, are also common themes in Russian literature.
433171
Well here may be a similarity in our evolution, not necessarily stating that we evolved from dolphins:\n\nFuji writes "Scientists have made a discovery that could have a huge impact on Science and for Human Kind. They have since discovered that dolphins, humpback whales and the rare Ganges dolphins have developed or evolved opposable thumbs, which has scientists concerned because it could help dolphins swim faster, move objects and make tools and other systems to help them in their environments."\n\nAnd here more evidence that they are the fastest evolving creature on the planet, next to humans:\n\nDolphins have evolved surprisingly big brains over the last 47 million years, according to the largest fossil study ever done on the animals. The growth - which occurred in two spurts - may shed light on how humans became so brainy.\n\nDolphins are famously bright, performing mental feats few other animals can, such as recognising themselves in mirrors. That intelligence is probably due to their exceptionally large brains - some dolphin species boast brain-to-body mass ratios second only to humans. But how they evolved such big brains has been a mystery. \n\nNow, a trio of researchers led by biologist Lori Marino at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, US, has tracked how dolphins evolved their big brains using the fossil record. After four years of scouring museum collections, the team turned up 66 fossilised skulls of dolphin ancestors - adding to only five studied previously. \n\nThey probed the specimens' brain sizes with computed tomography (CT) scans and estimated the animals' body masses by analysing the size of bones around the base of the skulls. \n\nThey studied the fossilised skulls - dating back 47 million years - along with 144 modern specimens, and found each creature’s encephalisation quotient (EQ). This measurement relates a specimen's brain mass to that of an average animal of similar size, so if an animal's EQ is less than 1, it has a smaller than average brain, while if it is greater than 1, it has a relatively large one. Humans are the brainiest of all creatures, with an EQ of 7.\n\nEcholocation\nDolphins' earliest ancestors were land-based hoofed creatures that became aquatic, losing their hind legs and gaining flippers over time. About 35 million years ago, those flippered creatures were about the size of small baleen whales - about 9 metres long - had sharp teeth and an EQ of about 0.5.\n\nBut around that time, that group mysteriously died off, spawning a new group called the odontocetes, or toothed whales, which include today's dolphins, porpoises, belugas and narwhals. \n\nThe new research shows these creatures were smaller, with smaller teeth, but - crucially - relatively bigger brains. Their EQs had jumped to 2.5 - a phenomenon Marino suspects is related to their development of echolocation - the use of sound waves to locate objects - and their complex social lives.\n\nThe research shows that about eight out of 67 odontocete species - including dolphins - went through a second boost in brainpower about 15 million years ago, attaining EQs of 4 and 5, although the reasons for this leap remain unclear. And some species' brains also got smaller.\n\nMyth busting\n"There's a myth that says that since life began, there's been this increase in brain size," Marino told New Scientist. "But brains are metabolically very expensive, so you have to have a really good reason to have a big one."\n\nAnother myth is that only a single big-brained species can exist at one place and time, she adds. But the new work shows that for 15 million years, "a lot of dolphin and whale species have been hanging out together in the ocean”.\n\nOnly patchy - if any - historical brain size records exist for most animals, but researchers know that in the five million years of human history, EQs have risen from about 2.5 to 7.\n\n"There's a lot of controversy
348403
It is a valid question, and one used against women for years (interestingly, nobody at that time seems to have thought elephants were smarter than men!).  The relationship of the anatomy of the brain to intelligence seems to have only two fairly clear correlations: 1) the amount of surface area folding (sulci and gyri) found on the frontal cortex and 2) the brain weight/body weight ratio.  Under these two correlates, men and women are the same.  There is absolutly no correlation between the size of a person and the intelligence..even though bigger humans tend to have bigger brains.  Now, using the folding and brain to body ratio, we can figure which animals "should" be very smart-and they include ravens, dolphins, and primates.  The raven finding is interesting, because every intelligence test ever given these birds (who have small brains, because they are small animals, but very large brain to body ratios) shows them to be smarter than dogs, and nearly as smart as primates.  Another interesting thing: the only animals that has *both* and larger brain to body ratio than humans *and* increased frontal cortex folding, is the dolphin...makes ya think, huh?
386898
I had a bus driver that laughed at the fact humans are animals. Biblically, she said that humans are superior and can not be classified as animals, I believe that is ridiculous, since there not much that is different in us from animals. Of course we are more intelligent, but that is only because we define what intelligence is. Jelly fish or lions probably think that they are superior, so that is also relative. Another point that people may consider is that we have "souls," but that is only based on certain religions. In Hinduism, every living entity has a soul, therefore according to Hinduism both humans and animals have souls. The term human can be used just as a classification of the type of organism in the animal kingdom.
520451
We are intelligent?????!!!!!
217561
The dolphin's life can be, at times, very confusing. To make this easier to understand, we have made a cycle showing you the dolphins life. Like humans, dolphins are mammals. They give birth to live young. The only mammal that doesn't give birth to live young is the Platypus. Dolphinsare considered as one of the smartest animals in the world!  There life starts out when there babies, and when they grow older they choose which direction that their going to take. Most babies will stay with the pack that their mothers are in. When they are adults, they will find a mate. During the mating season, reproduction will occur.
610246
I think it's harder for dolphins to learn than it is for people.
807367
While humans are animals there are few things that make us different from the other animals.  Much in the same way cats are different than dogs.\n\nPhysical (not all of these are unique to humans but the combination of all them is)  \nBrain size: brains take up a larger mass relative to size \nour thumbs\nwalk upright on two feet \nno fur (yes we have a little but not much)\nchildhood is much longer\n\nHumans are able to use abstract thoughts more proficiently than our animal cousins (math, art, language)\nWe can refine tools.  Other animals use tools, (chimps elephants) but they don't refine them.\nHumans can pass on information over many generations\n\nThis is not exclusive list, but I believe I have hit some of the most important points
397202
What is the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise? I heard this question asked, on Johnny Carson. And, Johnny decided that a dolphin was a mammal, and a porpoise was a fish. Wrong. They are both mammals, and are very closely related. The porpoises have a rounded head, while the dolphins have a protruding snout. They are smaller members of the toothed whale family, to which killer whales and sperm whales belong.\n\nTo complicate things, there are a couple of fish which are also called dolphins. I assume that these are sometimes called "dolphin fish" to avoid confusion. But, the well-known dolphins are those cute mammals, like Flipper (who is a bottle-nosed dolphin).\n\nMammals have hair, breath air, give birth to live babies (platypuses and echidnas lay eggs), and feed milk to their young. Whales breath air (they can hold their breaths for long times), give birth to live babies, and feed milk to their young. Where is their hair? Evidently, they have a small amount of hair around their blow-holes, those holes, in the top of their heads, that they breath through.\n\nThe toothed whales are among the most intelligent of all animals. The killer whale (orca) apparently has a brain mass to body mass ratio (a rough measure of intelligence) which is greater than that of humans. Incidentally, while toothed whales are predators, there is no record of any killer whale ever having killed a human being.
808244
This is actually a great question, and entire books have been written on it.  I am not going to try an condense down those books (look for authors like Jared Diamond and Stephen j. Gould) but I will just give you my thoughts.  \n\nFirst, the neandertal were very close to us in intelligence.  There is much debate on how close, but the evidence points towards them being almost as adaptable as us and probably capable of symbolic thought.  This shows lightning can strike twice.\n\nSecond, you say no other animal comes remotely close, but this isn't quite true.  chimps, gorillas, some whales & dolphins, and elephants have been shown to be quite intelligent, capable of learning, communicating, even using tools.  So while I'm not saying they will win in a chess match, they do come at least remotely close to our intelligence.\n\nThird, you really answer your own question, as you say intelligence can and does help us and other species.  If this adaptation is actually useful, then why wouldn't we continue to evolve in that direction?  \n\nMy final point is this:  once we became smart enough to outsmart the natural world, we then had to outsmart each other!  Our anscestors had to be smart enough to not just kill mammoths and cook meat, they had to be smart enough to defend against raids from other tribes, or smart enough to be useful in a tribe full of smart people, in order to stand out to potential mates.  that is a powerful selective pressure on any species, but especially our anscetors.