Who is the smartest of them all?

Did you think it’s the monkey? Not quite, says Valsala R as she writes about the top four intelligent creatures

We, humans, are smart! Well, more or less.

But what of animals that are smart? I recently got the opportunity to watch dolphins. They were amazing — and that got me looking for what are the most intelligent animals on the planet. I found a list of ten and guess who was right at the top? You all said the monkey, right? Not quite.

It’s the orangutan. Well, they do share 97% of their DNA with us humans, you know. They do several things just as we do. They use tools, use language — mostly sign language — and even have rituals. But most important, perhaps, is the fact that they understand ‘what’ something is or ‘why’ they have to do something. When you ask ‘why’, your teachers or your parents are happy because it means that you’re thinking. When it rains, the orangutan thinks about how to construct a shelter. If we gave them a hammer and nails, they could do a great job. They make mental maps of their forest. Just as we know how to go home or to school, they also know how to find their way to the best fruit trees in the forest. After all, they spends 60% of its time looking for food. They are non-vegetarian but seems to prefer fruits.

They are the only ones of the great apes that can be found outside of Africa. The Sumatran orangutan is a loner but it doesn’t mind sharing its territory most of the time. It lives in a nest made of branches high in the trees and generally follows a ‘live and let live’ policy. They can get territorial about their homes though. Babies are born one at a time and don’t leave their mothers for quite a few years. Mama has to teach them important skills like covering themselves with leaves when they go amidst thorny bushes. They use their cupped hands to drink water just as we might when we drink from water fountains. Their native Malaysian name — Orang Hutan — means ‘Person of the forest’.

Next on the list of ‘most intelligent’ comes the bottle-nose dolphin. Dolphins are actually whales or part of the same family. The differences are in body size (even the biggest dolphin called the orca is tiny compared to the great whales); social behaviour (more on that in a bit) and brain size (dolphins have the largest brain in their entire family). Bottle-nose dolphins, unlike their relatives, don’t have joined vertebrae in the neck which makes it possible for them to nod their heads like us. They love company. They travel in huge groups called pods. Their communication (necessary if you’re with others) is through a complicated system of squeaks, buzzes, clicks and whistles and sometimes even by slapping the surface of the water with their tails. They have one language for speaking to each other and another for speaking with other species when they work with them. Isn’t that wow? They have been known to help humans who are stuck in watery surroundings. Since dolphins aren’t fish, they don’t have gills and can’t stay underwater. They breathe through the blowholes on the top of their heads.

But most amazing, perhaps, is the fact that dolphins, unlike most animals (or even babies), can recognise themselves in a mirror. They know it’s them. They notice the marks on their body and recognise images of themselves on film. And if you thought elephants were famous for their memories, try a dolphin. If you’re curious for more, do check out number 3 on the list and number 4. Who do you think are at those positions? At 3 is the friend that shares 98% of our DNA — the chimpanzee (they can be as manipulative as humans to get their way) and at number 4 is the elephant (it learns, uses tools and also shows emotion).

(The author is a writer and a soft skills and communications trainer.)