Elephants: Do Giant Brains Mean More Smarts? | Animal IQ
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- Опубликовано: 19 окт 2024
- Elephants are one of the most majestic and beloved megafaunas on our planet, but are they as intelligent as they’re portrayed in books, movies, and television?
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The mantra, “Elephants never forget,” is so ingrained in popular culture that most people accept it as fact, but memory is just one facet of intelligence. African elephants are known to recognize groups of humans, to test electric fences with their tusks to avoid injury, and (of course) can remember paths to resources passed down to them decades earlier. But, can elephants cooperate to solve a puzzle? How good are they at understanding themselves and their place in the savannah? What does an elephant really know?
On Animal IQ we dig into the research and talk to the experts to find out just how smart animals appear to be. We then use that knowledge to fill in our AIQ Rubric across five domains of intelligence: Social, Rational, Awareness, Ecological, and our own intelligence X-Factor. Every animal is clever, but their talents vary based on their evolution, biology, values, adaptations and environment. We hope y'all learn how each of our animals tick on Animal IQ!
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The elephant brain in numbers
www.ncbi.nlm.n...
What explains the superior cognitive abilities of the human brain compared to other, larger brains? This finding supports the hypothesis that the larger absolute number of neurons in the human cerebral cortex (but not in the whole brain) is correlated with the superior cognitive abilities of humans compared to elephants and other large-brained mammals.
African elephants (Loxodonta africana) display remarkable olfactory acuity in human scent matching to sample performance
www.sciencedir...
Habituated African elephants were trained to discriminate and match human odors.
African elephants displayed no loss of working memory, and successfully discriminated against target odors. African elephants also discriminated between related human individuals spanning three generations and including sibling pairs.
Do elephants show empathy?
www.researchga...
Elephants show a rich social organization and display a number of unusual traits. They have the potential to reveal signs of empathic understanding. They’re capable of diagnosing animacy and goal-directedness and are able to understand the physical competence, emotional state, and intentions of others when they differ from their own. We argue that an empathic understanding of others is the simplest explanation of these abilities, and discuss reasons why elephants appear to show empathy more than other non-primate species.
Fun fact about this episode: This was originally the pilot! We created all the episodes up-front and then aired them out of order (which can be very confusing to keep our numbering system straight). So if you notice it's a little different than the others that's why. I pitched this show to PBS over a year ago (before the pandemic!) so thanks to this pilot and your viewership we're able to make this whole show! Happy Earth Day, and thank you for watching 💕🌎🌍🌏
Awesome!
Geez, behind the curtain there. I watched The Outer Limits pilot last night, and while it featured the proper opening scroll, the closing music was nowhere to be found!
can Natalia please use the side cam rather than the laptop's, the latter is such poor quality vs such good quality of the former.
Whaddup, T?
@@00101001000000110011 Agreed.
"We can't know for sure that elephants feel empathy but they certainly *appear* to."
I could say exactly the same thing about any other human, the only thing you can know for sure is your own mind exists. I hate this irrational fear among the science community of "anthropomorphising" animals - we ARE animals. We are not magical beings created by a sky man; we evolved into existence from something that wasn't "human", I imagine it had emotions and cognitive abilities pretty damn close to ours. And it evolved from something that was even less human with similar emotions, and so on. Certain types of reasoning may be the sole domain of humans but empathy is most certainly not.
It's not about an irrational fear, the point is to only say things that you can prove. We can't prove that elephants have empathy because we can't interact with them on a deep emotional level, where as we can certainly prove that certain humans _don't_ have empathy based off of social behavior or stories that they tell.
I can see where you're coming from. But upholding the scientific method isn't the same as being afraid of anthropomorphizing.
I understand and agree with your train of thought, but also I must say that they’re trying to avoid anthropomorphising because that would mean the researchers are biased in the intelligence, overselling it.
In the end it’s impossible to be 100% unbiased, but we are certainly trying, it’s part of science.
I would really like to see an episode on Parrots! About their high social capability, and if they're able to undestand the words they are repeating!
Looking at elephant eyes from several meters is an amazing and emotional experience. You feel you are looking into the "soul" of an intelligent being. Elephants are the top!!!!!
LOL ! I feel that way about these little lizards we have here in S. TX. They look at your eyes and twist their heads as if to express themselves.
All animals are conscious. Idk why you nention soul i certainly dont get the feeling from looking at an elephant up close.
Elephants are my favorite animals. I knew they were smart.
Elephants unfortunately are not smart. Not smarter than a cat. Ask me for details if you want to know.
Elefants, they have long memories and they can imprint on having revenge (but not due to human revenge emotions, it's more of a biblical tit for tat thing for elephants). They are the CD4T cells of your body but in the animal kingdom. Elephants are not especially intelligent, but due to evolution they remember threats to their tribe well and will go full TERMINATOR at a later date if they find that threat again.
Elefants they seem to mourn their dead, but that is a human coloroued fantasy, they stay with the deceased animal for a while and they interact with the corpse for a time and so on, but that is just the way they do with "sleepy" individuals to wake them because it happens all the time some elephants do not wake up in time so other elefants have to wake them
I'm loving these short little informational vids, I was wondering if there'll be any about crows/ravens? they're very smart birds and have ways to communicate through patterns of caws, they can mimic sounds like a recorder and even hold investigations when one of their peers dies. Corvids in general are some of the smartest birds out there, some even have cross-species communication since they're all fairly good at mimicking :))
Please please please do one about Orcas 😍
I'd love to see an episode on bettas/other aquarium fish. Until I got mine, I had no idea how good their memory retention was!
In general, my hope is that this show doesn't only talk mammals and birds. Those are more studied, but we need to make sure we're aware of what we do and don't know about other animals, too.
I remember seeing a vid several yrs ago of aquarium fish & 1 was unable to get to the surface to eat. Another fish would help it to the surface to eat. I was & still am impressed.
I would love to see an episode on parrots!
A great video of these wonderful creatures. A tough year for all of us but especially tough for you in the Minneapolis area. I hope all of us have a better fall and winter. Be kind to each other and to others and it will be a better place for all.
Joe sent me yeah boy
Welcome!
WhOs JoE?
@@therealdirtydan6794 type its okay to be smart on youtube search bar
Me too
Boii
Would love an episode on dolphins!
please do one about awesome cows and how they deserve more in this world!
Can you look at Orcas next?
I'll put them on the list!!!
The lid-touching behavior sounds more like superstitious behavior on the behalf of the elephants, rather than them not understanding the causality of bucket lids. Thanks for the parts on elephants' sense of smell, though; I didn't realize how good they were at that. Thinking about it now, it makes a lot of sense that their ability to navigate long distances accurately would be helped a lot by having a sensitive smeller _and_ nostrils that are on the end of a long pointable "arm" that you could swing left and right for directional scent comparison purposes (Gandalf would be jealous).
Kind of like how hammerhead sharks get a wider stereo view for both their vision and their electroception by the means of their long eye stalks.
Referred here by pbs eons. Am not disappointed!
This is some pretty fascinating stuff.
Thanks for all you do.
Wow! You guys are making interesting videos! Way to go. Keep it coming!
Joe said come here, so I came. I'm a simple man.
Makes perfect sense. He sends me places all the time.
I remember reading that elephants will also perform a sort of "funeral" for their dead loved ones 🥺 animals are a lot more like us than we give them credit.
Yes! So many animals grieve (and as we look we keep finding more).
Please can you make one about pigs and other farmed animals?!?!
What about the seahorse?
3:05 **YAAAWN**
I wonder if an elephant could figure out a Rubik’s cube
Good video! Thank you for the wonderful information. And whoever Joe is, that's just hilarious!
Great journalism, interesting topic!
Not a single elephant conservationist or scientist from Africa. Maybe these people should talk to Joyce Poole and examine the lexicon of savannah elephant infra-sound language she has developed over decades of research or talk to Angela Sheldrick or Cynthia Moss or talk to anybody who is working with elephants in the wild, including incredible Vets such as Dr. Kariuki, who fly to aid injured elephants and other wildlife and Big Life Rangers who put their lives on the line everyday.
Exactly! People like Josh Plotnik have it backwards -- elephants should be studied in the wild and the findings applied to improve their lives in captivity, not the other way around. I'm not sure anything any research findings from eles in captivity have ever contributed anything to protecting eles in the wild. But for zoos and people like Plotnik, somehow research done under supposedly "controlled" conditions is more legitimate than that gathered from studying eles in the wild. And as to Plotnik's research -- he doesn't speak Thai or know anything about how mahouts control their eles so he doesn't see the mahouts directing their eles' behavior in his experiments. If you want to know about eles, stick with Poole, Sheldrick, Moss and others working in the wild and support excellent organizations working on the ground, like the Big Life Foundation -- biglife.org/
I put a sticker on my cat and brought her to a mirror, she pawer her head then she smacked me in the face 🤣
Sounds like a very cat thing to do. *starts looking for my own cat to try this*
Sounds about right😆
they *feel* the sticker, and it pulls on the fur when dragging it out, so it's normal she didn't care about the mirror and didn't take kind to you.
in my own experiments i've found that cats know to track me through the mirror and not just directly, even if i am within line of sight at few times. my cat knows the mirror reflection is not another cat, but i have not found a way to test if he understands it's him explicitly and beyond doubt.
@@00101001000000110011 I found the YT video where the cat discovers his ears from his mirror image quite convincing.
@@Kernovian1964 there's something else that's very relevant, in my experience and opinion, cat intelligence varies significantly depending on the individual (genetics + upbringing). perhaps some cats understand the mirror, some don't rather than it being uniform across the entire species.
what's universal is that all cats are lazy and choose pridefully their actions. they rather miss out on something than being forced generally, and will only play along if willing. which is certain to undermine testing and experiments ahahah
Wonderful but I think you guys missed an important fact. There was no mentioning of the elephant's ability to draw. They even draw themselves; concluding they should have scored higher in awareness.
Elephants don't naturally draw -- they are trained to do so using cruel and abusive methods -- www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/why-making-an-elephant-paint-is-cruel-not-cute/
@@ammcomms Thanks for the link, did not know about that. But it doesn't change the fact that they can draw.. Not many animals would be able to do that no matter how harshly we treat and train them.
@@danveerseewoo2332 If you mean the physical act of drawing, okay. Most animals can't draw simply because of anatomy -- they don't have hands and fingers. But chimpanzees do have them and can also draw. But the elephant trunk is amazing --
www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/10/the-most-amazing-appendage-in-the-world.html
one of the most fascinating animals ✓ 🐘
I love elephants ✨
elephants are by far my favorite animals. thanks for this video :)
Are there any animals out there that are intelligent enough, with an advanced enough language, that they could tell stories? I know that we've started learning that elephants have language and we're still figuring out a LOT of the broad details of it, but they're intelligent enough that I could see them being able to tell a story. Not necessarily create a fictional story, but to at least be able to recount something that they saw another elephant do a long time ago. That's something I have always wondered...
Great question!
There is evidence of “culture” in animals. For example, specific tool-use behaviors get passed down through a population.
Bees 🐝 (!) have a complex dance language that they use to recount things, for example, locations or where they’ve been.
Other animals use different vocalizations to communicate different types of danger. Like “SNAKE!” Or “DANGER HAWK”.
great work! longer episodes please!
The part about the mirror confused me a little bit. As far as I know (not a biologist) elephants don't necessarily recognize themselves in mirrors, which is 100% logical as they don't rely primarily on vision and a mirror image doesn't smell or make sounds, so we wouldn't even expect them to, right?
And yet we hunt them and treat them like crap. Time to question human intelligence since so many professionals have been involved in these hunts.
Blake sent me 💅
Let's wait for the winner between the African Elephant team and the Asian Elephant team
Is there a way to watch these PBS specials if you dont have TV and just internet? like will they be posted to one of these channels? or is there a place i can stream it free without having to sign up for a trial that might not cancel when i tell it to and then try to charge me? Lookin at you youtube tv, been burned by those trial things before.....
Their statement: PBS General Audience content continues to be available through member station broadcast services, on member station sites, at pbs.org/video, and through the PBS Video app, available free of charge for iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Samsung TV, and Apple TV.
@@davefreier7738 thank you!
It seems the accuracy of the eq diminishes with small and large animals.
Joe sent me, too!
I was taught that EQ was Emotional Quotient, did I miss an update?
I've never heard of that, but it's also short of equalizer in stereo equipment. I'm sure it's short for many things!
EQ is short for many things
As in "emotional IQ", a measure of one's emotional intelligence. Not sure if I've ever seen it used in English, though.
Yep - you are correct! EQ is also an acronym for “emotional quotient”. Emotional Quotient and Encephalization Quotient have the same acronym
great video, loved the content, However, I got tired of the over-done hand gestures (visually exhausting)
Can you do an episode on gorillas?
joe said to come here
Came here from PBS Eons!
I wonder if theyre aware that theyre getting tested
elifinit is a pretty cool
Nothing about elephants so much but two presenters who made faces all the time
PBS overview sent me :)
Joe sent me here, I feel enlightened and satisfied by the knowledge that baby elephants are cute and smart
Joe sent me and it was worth the watch! I am now even more in love with elephants!
whose joe?
I was offended when you yawned while I’m trying to learn ..
New drinking game everytime they say amazing take a shot of jet fuel
we did say amazing a lot here! It's embarrassing, but it was the first episode we'd ever filmed! We've gotten better, I swear
@@TraceDominguez you did an amazing job Trace dont mind the ramblings of a yt commenter
Ha! I’m on board but can we change it something other than jet fuel?
I can’t promise that I’ll be able to reign in my use of “amazing” 😬 but will try.
Here from the ad
I don’t know who Joe is...but thank you for sending all these people!
(But really, can someone let me know who Joe is?)
Lol. Joe Rogan.
I wonder what kind of difference there is in the elephant and human pineal gland 🤔
it's okay to be smart!!!
Joe sent me here and I am glad he did! Wow!
Joe sent me. BTW it was good, keep up the good work.
Do a bear episode please
You guys do a pretty good job, but I'm begging you.
Please buy that girl a microphone. My ears are crying.
She lives in Egypt. Getting audio/visual equipment into the country is extremely difficult. The government is very paranoid that foreigners are going to use it to spy on them. We were able to get her the b-cam when she made a trip to the US which was cut short because there's a pandemic on. You know, normal video production fun time.
@@TraceDominguez I'm very surprised there's nowhere local in egypt you could pick up audio equipment. But I do suppose this is as legitimate of a reason you can ask for for not having a nice mic.
Its not that bad honestly
😂🙏🏻
Thank you for your comment! It worked...but we’d already filmed most of this season before these episodes aired.
I apologize for making your ears cry. I hope you’ll suffer through the pain for the sake of interesting animal facts 😬 and thank you for your sacrifice
What is "encephalization quotient"? You stated it like it means elephants are smart, but didn't explain it at all.
came from It's OK to be smart
They don't sound very genuine
it's ok to be smart sent me
Talk about rhinos, they rarely get mentioned, people would be amazed if they saw one, in my opinion they are more impressive than elephants
Please stop telling me how cool stuff is, I am not a 6 year old.
...But a 6 year old could watch this and another comment seemed to suggest that. 😅
How would you rate humans if we didn't have history and school system?
I'd almost bet elephants are smarter than us, we just have written history and schools helping us out so much.
Or maybe elephants are just as smart as us after they start figure out writing and farming and can settle down a bit more.
Humans didn't have writing for a *really long* time. Before writing everything was passed down in oral tradition. Humans have multiple advantages over other animals once we're about 10+ years old and educated formally with writing or not. For more info, see: Anthropology. 😅
Joe sent me!
Joe sent me, this was great!
DO CATS! They possess theory of mind and can pass the mirror test.
Joe didnt send me here. Just saying
Hello smart people, Joe sent me
🙂
Joe sent me here
Joe sent me here!!!
You say you are focusing in on African Elephants, but you keep showing Asian Elephants?
Good point! We could have been more clear, we're focusing on elephants in general, with much of the research coming from African elephants, but Dr Plotkin works with Asian elephants, and are are limited to the b-roll available to us.
that "i know right?" is annoying
amaaazing
joe sent me
That's a big boi ain't it bruv
How many grooming options does an elephant actually have?
animals: keep balancing the nature
humans: keep destroying nature
so who do you think has more intelligence?
Three African elephants did not like your insinuating comment.
Script is SOOOO cringe ya guys🤦🏽♂️ Please🙏🏽 dial it down. Dr. Natalia’s repeated use of “amazing” (@ 4:12-4:18) is just one example.
Btw I am only bringing this up because I personally have a healthy level of respect for you both as professionals. Especially Trace, who I’ve been watching well before he even hosted ‘Seeker!’ Please keep up the great work guys👌🏽
Joe
Joe Hansen sent me🎉🎉good job 👍
Joe sent me
Joe sent me.
No. Giant brains don't mean more smarts. That sentence is not even smart. Its childish.
Joe also sent me.
Joe sent us.
10-25-2022.
GOD is the Creator of the elephant, so yes the animal is super SMART.
I'm supposed to tell you that Joe sent me. But after watching the video I have decided that this channel just isn't for me. I don't like when the people reading their scripts go out of their way to add fake excitement and joy to how they are speaking. I find it annoying b/c I know it's just bad acting and their are trying to trick us into thinking there more to get excited about then there is resulting in more watching. However, when I'm trying to learn something I would much rather just have them say what they have to say in a normal way. The Fake enthusiasm is distracting and therefore irritating. Kind of like when you watch a video where the background music is way to loud to be able to hear what's being said. Good bye channel. While I liked your content, I just can't stand the way you are presenting it. Maybe try taking some acting classes before you start acting b/c it's really bad. You wouldn't talk to your friends like that about the same subject.
LOL! Why do you blur out the elephant face @3:44 ? Is it because of the blood / gore?
Everyone on this planet has seen a dead (squished) squirrel or dead cat on a road (or whatever equivalent animals in their country. Except maybe the penguins in Antarctica).
Are we baby-sitting humans now? You talk about empathy a lot, so you obviously know about the qualia of empathy for humans, vs animals, vs inanimate objects, right? They are not the same right?
Is an animal carcass in 2021 offense enough to be blurred out because "muh fewings"?
We used to DISCECT dead animals in biology with knives in school when I was 13 years old.
We literally KILL and EAT animals *ALL*THE*TIME*.
Joe sent me here
Joe sent me!
Joe sent me.
Joe sent me
Joe sent me here