There have been plenty of studies on intelligence of people and animals over time. What some of this research is indicating is that dolphins rank #2 – behind only humans. This information is based on MRI scans of the brain that indicate they do have a high level of self-awareness. What is also interesting is that the brain of dolphins could prove to be quite vulnerable to traumatic experiences and suffering, just like humans.

Studies that have been done to determine overall brain power put humans as #1 and dolphins as #2. New research has been able to show that dolphins do have skills and forms of awareness that were once thought to be unique to only humans. The information determined from MRI scans also shows that the brain of a dolphin is about 4 or 5 times larger than it should be based on their body size.

This information is based on comparisons to other animals that are close to the same size. One of the leading experts in the world on dolphins is Lori Mario who is a Senior lecturer at Emory University in the area of Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. She has done many MRI scans on dolphins. She also believes that using the brain to body ratio formula that dolphins would indeed by behind humans.

The findings of such studies have been presented by Marino in various capacities, including at the American Association for Advancement of Science. She does state that size is only one factor but that there is plenty of other data to support the claims about dolphin intelligence. The neocortex is the part of the brain that allows for higher levels of thinking to take place. This is also where emotional information can be expanded for dolphins.

There are studies on dolphin behavior that Marino and other experts have conducted that show these animals often can exhibit skills similar to humans. For example, being able to recognize themselves in a mirror. They are also able to identify abstract concepts, learn symbol based communication programs, and they also take part in cultural learning based on the group they belong to.

This information is why Marino doesn’t feel it is a good idea for marine parks to take part in teaching dolphins to perform or having them involved in dolphin assisted therapy. She and some other experts believe it could be harmful on a psychological level to them. They also worry it could give humans a false interpretation about the intellectual abilities of dolphins.

This information stems from the fact that when a person or an animal is highly aware of their circumstances they notice the differences between a good situation and a bad one. Negative feelings can occur for the dolphins due to them not being able to continue in a natural setting versus being in captivity.

The emotional elements of dolphins are very high, much like humans. There have been reports of dolphins becoming so upset during herding by boats that they can die of a heart attack. They can also die from exhausting due to their instinctive nature to flee from the situation. Those that are captured and then transported to captivity facilities can suffer a great deal of emotional trauma.

Diana Reiss, a Professor of at Hunter College in the area of Psychology also believes that Marino’s data and conclusions are solid. She plans on presenting similar information and to support this information about dolphins in an effort to make people more aware. Not only of their intelligence, but also of their emotional processes. 

Source: http://news.discovery.com/animals/dolphins-smarter-brain-function.html

Commercial fishing can be a risky business, but not when you have the right members on your team! In some locations, fishermen are getting help from self-trained Bottlenose Dolphins! This is a winning outcome for the dolphins as well as for the fishermen that are reaping such rewards. What is really interesting in this study in Brazil is that the dolphins were never formally trained for such an outcome.

What has occurred is that the dolphins are successful with getting the fish into a central location. Then they send out signals to the fishermen that inform them where they should drop their nets to catch the fish. It is very evident the social and cooperation skills of these dolphins are extremely well developed.

Additional research on these dolphins also shows they are extremely social and cooperative within the group. This is based on information that has been published in the Royal Society Biology Letters if you are interested in finding out more. It is believed that these factors help to explain why some of the dolphins in the wild do help humans and other don’t take part in it.

The behaviors are well synchronized and fishermen have been able to rely on those signals. They often include tail or head slaps in the water in given locations. The fishermen are able to quickly put their nets in the right place. This allows them to get the fish instead of guessing where to put the nets and hoping for the best. Such information has been observed and documented by Fabio Daura-Jorge of the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

Along with several colleagues, he has been able to see the outcome of such experiences. So what is in it for the dolphins? They get to dine on the fish that find their way out of the nets. They are patient and wait for that moment to arrive. Such observations were noted by Daura-Jorge and his team through boating surveys that took place over the course of a 2 year period.

They used photos to identify the dolphins. This allowed them to classify the groups as cooperative or non-cooperative based on their interactions or lack of interactions with the fishermen. The use of computer modeling allowed for the social relationships among the dolphins to be successfully identified.

What was found is that those dolphins that were cooperative spent far more time with each other, even when they weren’t participating in activities that helped the fishermen. It is believed that there are many factors at work here that determine if a relationship will occur naturally between humans and dolphins. They include genetics, social learning, and ecology. 

It is believed that information transferred from one generation of the dolphins to the next is very important here. The older dolphins teach the younger ones to be able to successfully help the fishermen. There have been numerous documentations about such behaviors within groups of dolphins in various areas. One that is widely discussed is the process of sponging by the dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia. If you aren’t familiar with sponging, it is the process of these Bottlenose Dolphins tearing pieces of sponges and covering their snout with them while they forage for food. This protects them from damages to that part of the body. 

There are plenty of unique behaviors identified within dolphin groups, and their intelligence level is believed to be a big part of them. According to Lori Marino from Emory University, the size of the dolphin’s brain should be used to help measure their intelligence. She and many others believe the dolphin ranks #2 – right being humans.

Source: http://news.discovery.com/animals/helpful-dolphins-120502.html

Every living thing has a method of communication, and it is fascinating to explore the depths of it. For example, humans use short words the most. Some of the most commonly used words are I, a, and the. This is a means of being efficient in communication, and dolphins are believed to follow similar types of patterns in their communication efforts as well.

This is referred to as the Law of Brevity, and it has become a very interesting and valuable area of study. It has been able to show that evolution plays a key role in communication in both humans and animals. Such studies also show animals are more capable of effective communication than humans once gave them credit for.

One person that has been involved in such studies is David Lusseau, a Behavioral Ecologist at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He believes that the Law of Brevity tells us a great deal about ourselves. It also explains many of the levels of complexity in the world regarding communication. There are still unknown factors though such as if it is limited or if there are so many ways to reach it that it is limitless.

The desire of Lusseau to learn more about the complexities of communication systems led him and to study dolphins along with a colleague, Ramon Ferrer-i-Cancho. They chose to study dolphins due to the fact that they are distanced from humans on the tree of evolution. Approximately 65 million years ago they split from humans, and they have brains that are designed different from those of humans.

Studies show that dolphins have the ability to use about 30 different nonverbal behaviors that allow them to effective communicate. However, we don’t have all the information to really understand the messages being sent all the time. For example, a dolphin that does a side flip or several of them is sending a message to the rest of the group. Are they telling them to follow the hierarchy within the group or is there another message from this movement?

To get the most out of the research efforts, all of the 30 behaviors were broken down individually into behavioral units. A flip equals 2 units while a head butt equals 4 units. There were hundreds of hours invested in observing and analyzing the dolphins. This included very simple behaviors as well as those that are quite complex.

The Law of Brevity is exhibited in all human languages, and it is evident in these observations of the dolphins too. Basically, when you have more to say, finding a shorter way to communicate it will save you time and deliver the message faster. At the same time, the listener is able to use less effort to understand that message being said to them. This all improves communicate results.

This type of study with the dolphins is just the tip of the iceberg. Many scientists including Brenda McCowan of the University of California have the theory that there are plenty of other types of animals that use the Law of Brevity as well. She believes that there are various systems in place when it comes to communicate that are structured in a manner that works for that type of animal.

As more data is compiled and analyzed, it shows that humans aren’t unique when it comes to communication and the Law of Brevity. McCowan encourages us to be open to the idea and to think about how it affects our relationships with animals in the world. It can help us to see how animals fit into society differently than we imagined before.

Source: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/08/11/dolphin-language.html

There are many studies out there that compare the size of brains from one living thing to the next. What has been found is that the size of the brain for a human and a dolphin are almost the same. This is based on information that shows the evolution of the cetacean brain over a period of more than 47 million years!

Such studies have given experts information about the large size of the brain for toothed whales. Some of these species have abilities that have only previously been seen to exist in some of the Great Apes as well as humans. Now they have also been observed with some of the species of dolphins.

Brain of Pacific white-sided dolphin / Author: Tranletuha.

There are studies that show dolphins have the ability to recognize who they are when they see their reflection in a mirror. They are also able to communicate using symbol based programs and through concepts that are abstract in nature. Some researchers believe that the large size of their brain is what allows such intelligence to occur.

Yet what continues to be a huge mystery to the experts is the evolution of the brain over time. One of the largest fossil studies that has ever been conducted has been done by Lori Marino has several of her colleagues from Emory University in Atlanta. The study spanned 4 years looking over various collections in different museums.

The team used 66 different fossilized cetacean skulls that they found. Using CT scans, they were able to document the size of each of the brains. They were also able to document the body mass through the bones found at the base of each skull.

This study also included looking at similar data already collected on 144 cetacean skulls. This resulted in a total of 210 samples being looked at, with 62 species and 37 different families being represented in that total of samples. Find the EQ, or Encephalization Quotient, of each one was the purpose of collecting such data.

If you aren’t familiar with EQ, it is a representation of the ratio of brain to body mass. The scale works like this:

Large brain size – EQ greater than 1

Average brain size = EQ of 1

Smaller than average brain size = EQ less than 1

The largest of all creatures is humans with an EQ of 7. There have been two significant points in the evolution of cetacean that the EQ showed a significant jump. The first dates back about 35 million years ago. There were dramatic changes to the EQ as well as to changes in body size.

There are studies that indicate the development of larger brains was the result of the evolution for echolocation. This is the use of high frequency sounds that can be picked up as they echo off of various objects. Then the animals are able to interpret a variety of information from that occurrence.

It is believed the second dramatic increase in brain size occurred about 15 million years ago in the Delphinoidea super family. This includes narwhales, belugas, dolphins, and porpoises. The information from fossil records suggests that these increases were significantly more than that of humans or great apes.

The findings of this study are believed to be one of the few that have helped us to gather such information from the fossil records. Such research is time consuming but it is also very important as well as interesting. If you are interested in reading more about the research this team has done, it will be in The Anatomical Record, December issue.

Source: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20041108/dolphin.html

Dolphins are considered to be one of the most social animals in the world. They live in groups that are very complex and defined. Studies also show that the members are highly defensive of each other due to the bonds they form within their groups. Dolphins may greet as a way to socialize, and to also set boundaries within their groups.

Through careful observations in their natural environment, it has been documented that the home ranges of various dolphin groups overlap those of others. For example, in Shark Bay Australia the Bottlenose Dolphins have been seen sharing parts of their habitat with other groups of the same species as well as other species of dolphins.

The males of the groups have more dominance and they are more complex when it comes to their role within the group. They don’t defend territories and they don’t patrol but they will defend the members of their group if they need to.

In the Western region of Australia, there is an open society of Bottlenose Dolphins that have been seen expressing a very open society. They don’t have defined boundaries like other animals or humans do. What is also identified is that the relationships they form are very strong and intense.

In a book written by Richard Connor along with another author, they discuss the fact that most mammals that have such complex social interactions and relationships are found to live in semi closed groups with at least one female that is capable of reproducing offspring. Such females will be widely defended by other members of the group.

Connor is also a Biology Professor at UMass Dartmouth and has also stated “an open society is one without such defended boundaries.” His studies include studying the behavior of 120 adult dolphins at Shark Bay, Western Australia. Also on this team were Michael Krutzen, Srdan Randic, and William Sherwin.

What they learned is that the male Bottlenose Dolphins were engaging in pairing up with females or with another male. Sometimes, there would be a third member of the male group and it is believed this allowed them to herd females to a given location to increase the opportunities for mating.

The observations also indicated that the males were often members of a secondary alliance that could have as few as four or as many as fourteen members. One of the groups is known to be active with seven members for at least the past seventeen years.

All of this initial led the research team to think that the dolphins were living a hierarchy and social element similar to that of chimpanzees. This is due to the strong male bonding that takes place. However, the main difference is that chimpanzees are also very defensive of their territory and they patrol it on a regular basis while the dolphins don’t engage in such behaviors.

Dolphins are generally very gentle and they enjoy socializing and showing care towards each other. They are considered to be one of the most peaceful animals in the world, but they can be aggressive when necessary. There are very few noted events though where aggressive behaviors occur between two female dolphins according to the findings of Connor and his team.

While males can be more aggressive towards each other, they don’t seem to engage in such behavior on an ongoing basis. There can be plenty of drama though in the dynamics of the male dolphins of any group though. Watching the complexities of these relationships has been very interesting and some great insight to how dolphins greet and how they live a life different from many other mammals in terms of social interactions.

Source: http://news.discovery.com/animals/dolphins-greet-each-other-120228.html