Dolphin Intelligence and Brain Size Yarah Rico Are

Dolphin Intelligence and Brain Size Yarah Rico

Are dolphins as smart as we popularly believe?

�It is popularly believed that dolphins are smart as a result of their large brains, (Sickler, 2006)but that may not be true. 121306 Webcomic by rober. mcfadden on Flickr

A study has shown that the size of their brain does not correlate to their intelligence and may be caused by the temperature of water. They have a large number of glial cells that help them produce heat to prevent hypothermia in their cold oceanic environment (Manger, 2007).

Although their brain size may not be directly related to their intelligence, they show to be intelligent because…. Dolphin by thethaipan on Flickr

They understand word meaning and order They can understand that the change in word order changes the meaning of a phrase. They know the difference between “surfboard person fetch person (take the person to the surfboard) and person surfboard fetch (take the surfboard to the person) (Herman, 2002). ”

They imitate Dolphins are great at mimicking the behavior of other dolphins, animals, and humans (Herman, 2002). This is evidence of their intelligence because they are able to translate the body plan of another animal with their own.

They understand symbolism and representation Four dolphins were exposed to a television for the first time and they responded to the trainer on the screen, but when the trainer threw a ball, they did not fetch because they knew that it was only a representation of reality and not reality(Herman, 2002).

References Herman, L. M. (2002). Exploring the cognitive world of the bottlenose dolphin. In M. Bekoff, C. Allen, G. M. Burghardt (Eds. ), The cognitive animal : empirical and theoretical perspectives on animal cognition (pp. 275 -281). Massachusetts: The MIT Press Manger, P. R. (2007). An examination of cetacean brain structure with a novel hypothesis correlating thermogenesis to the evolution of a big brain. Biological reviews, 81, 293 -338. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from Web of Science. Sickler, J. , Fraser, J. , Webler, T. , Reiss, D. , Boyle, P. , Lyn, H. , et al. (2006). Social narratives surrounding dolphins: q method study. Society & Animals, 14(4), 351382. Retrieved November 18, 2008, from Academic Search Premier Working for food by La emme on Flickr