Intelligence as a whole is a loaded issue to consider.
It is not easy to compare one individual animal’s intelligence against another within the same species, let alone compare it to an animal of another species.
However, if humans take their standards for intelligence and apply it to animals, they may find that dolphins come extremely close to their own levels.
Are Dolphins Intelligent?
Charles Darwin based his theory of the survival of the fittest on the principle that the species must recognize what it needs to survive.
However, other scientists believe that the size and structure of the brain and the ability to show playfulness and communicate are indicators of intelligence.
The structure and size of the dolphin’s brain is actually much larger than that of a human.
While a dolphin’s brain has two hemispheres much like a humans, it is divided into four separate lobes instead of three.
In a dolphin’s brain, it is this fourth lobe that houses all of the senses.
In a human, the senses are split up among the three lobes.
When questioning a dolphin’s intelligence, many believe that having all of the senses contained in one lobe allow the dolphin to make complicated and immediate decisions that are beyond a human’s capability.
Additionally, it is thought that dolphins have the ability to use the different hemispheres of their brains independently from one another as they have separate blood supplies, a feature that is a unique characteristic of the dolphin species.
Dolphins are also able to move their eyes separately, leading some scientists to believe that they may only sleep with one side of their brain at a time.
Research on Dolphin Intelligence
While mammals have fascinated people for thousands of years, research of marine mammals did not truly begin until the 1940’s.
The United States Navy Marine Mammal Research Program began to investigate dolphins to analyze sonar and hydrodynamics.
The idea behind the study was to train dolphins to retrieve lost objects using their sonar.
In the 1960’s, scientists began to realize that dolphins showed intelligence similar to that of humans and began to study their brain and capabilities.
Since then, scientists have performed scans of dolphins’ brains, concluding that the brains are big in relation to their body size.
Their brains are intricate in structure and contain a neo-cortex that is more convoluted than that of humans.
Additionally, dolphins’ brains are structured to allow the dolphins to process complex emotions and self-awareness.
While all animals can experience emotions to some extent, the part of the dolphin’s brain that processes these feelings is quite larger than most animals.
Another research study concluded that dolphins may, in fact, be able to differentiate between numbers.
It is important to consider that research on dolphins in the wild is difficult and expensive.
Because dolphins’ behaviors are extremely adaptive, dolphins in captivity may not respond in the same way that they would have if they were in their natural surroundings.
How Dolphins Have Helped Us Learn More about Animal Intelligence
While many believe that primates are the closest humans come to a non-human relative, dolphins, dogs and even elephants are showing scientists that there may be more to evolution than previously thought.
By studying the neo-cortex of the dolphin, researchers are finding that the brains of dolphins are wired completely differently from those of primates.
While it has been 95 million years since humans and dolphins shared a common ancestor, communications, social behavior and intelligence patterns are proving that dolphins are as close to humans as monkeys and apes.
By studying dolphins, scientists can gain a better understanding about animal intelligence as a whole.
Dolphins understand abstract concepts such as zero, a feat that was previously only attributed to primates.
However, while dolphins brains look nothing like a human brain, they still have the capacity and similar characteristics to one of a human.
They are able to have a sense of social identity and recognize themselves in the mirror.
They interact with each other and understand the health and feelings of those around them.
Not only do dolphins understand who they are individually, but they have the ability to differentiate between their groups and know who belongs in them.
Animal intelligence is not linear.
It can be described more accurately as a toolbox.
While some species may have an outstanding hammer, others may have a terrific screwdriver.
By continuing to study dolphins, their brains and behaviors, we may be able to apply these findings to other animals and thus improve our understanding of animal intelligence as a whole.