• Question: What is the smartest land mammal you know of

    Asked by kitcat to Aaron, Abbey, Keith, Natalie on 18 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Natalie Garrett

      Natalie Garrett answered on 18 Nov 2015:

      Assuming you mean “aside from humans” I guess it would be chimpanzees. Rats and pigs are also pretty intelligent too. There are lots of different types of tests for intelligence, you can read more about them here: http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/09/iq-test-animals

    • Photo: Aaron Boardley

      Aaron Boardley answered on 18 Nov 2015:

      The larger apes, that are closer to humans, have the closest thing to our intelligence (things like chimps, organutans, etc.) Lots of animals have their own specialist skills and knowledge that make them appear smarter in certain ways – but intelligent apes are really adaptable.

      The smartest animal I’ve ‘met’ is probably a Jack Russell terrier called Bertha. She was fun.

    • Photo: Keith Franklin

      Keith Franklin answered on 19 Nov 2015:

      The obvious answer is “humans”, but I think like Natalie you probably mean other than humans.

      I agree with Aaron on the large apes. However I we tend to measure intelligence in terms of human intelligence. Imagine if cats are talking amongst themselves saying “These humans are not very intelligent – we don’t do anything, but they keep giving us food and somewhere warm to live!” that seems quite intelligent to me!

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