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Scientists:DolphinIntelligenceMayBeOverratedSPIEGELONLINE

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EnglishSite > World > Animals > Scientists:DolphinIntelligenceMayBeOverrated

FlipperFail:DolphinsMaybeDumberThanWeThink
ByPhilipBethge

DPA

Fordecades,it'sbeencommonknowledgethatdolphinsareamongtheworld'ssmartestspecies.Nowsome
researchersandanewbookarguethesupposedunderwatergeniusesaren'tsospecialafterall.

September27,201301:49PM
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Theirsociallivesarecomplex,andtheycancongregateinlargegroups.
Theirheartratesincreasewhentheynoticeafamilymembersuffering.
Theysoundthealarmwhentheydiscoverfoodorapotentialthreat.And
experimentshaveshowntheyevenanticipatefutureevents.
BiologistJustinGreggistalkingaboutchickens.

FromDERSPIEGEL

Chickens,saysGregg,"arenotasdimwittedaspopularopinionwould
haveusbelieve."Headds,"Someofthesecomplexbehaviorshavealso
beenobservedindolphins."
Really?Arechickensassmartasdolphins?Or,toputitdifferently:"Are
dolphinsreallysmart?"ThisisthequestionGregg,azoologistwiththe
USbasedDolphinCommunicationProject,asksinhisnewbookofthe
samename.Andheisn'ttheonlyonefindingfaultwithFlipper's
brainpower.
Formorethan50years,thedolphinhasbeenviewedasanespecially
intelligentcreature,groupedtogetherwithhumanbeingsandgreat
apes.Butnowadisputeonthesubjecthaseruptedamongscientists,
andthesmartaleckoftheseasmayendupbeingjustanaverage
mammal."Weputthemonapedestalfornoreasonandprojectedalot
ofourdesiresandwishesonthem,"saysneuroethologistPaulMangerof
theUniversityoftheWitwatersrandinSouthAfrica.Accordingtothe
professor,theclaimsthatdolphinshaveaparticularlycomplexbrain,use
asophisticatedlanguage,areselfawareandcanusetoolsarenonsense.

Thearticleyouarereadingoriginallyappeared
inGermaninissue55/2013(September24,
2013)ofDERSPIEGEL.
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Insomecases,saysManger,dolphinswhicharesmallwhalesare
evenoutdonebygoldfish.Whengoldfishareplacedinabowl,he
explains,theyatleasttrytoescapebyboldlyjumpingout,whereas
dolphinsthathavebeencapturedinnetswon'teventhinkofjumpingto
freedom."Theideaoftheexceptionallyintelligentdolphinisamyth,"
Mangerconcludes.
OriginsoftheDolphinMyth
Inthe1950s,physicianandneuroscientistJohnLillyplayedthecrucial
roleintheelevationofdolphinsfromthestatusofstupid,fishlike
creatureswithexcellentswimmingskillstothatofunderwaterknowit
all.Ineeriesoundingexperiments,Lillyattachedelectrodestothebrains
oflivingdolphinstostimulateneurons.Oneday,adolphinhookedupto
hisequipmentbeganmakingloudnoisesasitapproacheditshorrible
death.WhenLillysloweddownandplayedbacktheaudiorecordings,he
concludedthedolphinwastryingtocommunicatewithitstormenters.

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Afterfurtherexperiments,Lillybecameconvinceddolphinshadahuman
likefacultyofspeechandattemptedtoestablishcontactwiththemarine
mammals.HisdesiretocommunicatewassogreatheadministeredLSD
tohimselfandthedolphinsinthehopesofstimulatingconversation.

PhotoGallery

PhotoGallery:DolphinonDisplayinBelgium

HesoonmovedtotheAmericanWestCoast,wherehebecameaspiritual
leaderofthehippygenerationandwrotebooksinwhichhecombined
NewAgeideologywithhalfbakeddolphinresearch.Theanimals,Lilly
gushed,were"moreintelligentthananymanorwoman."Heeven
attributedthemphilosophy,ethicsandan"ancientvocalhistory."
Lilly'smuddledlegacyshapesourimageofdolphinstothisday.Artists
paintwatercolorsoftheanimalsswimmingthroughouterspace.In
popularlore,dolphinsserveasambassadorsofpeaceandunconditional
love,and,themoreouttherebelievetheypossessmiraculoushealing
powersandcanteleportspaceagesettlerstoMars.Behavioralscientists,
alongwithmostreasonablepeople,agreethisisallnonsense.Still,the
sizeofdolphins'intellectremainsamatterofdispute.

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What'saBigBrainWorth?

PhotoGallery:DolphinIntelligenceDebateHeats
Up

Onemeasurescientistsusetodetermineacreature'sintelligenceisbrain
sizegiventhetheorythatthemoreabrainweighsrelativetothe
body,thesmartertheanimal.Ahumanbrain,whichweighsabout1,300
grams(46oz.),makesupabout2percentofbodyweight.A
chimpanzee'sbraincomprises0.9percentofitsweight,whilethe
correspondingnumberinelephants,withtheirbrainsweighinginat
morethan4.5kilograms(9.9lbs.),is0.2percent.Dolphinsdowellby
comparison.Thebrainofabottlenoseddolphin,forexample,weighs
morethan1,800grams,or0.9percentofitsaveragebodyweight.

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FromtheArchive:DolphinsSpottedinBalticSea
(09/28/2007)

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ItseemslogicalthatdolphinsdeservetobeincludedintheanimalMensa
Society.Butdoesalargebrainmeanthesameinmarinemammalsasit
doesinterrestrialanimals?In2006,PaulMangernotedthatwhales
developedalargebraininordertokeeptheorganfrombecoming
hypothermic,andtherebyuseless,incoldwater.
Mangerdescribedanunusuallyhighdensityofsocalledglialcellsinthe
animals'brainmatter.Heexplainedthatthesecellsactliketinyovensto
keepthebrainwarm.Besides,headded,dolphinshavearelatively
simplebrainstructure,andnoted:"Theessentialfeaturesofcomplex
neuralprocessingofinformation,asobservedinothermammals,are
missingorpoorlydeveloped."
NoBetterThanMealworms?

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Mangerhasnowuppedtheantewithanewpaperinwhichheclaims
behavioralstudiesinvolvingdolphinsareflawedandthereforenotvery
informative.Forinstance,whilezoologistshaveobservedthatdolphins
candistinguishbetweentheconcepts"many"and"few,"Mangernotes:
"Thishasalsobeendemonstratedinyellowmealworms."
Ontheotherhand,somebottlenoseddolphinsonAustralia'swestcoast
havelearnedtoholdspongesovertheirsnoutswhiletheyrootaroundon
theoceanfloor.Isthisacaseoftooluse,indicatingahighlevelof
intelligence?Mangerisskeptical."Exactlywhatthedolphinsdowiththe
spongesremainsunknown,"hesays,notingthattheevidencetheyuse
themastoolsis"flimsy."
Anotherexampleisdolphins'allegedtalentforlanguage.Inone
experiment,researcherswereabletoteachbottlenoseddolphins40
symbols.Theanimalswereevencapableofcorrectlyinterpreting
combinationsofthesymbols,Mangeradmits,butAfricangreyparrots
andCaliforniasealionscanalsolearnthistypeofsymbolbased
language.
ThescientificcommunityissimilarlydividedoverwhatzoologistGregg
calls"Dolphinese."Itisknownthateverydolphincanidentifyitselfwith
itsown"signaturewhistle."Themarinemammalsusemanyother
acousticsignals,headds.Butisthistrulyspecial?Thetailwagging
danceofbeesisalsoverycomplex,saysGregg."It'sprobablynotthe
casethatdolphinshavetheirownlanguage,whichisascomplexas
humanlanguage,"saystheexpertinanimalcommunication.
DolphinDefenders
Soisthedolphinactuallythedummyoftheseas?Mostdolphin
researchersareoffendedbysuchremarks."Toputitbluntly,mostof
thatisbullshit,"saysKarstenBrensing,amarinebiologistwiththe
organizationWhaleandDolphinConservation(WDC).MangerandGregg
arelosingsightofthe"totalpackage"whentheycomparethemarine
mammals'individualabilitieswiththoseofmealwormsorbees,hesays.
"Youcanusesimilarargumentstoprovethatpeoplearen'tintelligent."
LoriMarino,aneuroscientistatEmoryUniversityinAtlanta,alsohas
strongobjectionstoMangerandGregg'sconclusions."Weshouldn't

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dismissdecadesofpeerreviewedscientificwork,"shesays,notingthere
areoverwhelmingindicationsthatdolphinspossessahighdegreeof
intelligence.Forinstance,scientistshaveobservedhowtheanimalswork
togethertoencircleschoolsoffish.Tocultivaterelationships,theyspoil
eachotherwiththeirownformof"petting"behavior.Andinastruggle
forpower,maleswilljointogethertoformnetworks.

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Marinoevenbelievesthatdolphinscanrecognizethemselves.Ina
famousexperiment,sheandpsychologistDianaReissdrewmarkingson
thebodiesoftwodolphins.Thentheyheldupamirrortotheanimals.
Theywerefascinatedtoobservetheanimalsturningaroundlikedivasin
frontofthemirror,presumablytoexaminetheirnewbodydecorations.
ForMarino,thisisevidenceofselfrecognition,similartowhathasbeen
observedamonggreatapes.Sheandotherscientistsevenwanttosee
theanimalsgiventhelegalstatusofpersonsandgranted"some
fundamentalrights,"suchastherighttobodilyintegrity.

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NoneofthisconvincesManger,whohasalowopinionofMarino'smirror
experiment."Thevisualacuityofdolphinsisactuallynotgoodenoughto
beabletoreadilyperceivesuchmarks,"hesays,andiscriticalofwhathe
calls"seriousdeficiencies"inthedesignoftheexperiment.

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Mangerisaccustomedtohistheoriesbeingrebuffed.Whenhe
questionedthespecialfeaturesofthewhalebrainin2006,dolphinfans
calleduponManger'suniversitytosuspendhim.Buthemerelywantsto
preventthemarinemammalsfrombeinganthropomorphized.
Interpretationsofbehaviorbasedon"personalbias"arenothelpful,says
Manger."Conservationstrategiesshouldnotbebasedonunrealistic
expectations."
Gregg'sprimaryobjectiveisalsotodebunkthemyth."Wehavetostop
describingthemas'special',"saysGregg.
Itisbecomingincreasinglyapparentthatthemarinemammals'
intellectualabilitiesarebynomeansuniqueintheanimalkingdom.
"Manyotherspeciesfromsharkstoearwigstoratsleadequallywondrous
andworthylives,"hewrites.
TranslatedfromtheGermanbyChristopherSultan

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1.
sd00_200209/27/2013
WheneverIcomeacrosssome"expert"discussinganimalintelligence,thearguments
beingusedseemtosaymoreaboutthemindofthepersonmakingtheargument
thanabouttheanimalinquestion.

2.Notsuchnewnews
KJDeVries09/27/2013
I'djustliketopointoutthataquicksearchonthephrase"neuroethologistPaul
MangeroftheUniversityoftheWitwatersrandinSouthAfrica"showsthatthishas
beenastorysince2006withoutcreatingmuchofa[...]

3.optional
jccunhalima09/28/2013
Infirstplace,DrMangerargumentsarenotnew.Hehasbeenplayingthesamekey
forsomeyearsand,asfarasIknow,nobodysecondedhim.Andwouldheplease
explainwhyEinstein'sbrainhadanexcessofgliathesamecells[...]

4.
ilsehoyle09/28/2013

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Titleshouldstatethatdolphinsarenotassmartaswethought.Dumberimpliesthat
wethoughtthemunintelligent,whichhasneverbeenthecase.

5.sizeisnoteverything
guelphite09/30/2013
Largerbrainsdonotnecessarilysignifybetterperformance.WhileDolphinshavea
brain/bodyweightratiothatrivalsthatofhigherprimates,thebrainitselfisnotallit
hasbeencrackeduptobe.Likeallwhales,theyhavea[...]

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