Unsurprisingly, chimpanzees are one of the most intelligent animals on this planet—next to humans, of course. Similar to how humans inherit their intelligence from their mother, a chimpanzee's intelligence also greatly relies on their genes.
1: Chimpanzee
Chimpanzees can learn sign language to communicate with humans. Topping our list of smartest animals is another great ape, the chimpanzee. The impressive intellectual abilities of this animal have long fascinated humans.
eLife digest
The human brain is about three times as big as the brain of our closest living relative, the chimpanzee.
Chimpanzees. As our closest living relatives, chimpanzees have unsurprisingly shown themselves to be exceptionally intelligent. They also have impressive short-term memories – better than our own. Chimps can remember the location of numbers flashed before them for a fraction of a second.
#2: Bottlenose Dolphins
Many people believe that the bottlenose dolphin is the smartest animal, but it's ranked number two on this list.
Chimpanzees now have to share the distinction of being our closest living relative in the animal kingdom. An international team of researchers has sequenced the genome of the bonobo for the first time, confirming that it shares the same percentage of its DNA with us as chimps do.
Humans share about 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, making them our closest living ancestors. Bonobos are also closest to humans and are very similar to chimpanzees. In DNA comparisons between humans and animals, researchers have found that humans share more DNA with monkeys than they do with other mammals.
Marine mammals can remember their friends after 20 years apart, study says. Sorry, elephants: Dolphins have taken the top spot for best memory, at least for now.
First up, unsurprisingly, is cetaceans - or for the purpose of this article, dolphins and whales. These creatures are supremely intelligent, with some scientists arguing that they are the most intelligent creatures on our planet.
Humans have the highest EQ at 7.4, but bottlenose dolphins have EQs of 5.3, significantly higher than all other animals.
Animals that don't need sleep (bullfrogs and dolphins) Animals that don't need rebound sleep after using up all their energy (bees) Animals that show harmful side effects from sleep deprivation (humans)
A comparable study on chimpanzees found that bees had the worst memory, with a recall duration of just 2.5 seconds. Also earning bees a spot on the list of top 10 animals with the worst memory in the world.
Elephants never forget in the same way humans never forget
Seeing the size of the hippocampus in an elephant brain revealed why they may display these emotions and even signs of vengeance and retaliation became more clear. The hippocampus is the emotional center of the brain.
4. It's probably not that surprising to learn that humans share 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees–but incredibly, we also share 70% with slugs and 50% with bananas.
Macaques
Researchers believe that macaques have sex for pleasure because their sexual behavior is similar to humans. For example, macaques experience elevated heart rates and vaginal spasms when mating.
Could we mate with other animals today? Probably not. Ethical considerations preclude definitive research on the subject, but it's safe to say that human DNA has become so different from that of other animals that interbreeding would likely be impossible.
Many animals actually do engage in kissing-like behaviours to show affection. These behaviours are so diverse, from dogs sniffing and licking potential mates, to elephants putting their trunks in each other's mouths. However, one animal kisses just like we do: the bonobo ape.
Chimpanzees have the same types of smiles as humans when laughing and do not even need to make a sound to be understood, according to a new study.
Since the human genome was first sequenced in 2003, the field of comparative genomics has revealed that we share common DNA with many other living organisms — yes, including our favorite yellow peeled fruit.
Cats have a 200 times stronger memory than dogs and can recall the details of a day for up to 16 hours. Although dogs may be better at helping people, cats have much more sophisticated brains. Dogs only have 160 neurons in their brains compared to cats' 300 neurons, making them one of the smartest animals in the World.
Some researchers say pigs are even smarter than 3-year-old human children! Pet pigs can learn lots of circus tricks. They can learn how to find food using a mirror and even how to play video games using a joystick! Check out this video of a pet pig performing tricks!
Results showed that the dogs, having larger brains to begin with, had more than twice as many neurons in their cerebral cortex as the domestic cat, with around 530 million cortical neurons to the cat's 250 million. (For comparison, there are billions of neurons in the human brain.)
To date, there's only one species that has been called 'biologically immortal': the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii. These small, transparent animals hang out in oceans around the world and can turn back time by reverting to an earlier stage of their life cycle.
Naked mole rats are nearly deaf because their ears can't amplify sound. Naked mole rats have poor hearing because, unlike other mammals, they have abnormal outer hair cells that can't amplify sound. The animals could be used to model human deafness and help develop treatments.