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Does anyone reading this not get the subject reference?
John Quiggin had an blog entry on whaling, which has re-sparked my animal cognition side. In particular, wikipedia [Cetacean intelligence] led me to
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,989714,00.html
a 2003 Guardian article discussing a bunch of complex dolphin behavior I hadn't known all of. Tearing litter into pieces to get more rewards; fishing for gulls; stunning fish with tail slaps; tool use (besides the gull-fishing), e.g. poking at moray eels with scorpions and using sponges to protect their snouts when they nose into the seabed; pair and supergang social behaviors.
John Quiggin had an blog entry on whaling, which has re-sparked my animal cognition side. In particular, wikipedia [Cetacean intelligence] led me to
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,989714,00.html
a 2003 Guardian article discussing a bunch of complex dolphin behavior I hadn't known all of. Tearing litter into pieces to get more rewards; fishing for gulls; stunning fish with tail slaps; tool use (besides the gull-fishing), e.g. poking at moray eels with scorpions and using sponges to protect their snouts when they nose into the seabed; pair and supergang social behaviors.
Significance: there seem to be two big paths to intelligence as we recognize it, complex social behavior and complex food acquisition. Humans and chimps have both. Orangs tend to be more solitary but have a lot of food skills. (They do get along when forced into groups, or where food is denser; it is possible their standard sparse distribution is simply due to being trapped in a shitty rain forest.) Octopuses seem to be really solitary but are clever manipulators and hunters. Elephants, well, they do have those trunks, but I'd think social is their main emphasis. Ditto for parrots, AFAIK.
As for dolphins, I'd imagined they were good efficient hunters, like sharks, so that their intelligence selection would be social. They are good hunters, but apparently their food acquisition repertoire is a lot richer than that.
I also hadn't realized their (bottlenose dolphins; there are lots of dolphin species) brain/body ratio was between chimps and humans, and on par with australopithecines.
Dolphin Institute research:
http://http://www.dolphin-institute.org/our_research/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca
mentions a captive orca learning gull-fishing, like the dolphin in the Guardian article. It also mentions some orcas co-operating with Australian whalers in the 1920s, driving whales into the bay and helping to kill them. I think I've heard a similar story about dolphins and fishermen somewhere.
As for dolphins, I'd imagined they were good efficient hunters, like sharks, so that their intelligence selection would be social. They are good hunters, but apparently their food acquisition repertoire is a lot richer than that.
I also hadn't realized their (bottlenose dolphins; there are lots of dolphin species) brain/body ratio was between chimps and humans, and on par with australopithecines.
Dolphin Institute research:
http://http://www.dolphin-institute.org/our_research/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca
mentions a captive orca learning gull-fishing, like the dolphin in the Guardian article. It also mentions some orcas co-operating with Australian whalers in the 1920s, driving whales into the bay and helping to kill them. I think I've heard a similar story about dolphins and fishermen somewhere.