Elephant cognition

Elephant painting a taught image

Elephant cognition is animal cognition as present in elephants. Most contemporary ethologists view the elephant as one of the world's most intelligent animals. Elephants manifest a wide variety of behaviors, including those associated with grief, learning, mimicry, playing, altruism, tool use, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and communication.[1][2][3] Recent evidence suggests that elephants may understand pointing, the ability to nonverbally communicate an object by extending a finger, or equivalent.[4]

An elephant brain weighs around 5 kg (11 lb), which is about four times the size of a human brain and the heaviest of any terrestrial animal. It has about 257 billion neurons, which is about three times the amount of neurons as a human brain. However, the cerebral cortex, which is the major center of cognition, has only about one-third of the number of neurons as a human's cerebral cortex.[5] While elephant brains look similar to those of humans and other mammals and has the same functional areas, there are certain unique structural differences.[6]

The intelligence of elephants are described to be on par with cetaceans,[7][8][9][10] and various primates.[8][11][12] Due to its higher cognitive intelligence and presence of family ties, researchers and wildlife experts argue that it is morally wrong for humans to kill them.[13] Aristotle described the elephant as "the animal that surpasses all others in wit and mind."[14]

  1. ^ Plotnik, J. M.; Lair, R.; Suphachoksahakun, W.; de Waal, F. B. M. (2011). "Elephants know when they need a helping trunk in a cooperative task". PNAS. 108 (12): 5116–5121. doi:10.1073/pnas.1101765108. PMC 3064331. PMID 21383191.
  2. ^ BBC: Elephants know how to co-operate http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9417000/9417308.stm Archived 2013-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Parsell, D.L. (2003-02-21). "In Africa, Decoding the "Language" of Elephants". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  4. ^ Zimmer, Carl (10 October 2013). "Elephants Get the Point of Pointing, Study Shows". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  5. ^ Herculano-Houzel, Suzana; Avelino-de-Souza, Kamilla; Neves, Kleber; Porfírio, Jairo; Messeder, Débora; Mattos Feijó, Larissa; Maldonado, José; Manger, Paul R. (2014). "The elephant brain in numbers". Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. 8: 46. doi:10.3389/fnana.2014.00046. PMC 4053853. PMID 24971054. S2CID 17022779.
  6. ^ Roth, Gerhard; Maxim I. Stamenov; Vittorio Gallese. "Is the human brain unique?". Mirror Neurons and the Evolution of Brain and Language. John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 63–76.
  7. ^ Jennifer Viegas (2011). "Elephants smart as chimps, dolphins". ABC Science. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  8. ^ a b Jennifer Viegas (2011). "Elephants Outwit Humans During Intelligence Test". Discovery News. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
  9. ^ "What Makes Dolphins So Smart?". The Ultimate Guide: Dolphins. 1999. Archived from the original on 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  10. ^ "Mind, memory and feelings". Friends Of The Elephant. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  11. ^ Hart, B.L.; L.A. Hart; M. McCoy; C.R. Sarath (November 2001). "Cognitive behaviour in Asian elephants: use and modification of branches for fly switching". Animal Behaviour. 62 (5). Academic Press: 839–847. doi:10.1006/anbe.2001.1815. S2CID 53184282.
  12. ^ Scott, David (2007-10-19). "Elephants Really Don't Forget". Daily Express. Archived from the original on 2008-03-12. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  13. ^ Tom, Patrick (2002). "The Debate Over Elephant Culling: Is it Ever Morally Justified to Cull Elephants?" (PDF). Zambezia. XXIX (i). University of Zimbabwe: 76–81 [79]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  14. ^ O'Connell, Caitlin (2007). The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Lives of the Wild Herds of Africa. New York City: Simon & Schuster. pp. 174, 184. ISBN 978-0-7432-8441-7.