Exceptionally Smart Chimps Are Like Humans

Tags social intelligence, chimpanzees



(Photo : Reuters) Some chimpanzees are exceptionally smart than others.


A new study finds that some chimpanzees are exceptionally smarter than the other ones just like humans.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany studied chimpanzees including 20-year-old female chimp Natasha from the Ngamba Island chimpanzee sanctuary in Uganda to find out if social intelligence existed among apes, a quality that is believe to set humans apart from other primates, reported Discovery News.


Natasha has been touted as a chimp genius for her exceptional levels of intelligence. Earlier studies have showed that the female prodigy has learnt to communicate with other members of its species and to deal with various other situations.

They gave eight tasks to Natasha and other chimpanzees such as identifying color, size and shape, finding a hidden food, and using a tool to avoid traps and find food. They found several chimpanzees to perform well in all the tasks assigned to them suggesting that social intelligence can also be found among apes other humans.

In particular, Natasha performed exceptionally well in all the tasks.

"The caretakers named Natasha as the smartest chimpanzee, precisely the same chimpanzee that our tests had revealed to be exceptional," study authors Esther Herrmann and Josep Call of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology wrote, reported Discovery News. "All three of the most experienced caretakers included Natasha in their lists (of the most intelligent chimps)."

The chimp is already very popular for its antics that have never been seen before. She has tried to escape from her enclosure numerous times that is covered with an electric fence by tossing the tree branches against the fence. She attempted to escape when there was no spark coming from the fence understanding that that power had been switched off and it was safe to escape. Natasha has also learnt to clap hands in order call the caretakers and demand more food. Her antics have also involved her signaling to the visitors and splashing water on them.

Natasha's display of intelligence levels equaling the humans has awed the scientists. While the experts identified high intelligence levels among the apes, they could not find one particular factor that attributed to the quality.

Instead, they pointed out several factors such as learning and understanding using evidence and reasoning abilities and tool for the apes' intelligence.

The findings are published in the latest journal of

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.



Read more at http://www.naturenplanet.com/articles/2937/20120827/exceptionally-smart-chimps-are-like-humans-chimpanzee-intelligence-task-learning-understanding.htm#vACeUz2OkeJFvezq.99


LINK:
www.naturenplanet.com/articles/2937/20120827/exceptionally-smart-chimps-are-like-humans-chimpanzee-intelligene-task-learning-understanding.htm