Dolphins Actually Dumber Than Goldfish according to Study

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New Research Suggests Dolphins Actually Dumber Than Goldfish

By Christopher Hogg

Digital Journal ? For years, scientists assumed the large size of a dolphin?s brain meant it was highly intelligent. But according to new research coming out of South Africa, they?re really wrong.

In fact, dolphins and whales are actually dumber than a goldfish and have nowhere near the smarts of a rat. Dr. Paul Manger of Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand says the big brain is actually a factor of evolution, where warm-blooded animals developed big brains to survive in cold waters.

?Goldfish can solve problems that dolphins can't,? Manger told the Globe and Mail. ?When a goldfish jumps out of its bowl, it's thinking past its immediate environment. Dolphins don't have the cognitive leap. Dolphins can do some things, but they have to be trained to do them. That's more of a reflection of low-intelligence.?

According to researchers, a dolphin?s brain is large because it includes a lot of insulating material (called glia) but not very many neurons (the grey matter where reasoned thinking occurs). Manger says whales have the same brain composition.

While dolphins might not be as smart as the world once thought, Manger did say they are incredibly happy mammals. He says dolphins have a ?huge amount? of serotonin in their brains, meaning dolphins are always high on a ?happy drug.?

http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/?articleID=4887

 

[BigJ]

When a school of goldfish save me from vicious, man-eating sharks, then they'll get my vote.

 

[ActuaryTm]

Dolphins are tanking these medical assessments on porpoise.

 

[dug777]

Whatta load of mumbo jumbo pseudo science.

Explain away decades of research, complex family groups/social groups, and incredibly complex and well thought out...and adaptive hunting techniques.

:roll:

 

[BCYL]

I wouldnt be surprised, you realize goldfish are pretty smart once you had them...

i.e. i used to have a floating ring where i put their food in (so the food doesnt float everywhere and into the filters etc)... a day or 2 after I started using it, as soon as I pick up their food container they would automatically swim to the ring and wait for their food...

 

[reverend boltron]

Originally posted by: ActuaryTm
Dolphins are tanking these medical assessments on porpoise.

har har har

 

[CrackRabbit]

Originally posted by: 0

?Goldfish can solve problems that dolphins can't,? Manger told the Globe and Mail. ?When a goldfish jumps out of its bowl, it's thinking past its immediate environment. Dolphins don't have the cognitive leap. Dolphins can do some things, but they have to be trained to do them. That's more of a reflection of low-intelligence.?

I would have to disagree, a dolphin realises that it would die if it attempted to jump out of a pool it is in and therefore does not attempt it. A goldfish on the other hand has no such sense of space and jumps out of it's bowl and suffocates.
<--- not a marine biologist, just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit

Originally posted by: 0

?Goldfish can solve problems that dolphins can't,? Manger told the Globe and Mail. ?When a goldfish jumps out of its bowl, it's thinking past its immediate environment. Dolphins don't have the cognitive leap. Dolphins can do some things, but they have to be trained to do them. That's more of a reflection of low-intelligence.?

I would have to disagree, a dolphin realises that it would die if it attempted to jump out of a pool it is in and therefore does not attempt it. A goldfish on the other hand has no such sense of space and jumps out of it's bowl and suffocates.

Indeed.

One of the many bullsh1t points in the article...

A classical sign of intelligence is a complex social hierarchy & behaviour...

I've kept many fish, and they're all extremely functional, but almost totally devoid of intelligence, they don't really learn, other than extremely basic feeding routines...

 

[Raduque]

Try keeping some Oscars, dug, if you have a big enough tank. They're called Underwater Fidos for a reason

 

[CollectiveUnconscious]

I can't seem to find this article in Biological Reviews...anywhere. It would be great if they would say when it was published.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Dolphins are one of the few non-human species that has sex for fun.

Dolphins > Goldfish.

- M4H

 

[Taggart]

your study is a piece of sh!t

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: Raduque
Try keeping some Oscars, dug, if you have a big enough tank. They're called Underwater Fidos for a reason

My friend had an oscar get about a foot long before they had to give it away. Those are awesome!

 

[marvdmartian]

Originally posted by: ActuaryTm
Dolphins are tanking these medical assessments on porpoise.

We need a "rimshot" emoticon!! :laugh:

I don't think dolphins are dumber than fish.....though I'd have to say it's more likely that they're "flightier".........ya know, more "blonde"

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: BigJ
When a school of goldfish save me from vicious, man-eating sharks, then they'll get my vote.

Goldfish are too smart to risk their lives doing that.

 

[91TTZ]

This "study" sounds like a joke.

There is no possible way that an educated person believes this, unless he's a lunatic. Or from South Africa.

 

[deftron]

Dolphins and whales jump out of the water onto land all the time

Ever been to Sea World ?

 

[adairusmc]

Mice are smarter than both.

 

[Eeezee]

I can solve problems that a chemist can't and vice versa. That doesn't mean one of us is smarter, it means we solve different problems.

Frankly, I don't see where in that article that any proof is offered. They've looked at dolphin brains and observed that they're very large but have a ton of insulating material. That's not necessarily a sign that dolphins are unintelligent. It's just as reliable as saying that dolphins are intelligent because they have big brains. Also, they show a lot of social intelligence.

Those things are mentioned in the rest of the article, the part you didn't copy-paste.

 

[Q]

?Goldfish can solve problems that dolphins can't?

lol

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: BCYL
I wouldnt be surprised, you realize goldfish are pretty smart once you had them...

i.e. i used to have a floating ring where i put their food in (so the food doesnt float everywhere and into the filters etc)... a day or 2 after I started using it, as soon as I pick up their food container they would automatically swim to the ring and wait for their food...

Did you feed them at the same time every day, or could it be any time of day and the goldfish would swim to the ring when you picked up the food?

Goldifhs: IIIIIIIIIII SSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEE YYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU

 

[jst0ney]

42

 

[Kenazo]

I was reading an article on this topic, and they suggested that a lot of the reason we view Dolphins as more intelligent is purely anthropomorphic. We see similar behaviour and assume intelligence behind it. They said up until Flipper came out in the 1960's Dolphins were clumped together with fish in the mind of Americans.

So, I don't agree that they are as unintelligent as fish, but I suspect we've been giving them more credit than they are due.

 

[91TTZ]

I think that anyone who believes this article is a complete moron. Totally gullible.

 

[Itchrelief]

Snorky speak man.