The Smartest Animals on the Planet: Extraordinary Tales of the Natural World's Cleverest Creatures

by Sally Boysen, Deborah Custance

How animals communicate and learn -- sometimes better than humans do, actually . This fascinating book, written by a world authority on animal intelligence, brings together the cumulative research on the comparative intelligence levels of nonhuman "smart" species. Sally Boysen reveals how these intelligent animals communicate, learn behavior, show feelings and emotions and, for some species, how they use tools, count and sometimes pick up a foreign language. Fully illustrated with photographs and step-by-step graphics, the book draws on data from historical and current experiments and observations to examine intelligence in the great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans) and in a surprising list of other species, including sea otters, eagles, elephants, dolphins, birds, bees, beetles, rats, raccoons and parrots. The book's chapters The Smartest Animals on the Planet is a beautiful, authoritative and up-to-date presentation on the remarkable intelligence of the animal kingdom.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2009

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting if somewhat neglected book from my library. I thought it was fascinating that animal tool users are most likely female, and it appears altruistic communicators are also likely female. (does this mean females are smarter and kinder?) :) I thought the descriptions of the scientific method used in the experiments was also interesting, but wondered about the lives of the animals after the experiments were over and they were no longer surrounded by their surrogate human families.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book, that shows how animal intelligence is quite advanced. As the author clearly states, it's somewhat unfair(?) to judge an animal's intelligence under the parameters of what intelligence means to humans. Still, the abilities of many of the featured animals are quite amazing to behold. The book's focus is on monkeys and apes, dolphins, and birds (particularly corvids and parrots), though other animals appear from time to time. The book is broken into chapters that cover specific "intelligences" rather than by animal. This works to some degree, though I found by the end of the book the same animals' reappearances became somewhat repetitive. The photos are excellent.

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book would be perfectly fine for anyone unfamiliar with the cognitive ethology field in general. It does a fine job of introducing the idea of animal intelligence, what was known of it at the time, and how it is known. The biggest strength of the book, in my opinion, is the fact that it carefully lays out how each experiment was done and illustrates every step of it. This is vital to anyone interested in the field and just beginning to familiarize themselves with it. I think this book, with its easy to read layout, and thoroughness, would be of interest perhaps to a young adult who wants to learn more about animals? It's fine as an introduction, and it is by no means a bad book. It simply wasn't a good choice for me personally.

My problems with the book mainly lie in the fact that it was so deeply monkey and primate centric in its studies. After having done a bit of a deep dive into books on animal thought and behavior I was delighted by learning about how many studies had been done in truly unexpected areas. Archerfish, orb spiders, guppies, cichlids, rock ants, tardigrades, and water striders have all been studied and shown to have the rudiment behaviors of personality (boldness vs. shyness) and intelligence to them. To focus primarily upon chimpanzees is to do a disservice to the sheer breadth of the field... and to focus so heavily upon chimpanzees without even broaching the concepts of animals having spirituality (e.g. the waterfall dance) and deeper emotions also seems a bit of a waste. It's one thing to claim animals are intelligent, it is another to explain why this may be, and to extend beyond the simple idea of cleverness to the concept of self.

I was further disappointed in the book's failure to acknowledge certain behaviors that had, at that time, been acknowledged rather thoroughly. The book cast doubt on the signature whistles of dolphins, but never acknowledged the problems with the studies of Koko which are fairly well known in the field. They also failed to acknowledge the naming calls of ravens and parrotlets in the wild, both of which are fairly well known to researchers. They didn't acknowledge the understanding of syntax that both parrots and dolphins have shown rather handily either. The intelligence of more 'common' animals was also ignored - in particular dogs, cats, wolves, cows, chickens, and pigs were fairly handily ignored...

The book didn't quite do enough for me. It's a decent introduction, but little more.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book that looks at the smartest animals on our planet. It is divided into 7 sections that cover different areas that showcase animal intelligence - using tools, communication, social learning, mirror self-recognition, numerical abilities, animal language, and cooperation & altruism. If you are interested in animals at all you will love this fascinating and interesting book!

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most amazing book! It has so much information on animal intelligence, and is presented in an easy-to-read, pick-up format. The beautiful photographs throughout this book make it a work of art in their own right, and the information is phenomenal and so interesting!
This is the book that inspired me to change careers to follow my heart, so that I can do this type of work one day.

[Arapahoe Libraries]

Organized into sections such as Using Tools, Numerical Abilities, and Cooperation and Altruism, this book is full of fascinating information on animal intelligence.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful! I learned a lot and the book is gorgeous.

[Milli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that this book didn't compare the intelligence of different animals to humans or other animals. It explains what animals can do and the differences between wild and captive animals. Although I might have liked a conclusion at the end to hear what Dr Boyson thinks.