Octos hit Top Ten again -- plus more FUTURE IS WILD!

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Nov 20, 2002
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Once again, Cephs have earned a place in two "Top Ten" animal lists on Discovery Channel affiliates!

First of all, in a recent episode of Animal Planet's MOST EXTREME ANIMALS, the Mimic Octopus -- no big surprise here -- was named the #1 Most Extreme Impostor in the animal kingdom.

Secondly, on a Travel Channel special about the top ten most intelligent animals and where to see them, the #9 place was occupied by Octopus & Squid -- though I assume TONMOers in the know would substitute Cuttles for Squid in this category. In that list, the Cephs beat out squirrels but were trounced (I don't recall the exact order) by crows, dogs, parrots, pigs, monkeys, elephants, dolphins, and (of course) in the #1 place, great apes.

I am also ecstatic to report that Animal Planet will be running an extended version of THE FUTURE IS WILD -- in four different two-hour episodes -- on Tuesdays, 8 July, 15 July, 22 July, and 29 July, at 9 p.m. Eastern US Time. For those who are already familiar with this incredible computer-animated miniseries, it will feature new, never-before-seen speculative species. For those who are not familiar with the miniseries, you are in for an amazing treat! It is an artistic/scientific vision of how present-day animal species might evolve in the distant future, and -- whether or not you find it plausible -- it is creative, entertaining, and replete with Squiddage (including the exquisite Rainbow Squid, the swamp-dwelling Swampus, and terrestrial Cephs such as the lumbering Mega-Squid and the lithe arboreal Squibbons).

If you don't get Animal Planet on your telly, find a friend who does and offer to cook them a gourmet dinner, do their laundry, buy them tickets to their favorite sports event, give them a back massage, or anything else it takes to let you watch the entire FUTURE IS WILD series at their home. Enjoy!

The Tanster
 
hmmm i think our definition of intelligence is very subjective. I would rank dolphins and whales far above great apes, and at least on an emotional level at least level with humans, if not superior- they have systems of communications, songs, relationships and leisure time, without inter species violence- the notable exception being of course the killer whale....

and lets face it, dogs are dumb. eat shit play growl repeat- NOT impressive :bonk:

Tomos
 
Yeah, but Dolphins and Whales eat fish. Yucch.
:lol:

Aw, the whole "intelligence" spectrometer is way out of whack anywho...it really doesn't matter! Everything fullfills its place in the world as a whole (Jeez, I wax poetic) and there ya go.

Shanlyn hasn 't seen the future is wild yet, so tuesday should be a good night for us...( :biggrin2: )
hehe...
Greg
 
tomossan said:
I would rank dolphins and whales far above great apes, and at least on an emotional level at least level with humans, if not superior-

Male cetaceans have been observed violently gang-raping females, and pods of whales and dolphins regularly follow their sick, disoriented leaders to slow death by suffocation on beaches. Not too impressive.

...they have systems of communications, songs, relationships and leisure time, without inter species violence-the notable exception being of course the killer whale....

"Inter-species violence" is itself a subjective turn of phrase, as it implies violence for its own sake. Is that what you meant?

Cetaceans have had several millennia to figure out that humans should be avoided. Unless they're forgiving beyond all reason, their failure to learn how dangerous we are (and pass that knowledge along) doesn't augur well for their cognitive development. Intelligent, impressive and generally fascinating? Yes. Potentially superior? That's a hard sell.
 
clem, your statement of gang raping females is not entirely accurate- in fact whales compete to penetrate the female, apon which the dominant sperm wins the egg, as the previous ejaculate is washed out by the new- this way of breeding ensures genetic superiority.

also saying that whales havent learnt to fear humans is completely untrue- grey whales off canada for generations rammed boats, sperm whales have been known to attack whaling ships, and blues instinctually swim. HOwver the decline in whaling is leading to a reduction in that fear, which is perhaps what creates your misconception- whales did swim for their lives when siting a whaling ship.

they communicate over thousands of miles with their voices... aint that cool?!?!

:biggrin2:
 
tomossan said:
also saying that whales havent learnt to fear humans is completely untrue- grey whales off canada for generations rammed boats, sperm whales have been known to attack whaling ships, and blues instinctually swim. HOwver the decline in whaling is leading to a reduction in that fear, which is perhaps what creates your misconception- whales did swim for their lives when siting a whaling ship.

Tomo,

I do appreciate your correcting my misapprehension of rough cetacean sex. I should have used the phrase "violently gang-bang."

Wouldn't your avenging grey and sperm whales have been better off leaving the scene? Doing so would at least have spared them blunt trauma to the head. Besides, doesn't ramming a ship full of humans constitute inter-species violence?:wink:

I never mentioned commercial whaling in my post, as it is only one lethal point of convergence between cetaceans and men. Fishing gear entanglements, collisions and collection for "scientific purposes" have continued unabated. As I said, cetaceans are intelligent, impressive and generally fascinating, but notions of certacean "superiority" are misguided, I think.

they communicate over thousands of miles with their voices... aint that cool?!?!

You're not Harry Knowles, are you? I sure hope not.

:goofysca:

Clem
 
Hey Taningia,

Have you got the full list of "Most Intelligent" animals?

Also: are squirrels really on the list?

:shock:

Clem
 
I like snakes. They sit and watch...waiting...patient...not really any need for verbal communication.
That, and neon tetras.
Pretty.

So there you go. I don't really care too much for whales...I don't buy the bit about superior intelligence...after all, they don't have Legos! Or even Lincoln Logs. Or mechwar. Jeez.
:o Greg
 
cthulhu77 said:
I don't buy the bit about superior intelligence.... Or mechwar. Jeez.

however, one point in their favor is that they dont have tekwar.... a shatner-ish whale is a scary thought....
 
Whale #1: What the hell was that?
Whale #2: What?
Whale #1: That singing, coming from thousands of miles away, hear it?
Whale #2: What the...I'll be damned. That is weird.
Whale #1: Bursts of rapid phrasing, separated by random pauses and declaimed in the manner of a Classically Trained Stage Actor...could it be?

:goofysca:
 
Clem said:
Hey Taningia,

Have you got the full list of "Most Intelligent" animals?

Also: are squirrels really on the list?

:shock:

Clem

Yep, on the Travel Channel show, squirrels -- that is, a particular breed of squirrel which I don't recall -- were #10, and Octos/Squid were #9 (given Steve-O's opinion of Squid intelligence, I suspect Octos and Cuttles would be more accurate). I also recall that dolphins were #2 and of course great apes were #1. The other six -- though I don't remember their exact order -- were crows, parrots, dogs, pigs, monkeys, and elephants. I do remember that pigs beat out dogs, which I've heard from several sources.

I've noticed that whenever someone compiles a list of "world's most intelligent non-human animals", they're all either mammals or birds, the only inverts being Cephs (usually Octos) and -- occasionally -- honeybees. I don't know if I'd agree with that last one.... not to negate the remarkable collective intelligence of honeybees, but the operative word there is collective: Each hive functions as a formidably efficient unified entity, and the individual bees are analogous to the cells of a body, each with its own specialized function. So perhaps including the vast honeybee community among non-collective intelligences is unfair to the other, individually-functioning animals.

Another thing I've noticed is the conspicuous absence of reptiles, amphibians, and fish from every "most intelligent animal" list I've ever seen. One wonders if there are, indeed, any intelligent species in those (families? phyla? classes? I'm not sure of the scientific classification). I've seen snakes do some awesome stuff on various nature shows. Croc Hunter had more than one encounter with spitting cobras, who always managed to aim at his eyes -- sometimes from several feet away -- with deadly accuracy. (Fortunately Irwin would put on shades before approaching the critters, but he still had to wash off the venom before it had the chance to damage his skin.) Such an attack would require the cobra to identify the location of eyes on a completely different species -- not an easy feat considering how different mammals are from reptiles.

As for fish, sharks and rays regularly visit "cleaning stations" where certain species of small fish remove parasites from their skin. How do the sharks and rays know that this "service" will be offered by the cleaner fish? Perhaps it is instinctive, but it still shows an active participation by the shark or ray in its own wellbeing.

Regarding amphibians -- well, most of them are kinda cute or at least interesting, but I can't think of any particularly intelligent things they do. Still, who knows?

NAKED MOLE RATS RULE!

Taningia
 
i think i have to agree with the people here, about reptiles, fish and birds... lets face it, theyre undeveloped in just about everything we would consider as an indicator for intelligence.

Tomossan
 
Uh, whoa... on what scale are you folks rating intelligence? No offense intended, but comparative psychology is in its infancy at best. In my comp. pscyh. courses, we covered a lot more than Pavlov and determined that non-human intelligence is EXTREMELY hard to measure. Octopuses and their kin show hints of sentience, which also throws a monkey wrench in the tests. Maybe what's needed is to determine whether or not said beastie WANTS to take said test. Also, there are limitations due to brain structure and such. In short, we can't judge non-human intelligence based soley on ourselves.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong...

Sushi and Sake,

John
 

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