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Flipper Fail: Dolphins May be Dumber Than We Think
Der Spiegel ^ | September 27, 2013 – 01:49 PM | Philip Bethge

Posted on 09/29/2013 5:17:29 PM PDT by Olog-hai

Their social lives are complex, and they can congregate in large groups. Their heart rates increase when they notice a family member suffering. They sound the alarm when they discover food or a potential threat. And experiments have shown they even anticipate future events. Biologist Justin Gregg is talking about chickens.

For more than 50 years, the dolphin has been viewed as an especially intelligent creature, grouped together with human beings and great apes. But now a dispute on the subject has erupted among scientists, and the smart aleck of the seas may end up being just an average mammal. “We put them on a pedestal for no reason and projected a lot of our desires and wishes on them,” says neuroethologist Paul Manger of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. According to the professor, the claims that dolphins have a particularly complex brain, use a sophisticated language, are self-aware and can use tools are nonsense. …

(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Miscellaneous; Pets/Animals; Science
KEYWORDS: brainpower; chickens; dolphins; intelligence
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1 posted on 09/29/2013 5:17:29 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

the dumber they are, the more delicious..


2 posted on 09/29/2013 5:29:26 PM PDT by max americana (fired liberals in our company after the election, & laughed while they cried (true story))
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To: Olog-hai

Yeah, but at least they’re off to a 3-0 start.


3 posted on 09/29/2013 5:30:25 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: max americana

When I wasa kid, there was no dolphin free tuna. It tasted good and we liked it!
Put the Dolphin back in tuna!/H


4 posted on 09/29/2013 5:33:23 PM PDT by 9422WMR (: " Tolerance is the virtue of a man who has no convictions".)
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To: Olog-hai
Their social lives are complex, and they can congregate in large groups. Their heart rates increase when they notice a family member suffering. They sound the alarm when they discover food or a potential threat. And experiments have shown they even anticipate future events. Biologist Justin Gregg is talking about chickens.

The real question is: Are Democrats smarter than chickens?

Let's look at the evidence for Democrat intelligence vs. chickens:

Chickens vs. Democrats

Their social lives are complex Democrats: Check
they can congregate in large groups Democrats: Check
heir heart rates increase when they notice a family member suffering. Democrats: Check.
They sound the alarm when they discover food Democrats: Check
or a potential threat. Democrats: Fail
they even anticipate future events.Democrats: Fail

There we have it: Chickens are smarter than Democrats.

5 posted on 09/29/2013 5:38:23 PM PDT by Michael.SF. (0bama lied, Stevens died, now 0bama covers up the lies.)
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To: Olog-hai

Well, now the intelligent ones left, leaving behind the message “so long and thanks for all the fish.”


6 posted on 09/29/2013 5:42:08 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. (Yogi Berra))
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To: Olog-hai

Great! Can we finally have Tuna-free Dolphin in stores?


7 posted on 09/29/2013 5:43:14 PM PDT by montag813 (NO AMNESTY * ENFORCE THE LAW * http://StandWithArizona.com)
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To: Olog-hai

Grilled dolphin for everybody!


8 posted on 09/29/2013 5:47:48 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (What's the frequency, Kenneth?)
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To: Olog-hai

For later.


9 posted on 09/29/2013 5:54:05 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C. Clarke)
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To: Olog-hai

As L'Oreal says, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful! "

10 posted on 09/29/2013 5:56:45 PM PDT by workerbee (The President of the United States is DOMESTIC ENEMY #1)
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To: Olog-hai

A friend went swimming with the dolphins while visiting Puerto Vallarta (I think). She had fun & asked the trainers if the dolphins enjoyed the interaction with humans. The response was, “They like the fish.” LOL!


11 posted on 09/29/2013 5:57:24 PM PDT by Twotone (Marte Et Clypeo)
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To: Olog-hai

It seems Flipper was a flash in the pan.


12 posted on 09/29/2013 6:00:07 PM PDT by Misterioso (Was born an atheist 76 years ago and haven't changed my mind.)
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To: Olog-hai
I remember as a naive kid hearing that dolphins were known to push shipwrecked sailors to shore and telling it to my grandfather. He promptly replied; “Of course the ones they pushed the other way never got to tell their story”. Gramps was a realist.
13 posted on 09/29/2013 6:00:52 PM PDT by CrazyIvan (Obama phones= Bread and circuits.)
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To: Olog-hai

Good. I’m sick and tired of hearing how “intelligent” they are all the time.


14 posted on 09/29/2013 6:19:20 PM PDT by Thorliveshere (I wish I lived in Texas.)
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To: CrazyIvan
Herodotus tells the story of how Arion was carried to safety on the back of a dolphin--he proves it by citing a statue of a man riding on a dolphin which Arion dedicated. This would have been around 600 B.C. Of course if it is in Herodotus it must be so.

Arion was supposedly the best singer in the world. The sailors on the ship he was traveling on were about to throw him overboard but they allowed him to sing before he went overboard--so it may be that he was rescued because the dolphin liked his singing.

15 posted on 09/29/2013 6:22:42 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: 9422WMR

If dolphins were so damn smart they wouldn’t be ending up in Starkist Tuna cans. The way the animal rights kooks described the dolphin’s intelligence you would think they could do calculus equations or figure out the genetic code for humans. I guess those eek eek sounds from Flipper and his crew were not signs of intelligence after all.


16 posted on 09/29/2013 6:24:42 PM PDT by dowcaet
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To: Olog-hai

I watch porpoise a lot. They are always having sex. That is all they do.


17 posted on 09/29/2013 6:32:03 PM PDT by US_MilitaryRules (Tastes like Heaven, Burns like Hell! Mmmmmm. What is it?)
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To: dowcaet

I have loved dolphins since I was a kid and went to the Seaquarium and watched Flipper. I think dolphins are smart and beautiful.


18 posted on 09/29/2013 6:36:42 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: workerbee

Your caption doesn't seem right.

To me it's saying, "Eat me."

19 posted on 09/29/2013 6:59:30 PM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: Olog-hai

Just some jack wagon contrarian.

Dolphins are our friends.


20 posted on 09/29/2013 7:02:38 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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