What is the smartest animal?

[poeima]

What is the smartest animal? and why?

[naz_nomad]

The penguin ... what other animal wears a Tuxedo all day, every day

[WendyS]

Squirrels and rats, because no matter where I hang nut cages for the blue tits, they always find a way of getting at them.

[wolf63]

pusscats - do what they want, when they want and at their own pace.

Being a tom would be much better if it wasn't for the little 'op' that us cat owners insist on.

[B00]

A recent televsion program on the Travel Channel
ranked the 10 smartest animals (in order of increasing intelligence):
"squirrel, squid, raven, dog, pig, parrot, elephant, monkey, dolphin, ape


a squid?!??

[heathfield]

I was going to say 'humans', but I've had second thoughts.

[andy-hughes]

Yes, a squid BOO. Tests have shown that certain species of octopus possess similar intelligence levels to dogs, and can even be taught simple tricks. Still, you wouldn't want one running to the door to greet you after a hard day at the office would you!

[wildwood]

The Ant. An admirable animal which has managed to survive in its present form for millions of years. With a very basic brain it can not think to worry about what tomorrow will bring, so a stressfree life. It will risk its life without fear or hesitation, even against impossible odds, to protect its species. It is the only animal that is at some time or another feared by ALL land animals, including the elephant.

Quite a feat for an animal with a brain the size of a pinprick.

[nat_84]

apparently squirrels are up there (as mentioned above)....

i heard that they hide hundreds and hundreds of nuts and they always remember where they leave each one.

Pretty impressive.

[matt66]

An african grey parrot. it can have a vocab of more than 100 human words and use it in context. So if you leave the house it says goodbye and when you return it says hello. It can talk in sentences and also connect it to the situation or the owners moods. A truly amazing animal.

[curiosity]

I have seen research that confirms that squirrels have a good memory and quickly work things out. At work we have lots of squirrels, and they seem to have worked out when there are less people in the Kitchen and the Domestics are changing shifts!! cos when it's empty at around the same times each day they come in, run to the the dining room through the hatch grab a wrapped cake or piece of fruit off the trolley and make their escape. Spotted by staff from the adjoining corridor regularly.

[happy_face]

well the Squirrel is definitely more smart than me then if it can remember where it hides all its nuts as I'm forever losing things. I have a particular problem with always forgetting where I put my car keys down