Animal reflections

[Kinetic]

I was thinking about our obsession with our own reflections: but is there any animal that recognises its own reflection? If so, could it distinguish itself as more attractive / different than it's animal counterparts?

[CheekyChops]

Elephants can for sure, it was in the news a few weeks ago, see here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6100430.st m

[Noweia]

I think the list of animals that can recognise themselves in a mirror stands at elehpants, chimpanzees, dolphins and of course humans!

As for attractiveness, I don't think there's really any way of knowing!

[NiceCupOfTea]

I don't know about my cats though. The first time Jerry jumped onto our mantelpiece and saw herself in the mirror she hissed at herself and fell off the mantelpiece, which of course had us all in stitches. After that she would just ignore herself in the mirror, but still spend time staring round the reflected room in the mirror.

We thought maybe it was because she realised she couldn't feel the other cat through the glass or something. However, two cats separated by a window still always used to yowl and hiss at each other, or at least notice the other was there and move away.

Can any one explain that, if they didn't know the difference between the real cat on the other side of a window and the unreal cat reflected in a mirror? We thought possibly smell, but they acted too nonchalant with their reflections for that to be the reason.

[barneyboo]

They don't actually recognise it as themselves though, they think that it is another one of them, as animals do not have any awareness of self ?. I saw a programme once where they put a mirror in a chimpanzee's cage in a zoo and it smashed it in a rage because it thought that it was another chimpanzee intruding into its territory.