Un. I doubt skeletons are a necessary condition to the development of intelligence or its appearance. But i don’t think octupus have an easier time…super vulnerable and always on the lookout and a very short life span. Hamas is around every octopus coral and crevice.
Teach? You reach i teach. Get that reference and you win a gold star. It is not that other animals don’t teach. It is just that other mammals teach their offspring what is necessary for their survival. Sign language is not one of those necessary skills.
And remember there is the story of macaques washing potatoes after one innovative macaques did it. That has been handed down like a cultural innovation. And there had to be that first chimp who stuck a branch down a termite hole and others copied and incorporated into their cultures if you will. It would be more valuable if humans saw all of the ways we are similar to other animals as opposed to how we are unique. That narrative has played ad nauseum and not done us any damn good.
.
