Forget porpoises and crows. Prairie dogs may be smarter.
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Simon Paynton 9 months, 2 weeks ago.
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If having a sophisticated language is your measure.
It turns these little ground squirrels have an actual language built on nouns and adjectives (verbs are implied). They may not turn out to be the most intelligent nonhuman animal on Earth as science further examines other candidates, but right now these little guys seem to be the smartest animal we know about, at least when it comes to having a sophisticated language and using it in their daily lives.
This research and researcher have been published in Scientific American.
Last year, animal behaviourist from Northern Arizona University and founder of the Animal Language Institute, Con Slobodchikoff, discussed his research on the vocalisations of the Gunnison’s prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) from Arizona and New Mexico. He discovered that this species’ communication system is so advanced, not only do they have different warning calls depending on the type of predator – coyote, domestic dog, human, hawk – they also construct sentences describing what a particular predator looks like. So, “a medium, rectangle-shaped dog with yellow fur (we call them German shepherds) is approaching”, or “Here comes a tall human being wearing a green t-shirt who is also fat.” (I’m teasing, prairie dogs, I’m sure your sentences sound much more elegant.)
By showing captive prairie dogs a number of simple silhouetted shapes such as triangles, circles and squares, Slobodchikoff also determined that they can come up with new calls to communicate to each other about things they’ve never seen before.
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