There are many different animals on our planet. Each species has certain mental abilities. And although our smaller brothers are significantly inferior to humans in terms of intelligence, sometimes they are simply amazing. Surely everyone had a question about the dumbest animal in the world. Some scientists even conducted special studies to determine the most stupid representative of the animal kingdom. What conclusions did they come to? Has the dumbest animal on the planet been identified? This will be discussed in the article.
Intelligence in animals
According to Darwin, our smaller brothers are not stupid automata, and their mental development is not so hopeless. The scientist also believed that all of them, to a certain extent, have the ability for rational activity. Subsequently, one of Darwin's students in his book analyzed the intelligence of animals from a scientific point of view. Otherscientists opposed such an assessment of the abilities of our smaller brothers. In one of his books, Lloyd Morgan said that a higher order intelligence develops on the basis of more primitive ones. Thus, in his work, a psychological scale of mental abilities was presented. And although this theory has significantly influenced the development of animal psychology, in our time it is no longer good.
The study of the structure of the brain and the abilities of various representatives of the animal kingdom led to the conclusion that our smaller brothers in different environmental conditions demonstrate a wide range of types of mental activity.
Definition of thinking ability in comparative aspect
More recently, the level of mental activity in animals was determined by the abilities, on the basis of which the IQ of people is usually recognized. Thanks to the modern test, you can find out the possibilities for memorization, arithmetic and logic, concept formation and language. Animals have an amazing ability to do something specific. Even the well-trained representatives of our smaller brothers have no way to compare with humans in terms of language abilities. Does this fact mean the dominance of the human intellect or its high specialization in the application of language?
When it comes to comparing the mental abilities of different representatives of the animal kingdom, it is rather problematic to develop a test that is objective in every sense. Often many existing methodsas a result, they allowed to obtain completely different results for animals of the same species using one or another type of equipment used.
Alan Portman Intelligence Scale
Thanks to a professor from the Zoological Institute in Basel, it was possible to identify the most stupid animal in the world. The fruit of the work of Alan Portman in the early twentieth century was the scale of mental abilities. Moreover, its results are very unusual.
The honorable first place with 214 points is occupied by a person. There is no doubt about the favorite, because it is not in vain that we are in the lead in the chain of evolution. In second place, slightly behind humans, are dolphins. In aquatic mammals, the scale is 195 points. The behavior of dolphins indicates a high degree of mental development. Elephants close the top three most intelligent animals with 150 points.
Monkeys, which, according to many scientists, are the ancestors of people, are located in fourth place. At the same time, four-armed mammals scored only 63 points. According to the scale of mental abilities, hippos are the most stupid animals. Clumsy mammals were able to earn only 18 points. As such, their intelligence level is very low.
Description of hippos
Who would have thought that some of the largest modern land animals are the dumbest, according to Professor Alan Portman. Often the weight of hardened males reaches 3 tons. It is no coincidence that the brain of a hippopotamus isvery large in absolute terms. However, relative to the volume of the body, it is extremely small. If a human brain weighs on average 1/40 of the mass of the whole organism, then a hippopotamus has only 1/2789. Most likely, this fact played a key role in the fact that one of the largest modern land animals is at the very bottom on the scale of mental abilities of a professor from the Zoological Institute in Basel.
Life activity of a hippo
A characteristic feature of the largest modern land animals is a semi-aquatic lifestyle. The dumbest animal in the world (a photo with a description is in the article) only at night for several hours they go to land for feeding. During the day, hippos practically do not leave the water.
It is in the aquatic environment that the dumbest animals in the world are born. It is no coincidence that clumsy mammals master swimming much faster than walking. At first, the cubs ride on their mothers' backs, and later with a little help. Adult hippos are excellent swimmers and divers, able to cross long distances and stay underwater for about 5 minutes. On land, the world's dumbest animals, while seemingly clumsy, can sometimes make it through long walks.
The low intelligence of the hippo is not a hindrance to survival
And although clumsy mammals do not shine with ingenuity, this fact does not affect their ability to survive at all. Some of the largest modern land animals live in packs that always have a leader. Thanks to their impressive size, enormous strength and long fangs, even lions and Nile crocodiles find it difficult to compete with hippos. Dust and dirt are actively used as a means of protection against parasites.
Behemoth cannot be tamed
Probably none of the people thought about why there are no numbers with hippos in circuses. During performances, you can often see dogs, monkeys and even elephants. However, hippos continue to be a pipe dream for many circuses.
The status of the dumbest animal on the planet is manifested in the fact that clumsy mammals have no inclination to learn. The hippo cannot be tamed like a monkey or a dog. Some of the largest animals can become very aggressive towards people who try to teach them how to perform in the circus.
Are pets smart?
Many owners of cats, dogs, hamsters and other animals attribute to their pets the ability to think. However, do our smaller brothers really have mental abilities? Many scientists unanimously declare that this is not so. In their opinion, animals cannot perceive information that any words carry. They are only able to respond to emotional coloring and stress. Thus, for pets, it is not the words themselves that matter, but only the combination of sounds.
Many animals play a key role in human life, despite the ongoing debate about their intelligence. For example, dogs are indispensable for border guards and rescuers. Dolphins are actively used for military purposes. Even hippos, which are considered the dumbest animals, manage to successfully survive. Thus, the definition of the thinking ability of animals in our time continues to be a very relative occupation.
