Wildlife
Learning is the process of picking up new skills. An animal may learn from its own experiences or be taught by another animal, often a parent. Most animal learning is done by observation, followed by trial and error. Play is an important way of learning for many species particularly for honing physical skills such as hunting. Human beings have language, so can speed the whole process up by explaining what the learner is doing wrong and how to correct it.
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Animal Einstein
Presenter Liz Bonnin is pitted against Ayumu the chimpanzee in a memory test.
Presenter Liz Bonnin is pitted against Ayumu the chimpanzee in a memory test.
Chimp genius
Ayumu the chimpanzee can perform memory tasks that most humans find impossible.
Ayumu the chimpanzee can perform memory tasks that most humans find impossible.
Mastering a menu
Meerkat mothers adapt their lessons with dangerous food to suit the different young.
Meerkat mothers adapt their lessons with dangerous food to suit the different young.
Can elephants work together?
Two elephants, two pots of sun-flower seeds and a rope. Can the elephants work together to get their treat?
Two elephants, two pots of sun-flower seeds and a rope. Can the elephants work together to get their treat?
Bubble playtime
Curious bottlenose dolphins investigate a new toy.
Curious bottlenose dolphins investigate a new toy.
Lion
Meerkat
Australopithecus
Bornean orangutan
Chimpanzee
Eastern Gorilla
Hamadryas baboon
Homo erectus
Human
Japanese macaque
Modern and early humans
Neanderthal
Olive baboon
Ring-tailed lemur
Sumatran orangutan
Western gorilla
African bush elephant
Forest elephant
Black-tailed prairie dog
Grey squirrel
Gunnison's prairie dog
Common bottlenose dolphin
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphinAnimal cognition is the name given to the study of the mental capacities of non-human animals. It has developed out of comparative psychology, including the study of animal conditioning and learning, but has also been strongly influenced by research in ethology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary psychology. The alternative name cognitive ethology is therefore sometimes used; much of what used to be considered under the title of animal intelligence is now thought of under this heading.
Research in animal cognition mostly concerns mammals, especially primates, cetaceans, and elephants, as well as dogs, cats, and rodents. However, research also extends to non-mammalian vertebrates such as birds including parrots, corvids, and pigeons, as well as lizards, snakes, and fish, even to invertebrates such as cephalopods, spiders, and insects.
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Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.
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Great crested grebe
Kea
Carrion crow
Crows and ravens
Great tit
Hooded crow
Magpie
Raven
Rook
Eyelash viper
North Pacific giant octopus