marmer

Although not absolutely sticking to the question I find it interesting to comment the following related theme. Very occasionally a chick from a non-fertilized egg is born to a female virgin bird (or at least I have heard so). This is called I belive parthenogenesis, the development of an embryo out of a non fertilized egg. It happens quite often in the most ancient lines of animals but to the best of my knowledge the last two groups of animals to evolve, birds and mammals, virtually never reproduce by this system, birds very occasionally, mammals, never. Has anyone ever heard of a mammal who truly produced a clone of itself? In the past, if this might have ever happened it would have been impossible to ascertain (poor of any woman who would have suffered such an event!). But nowadays it is simple and clear to check any suspicious case and find out the truth. In my opinion there is an interesting question pending a good answer. Why mammals have lost completely the ability to produce clones of themselves when the absolute majority of the rest of the living world (plants, fungi, other animals, microorganisms) can do so?.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I do not mean that it would be good or possible for animals to get smarter, I simply wonder if this might be happening and in that case we, conceited humans, might not realize it. I absolutely agree that there are no "good" ways to test human intelligence since those famous IQ tests are very limited, good for academic knowledge mostly or only. Also you are right that animals in captivity are not the best way to study animal behaviour. So from a strict scientific point we have no serious means to assess the issue. But in any case in my opinion it would be very interesting from an evolutionary point of view to try to guess if intelligence, at least the one shown by means of the use of tools, might be increasing, through mimicry or whatever other means of animal thinking. It is very obvious that the use of tools opens new opportunities for development and access to different resources and this might eventually influence the success and the further evolution of at least some animal species. Anyone knows of other interesting events concerning animal use of tools or other clever reactions in front of challenges?

I saw in a zoo an interesting event: An Asian elephant was using wooden sticks to scratch its armpit, a place which it could not easily scratch with its soft trunk. Some animals use tools, usually the very intelligent ones (and elephants are clever). I do not know if this particular elephant was an animal recovered from India where they are used for farming purposes or if it had invented the trick on its own account or perhaps was it imitating its caretakers. In any case this tool behaviour is known in elephants, according to the wikipedia. Elephants also drink a particular type of mud in order to use its clay as a filter against the poisons of certain plants they eat. Other animals do something similar. The use of tools by animals reflects intelligence and I wonder if intelligence is spreading by mimicry among different animals and different species, at least on a general basis. Humans are by far the most intelligent species, and we learn from others and enlarge our knowledge and problem solving abilities by getting trained within our societies. Are animals getting increasingly intelligent, increasingly able to sort out challenges? If so, is this happening in animals which are regularly in contact with humans? Or is it being observed also in animals completely severed from our lives? I remember a cat of mine. He had learnt to open a difficult door to go in and out to the garden at his own will. That cat was not particularly clever but he must have seen me all the time opening the garden door and took advantage of the tuition. Also I remember my finch who used to go mad with joy when hearing violin concertos, so much that I had to take it out of the room if I wanted to listen at ease. Pet owners have delightful stories to tell. But besides their amusing side these odd stories might have a more significant meaning which could be going quite unnoticed by us, brain masters but sometimes surpirisingly blind. Where lies the limit for animal intelligence, for the higher intellectual resources of different species, of different individuals? Are there any programs to selectively breed intelligent dogs, felines, crows, octopuses, etc? Are there any genetically engineered mice with intelligent traits? Is animal intelligence, everything associated to mental capabilities (appreciation of different sounds, of ways to escape, to find food,...) getting increasingly enlarged since the last 10 thousand years, since animals and humans have been coexisting in not too remote proximity? Are there any fossile indications about tool use by ancient, now extinct species? Are animals learning from us and getting more clever on a large scale?