1Hi, it's Danny.
2One of my favorite things to do is observe animals and how they act.
3It's just so fun watching all the amazing things they can do.
4This bird is a cockatoo.
5Watch how it dances to the beat of the music.
6...
7And that's not all.
8Some cockatoos use sticks as tools to make beats of their own.
9Pretty amazing, right?
10Okay, let me show you one more.
11Ready for it?
12Introducing an orangutan wearing a hat.
13Orangutans have been known to make umbrella hats out of leaves
14to keep them dry from the rain.
15That's so cool.
16Someone named Claire is curious about another amazing animal.
17Let's give Claire a call now.
18Hi, Danny.
19Hi, Claire.
20I have a question for you.
21Are dolphins really one of the smartest animals in the world?
22That is a great question.
23But before we answer it,
24we kind of have to figure out what counts as smart in the animal world.
25Is it using a tool, like a cockatoo can?
26Or is it solving a problem, like keeping dry from the rain,
27like an orangutan does when it makes an umbrella hat?
28Figuring out how smart an animal is isn't easy.
29But we can find clues to how smart they are
30by observing how they're using their brains to think.
31Watch this elephant move a tire.
32You'll see why in a second.
33And that might give you a clue about how the elephant is using its brain to think.
34...
35Before I go on, I'm curious.
36Why do you think this elephant is moving that tire?
37Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
38Okay, you ready?
39I don't know what you thought, but here's the rest of the video.
40You may have already guessed that the elephant is trying to get to fruit from that tree.
41And finding food like that takes thinking.
42Your dog or cat has to think to find its food bowl.
43A bird has to think to find a worm.
44But what this elephant is doing takes a little more thinking than just finding food.
45It can't reach the fruit in that tree.
46So it's using a tire as a tool to help climb up and get it.
47It takes a special kind of thinking to solve a problem with a tool like that.
48A kind of thinking that only a few animals have.
49Like this dolphin.
50See that thing on its beak?
51That's a sea sponge.
52The dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia, were getting cut by sharp rocks at the bottom of the ocean.
53That is a problem.
54So some of them started wearing sea sponges on their beaks like helmets
55so they wouldn't get hurt while hunting for food.
56Problem solving like that takes more thinking than just finding a bowl of food.
57And it's not just the dolphins in Australia that can problem solve.
58Dolphins all over the world are pretty incredible at thinking like that.
59For example, these dolphins thought up a great way to trap fish.
60See how that dolphin is making a wall of mud?
61The other members of its pod chase the fish into the wall of mud.
62And the fish are getting trapped, like in a big net.
63What a great idea.
64Working as a team to hunt and trapping fish like that definitely takes a special kind of thinking.
65But that's not all these dolphins are doing.
66They're communicating while they're looking for food,
67and that takes thinking to a whole new level.
68Hear those whistles?
69Those whistles aren't just random sounds.
70They mean something.
71See, dolphins use different whistles and chirps to communicate where they are when they're hunting.
72Some types of whistles mean they're happy.
73Some mean they're scared.
74And some types mean they've found a large school of fish to eat
75and need help rounding them all up.
76Dolphins are such good communicators that they even have a special whistle to identify themselves.
77It's like their name.
78They use this special name whistle to tell their pods where they are
79so they don't get lost.
80Kind of like saying, "Hey Mom, I'm over here."
81Pretty cool.
82Dolphins have to think in a special way to communicate like that,
83which makes animal experts believe they're some of the best thinkers in the animal world.
84Communicating takes thinking.
85So observing how animals like dolphins communicate is a good way to tell how smart they are.
86But it's not the only way.
87You can also observe how an animal thinks by using one of these:
88a mirror.
89I'm serious.
90A mirror is a great way to tell how an animal thinks.
91When we look at a mirror, we know we're looking at ourselves,
92and that takes a certain type of thinking.
93We have to think, "Hey, that person in the mirror is moving their arms like I am,"
94"and they're smiling like I am."
95"Whoa, that's me!"
96But believe it or not, most animals don't recognize their reflections in a mirror.
97They might ignore it.
98They might think it's another animal and try to play with it.
99Or they might even get scared.
100But not dolphins.
101Bottlenose dolphins not only recognize themselves in a mirror,
102they even seem to enjoy it.
103They'll open their mouths to see what's inside.
104Or do tricks in front of it just for fun.
105Now, dolphins aren't the only animals that can recognize their reflections.
106Chimpanzees can.
107So can orangutans.
108And some elephants.
109But there just aren't that many that can.
110And that's just one more reason why animal experts believe...
111that dolphins are one of the smartest thinkers in the world.
112Sure, all animals think.
113But dolphins show a special kind of thinking
114when they solve problems by using tools, like sea sponge helmets.
115When they communicate with each other while they're hunting for food
116and have special whistle names for themselves.
117And when they recognize themselves in a mirror,
118which is something most animals can't do.
119Amazing.
120That's all for this week's question.
121Thanks, Claire, for asking it.