Tagged: animals

Can we domesticate anything?

Dogs and cats are great companions, but what other animals can be domesticated? Why don’t jockeys ride zebras rather than horses and could we ever domesticate a hippo to take the kids to school? Maddie Moate unravels how humans have shaped the nature of so many species and discovers the boundaries that dictate domestication.

Could we speak the language of dolphins?

For 28 years, Denise Herzing has spent five months each summer living with a pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins, following three generations of family relationships and behaviors. It’s clear they are communicating with one another — but is it language? Could humans use it too? She shares a fascinating new experiment to test this idea.

25 most intelligent Animals on Earth

Although most people wouldn’t typically associate extreme intelligence with animals, that is a bit of a misconception. While they are obviously not able to match the computational and meta cognitive power of the human brain there are certain things some animals specialize in for which their minds are uniquely adapted. In some ways you could say they are smarter (or more functional) than even humans at performing these tasks. These are the 25 most intelligent animals on Earth

Evolution of the Turtle Shell

Evolution of the turtle shell based on developmental and fossil data. This animation is based on the work of Dr. Tyler Lyson, currently at the Smithsonian Institution. The animation shows how various fossils, particularly Eunotosaurus and Odontochelys, bridge the morphological gap between a generalized animal body plan to the highly modified body plan found in living turtles.