Are mammals closest to human size the smartest?

Question

In general, we believe the smaller the animal, the less intelligent. The larger the animal past the size of humans, the less intelligent (in general). Dolphins are smarter than Hippos that are smarter than Elephants.

I agree with you. I point out a bias we have thinking that the very small or very large are somehow less intelligent. Is a cat smarter than a mouse because of size alone? I do not know.

Answer 1

It depends. There are ALOT of mammals which are about the same size as humans.
Some dolphins are about the size of humans...and dophins are intelligent animals- in fact they are one of 3 animals which can identify themselves in a mirror- the other two are chimps and humans.
Chimps are extremely smart too, AND are also the close to human size.
But some animals which are much smaller than humans are smart...such as the african grey parrot.
African grey parrots have been taught to identify objects, calculate, and even speak! They say that an African grey has the intelligence of about a seven year old...thats smart!
So yea..it depends on the animal^^

Answer 2

I don't know about hippos being smarter than elephants, and it isn't the size of the animal...it's the size of the brain and how many different lobes it has. Also, the more wrinkles in a brain means more intelligence. A manatee for example...is a large mammal but they aren't intelligent. Cute and gentle, yes...but their brains are basically set up to swim, breathe and eat, and they are almost completely smooth.

Answer 3

Mmm I'm not sure. I know that lots of birds are very small, and they're really smart.
How are hippos smarter than elephants?
I think lots of mammals are smart, but that doesn't mean a certain kind of mammal is smarter than another because of size.
I thought elephants were really smart. They're the only other animal besides humans that mourn the death of another.

Sorry I'm sort of rambling. I'm done

Answer 4

CERTAINLY NOT!

Its true that scientists have related brain weight and size to intelligence AND SMARTNESS but apparently they have not yet discovered reliable ways of ranking inter-species smartness so what will be the basis of ranking the smartness of mammals of different species?.

Obviously a human with a larger brain than his neighbor's is not a guarantee that he is going to be smarter. With that, how can you determine the smartness of animals by comparing it to the size of the humans.

Every mammal or animal in general have smartness on their own ways.

Answer 5

Because our ancestors moved to the grassy plains of Africa and the other apes remained in the jungle. Once they were in two different environments, the different pressures of natural selection caused them to develop very significant changes. Apes that brachiated (traveled by swinging under branches) developed hips that were looser and could swing better while hanging straight down. When this ape moved to the grassy plains (or when it's wooded environment turned into grassy plains over a long period of time) it's looser, more erect hips and opposable thumbs (originally developed for grasping branches) meant that walking upright enabled it to carry things, like food, a huge advantage. It also enabled it to see above the tall grass and to take advantage of the cool breezes flowing above the grass. Without the shade of the trees, it became more efficient to lose the hair. The combination of walking upright and the opposable thumbs probably enabled it to create and use more sophisticated tools. Very closely related species are almost always found very close to each other, usually separated by a geographic barrier. There is usually a river, a mountain range, or a canyon between them, indicating that they once were the same species, but became separated, and natural selection and genetic drift brought them in different directions. @ Notwsurf: Dr. Ian Tattersall does not say that we are not related to apes. He is an evolutionist. He knows that we did come from apes. Google his name, you will find non-religious websites quoting him correctly, including the places he has worked, like Yale University and The Museum of Natural History.

Answer 6

i don't believe this is necessarily true. It is known that mice are very intelligent. They could learn about tricks that people are making to hunt them, and they wouldn't go to a place where they almost got caught twice. They are very smart although they're tiny. I don't think brain size has any thing to do with it either, it's the brain wrinkles and lobes that tell how smart a being would be

KING

Answer 7

Scientists quantify the intelligence of an animal by the ration of it's brain weight to it's body weight. Humans are not intelligent because we have big brains, we are intelligent because our brains make up more of our body weight percentage then other animals. So people with small heads and big bodies are dumb.

Answer 8

Chimps are smarter than Gorrillas