Science and Nature

Animal IQ

We know animals are intelligent, but what we don’t know is how to compare the intelligence of one animal to another. Our Animal IQ Rubric helps us measure five domains of intelligence to finally answer the question: how smart are Earth’s animals?

Baby Penguins Can Navigate Better than You

8m 27s

Penguins are fascinating creatures, not just because of their physical characteristics. They’re amazing at creating mental maps, can recognize each other’s calls, and hunt in a coordinated way. Penguins might not be the smartest animal on our list, but they’re pretty incredible in their own way.

Episodes

  • Baby Penguins Can Navigate Better than You: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Baby Penguins Can Navigate Better than You

    S1 E3 - 8m 27s

    Penguins are fascinating creatures, not just because of their physical characteristics. They’re amazing at creating mental maps, can recognize each other’s calls, and hunt in a coordinated way. Penguins might not be the smartest animal on our list, but they’re pretty incredible in their own way.

  • Foxes: Dog Hardware, Cat Software: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Foxes: Dog Hardware, Cat Software

    S1 E2 - 8m 55s

    Foxes are described as “dog hardware running cat software.” These animals are incredible problem solvers, build extremely detailed mental maps of their environment, and can recognize individuals. Over the last 70 years, some foxes were selectively bred to be friendly to humans, and these descendants behave completely differently than their wild counterparts. What can we learn about IQ from them?

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