Credit: Provided by Ocean180 Video Challenge
Summary:
We've all heard the expression "monkey see, monkey do," but actually, that's a myth. Imitation is very rare in the animal kingdom.
Full Text:
We've all heard the expression "monkey see, monkey do," but actually, that's a myth. Imitation is very rare in the animal kingdom.
Apes can imitate sometimes, but – apart from humans – the animal best at imitation is the dolphin. The Dolphin Research Center explored this ability further by asking one of their dolphins to copy the behaviors of another dolphin while blindfolded (i.e. wearing soft suction cups that cover the eyes). And he could do it! But how? Without the ability to use his vision, the dolphin must've used sound, either by echolocating to "see" the behavior, or by recognizing the characteristic sound the behavior makes. This shows that dolphins not only have the ability to imitate, but can imitate with a problem-solving flexibility (i.e., easily switching between sight and sound) that's never been seen outside of humans.