Elephants more reflective than most
Lately, when I look in the mirror, I also see an elephant. What's up with that?
If you're Happy and you know it, pat your head.
That, in a peanut shell, is how a 34-year-old female Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo showed researchers that pachyderms can recognize themselves in a mirror. It's complex behaviour observed in only a few other species.
The test results suggest elephants, or at least Happy, are self-aware. The ability to distinguish oneself from others had been shown only in humans, chimpanzees and, to a limited extent, dolphins.
If you're Happy and you know it, pat your head.
That, in a peanut shell, is how a 34-year-old female Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo showed researchers that pachyderms can recognize themselves in a mirror. It's complex behaviour observed in only a few other species.
The test results suggest elephants, or at least Happy, are self-aware. The ability to distinguish oneself from others had been shown only in humans, chimpanzees and, to a limited extent, dolphins.
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