these are likely to be the smartest creatures you'll ever come across in the animal kingdom it's only your first try but you're treating them like equals they're sheep they're inferior no they're not course they are we are the Masters babe welcome to watchmojo.com and today we're counting down our picks for the top ten intelligent animals collectively they can achieve high intelligence somewhat like how your brain works for this list we're looking at the animals that are known to possess smarts and intelligence that may even remind us of human intelligence at times but we are excluding
human beings from our choices number ten raccoon [Music] found in North America this mammal even looks like a bandit so it's not that surprising that it's no stranger to seeking food from the trash or being pests in people's homes however the raccoon also has perhaps surprisingly amazing intelligence studies have shown that these clever beasts have been able to recall solutions to complex problems and even identify and differentiate different symbols up to three years after learning them some experts have also said that raccoons performed very high on a mammal IQ test way to go you marvelous
massed mammals that was a pretty good plan number nine border collie the poodle and German Shepherd usually round out the top three most intelligent breeds but Border Collies are canine rocket scientists often considered the smartest dogs in the world the border collie is known for its sheep herding skills unstoppable stamina and the need to keep themselves busy with any task that's presented to them it's said that these quick-thinking dogs can find escape routes out of their pens by opening locked doors and unlocking gate what is 3 times 2 they can even pick up different variations
in our tone of voice while we're giving them a command and they observe how we use our hands during training number 8 African Grey parrot it's fairly common knowledge that parrots are smart birds that can be trained to say short sentences and to mimic human speech couldn't start the car we had to take the spaceship if you decided to shoot the lasers they've even been known to mimic ringing telephones and the sound of garbage trucks backing up what's different what's different that's right and we'll color bigger what color bigger good bird in a 2011 study
African Gray parrots were discovered to have skills of deduction and elimination after undergoing experiments that had them figuring out where food had been hidden which is a type of intelligence previously only observed in humans and primates paper that's right for birdie of course their proven ability to be taught to say more than 100 words is quite impressive as well how many corner [Music] corner 6 corner that's right what do you want number 7 pig pigs are smart pigs are not smart apparently there is intelligent as dolphins advantage dolphin believe it or not these popular farm
animals are actually trainable in fact their memories last up to 3 years and they can adjust to certain conditions during survival mode Nellie has no problem scoring a goal but all of our three children find this task far harder pigs also have a good sense of direction and can find their way over long distances but the piglet quickly realizes the food is just a reflection and to reach it he has to walk behind the barrier what's perhaps more surprising is that a pig can also learn to play a Penn State University professor found that all
a pig needed was a joystick a computer and joystick oriented video games and the result was the pig using his snout to move the stick I don't go number six rat [Music] small and resourceful these rodents are known to adapt very well in changing situations they also have excellent memories since its said that they never forget a certain navigational route in a 2011 study rats even showed social intelligence when presented with food many of them first liberated the caged rats in the experiment so both of them could eat in terms of communication rats can communicate
by touch smell and even at frequencies we can't hear rats can also recognize their names and respond when they're called [Music] number five orangutan hanging out this reddish brown ape is one of the most intelligent primates on earth alongside chimpanzees native to Southeast Asia orangutans have been shown to be able to communicate with people through the use of symbols and sounds and can use tools in various applications orangutan z' can also communicate via sign language and our skilled nest builders making new ones every evening in just a few minutes and choosing branches that support their
weight number for Crowe it said that these crafty birds actually wait patiently for a car to crack the shell of a nut collect your crack not in safety while that may be true crows have also proven that they have reasoning abilities rivaling that of a human seven-year-old crows are arguably the only non-primate animals that use tools for example using sticks and hooks which they use to take grub out from logs and branches found in almost all parts of the world crows also have the ability to distinguish different people by recognizing facial features and when we
put our masks on I think you'll see a dramatically different response to the birds then certainly we're seeing right now number three elephant Earth's biggest land animal is well known for having a long memory span and an ability to show empathy towards each other they say Duchess is the more intelligent one because she doesn't bother to work out these things she waits for Gaye to do it and then just helped herself once guys sussed it out elephants also use physical contact and vocal sounds to comfort other elements when they're distressed they can also recognize twelve
distinct tones of music and recreate melodies and yes there is an elephant band what might be more surprising is that they apparently experience grief when mourning the deaths of other members of their species they fall strangely silent as they fumble the bones located in Africa and Asia elephants also seem to understand human language and even mimic human voices number two bottlenose dolphin with the biggest brains of any other animals of the same size averaging about 3.5 pounds it's not surprising that the bottlenose dolphin is one smart mammal I really hand it to these animals just
how how quickly they learn something as complicated as that they show off their cleverness by intentionally making underwater bubble rings to amuse themselves studies have shown that they also have self-awareness as proven by their ability to recognize their reflections in a mirror found in temperate and tropical waters around the world bottlenose dolphins are even known to use marine sponges to avoid injuries and are intelligent problem-solvers Luna hit the squid symbol and then she made a little buzz of happiness that she managed to trigger it she can now go back to the trainer and she will
be given a squid before we reveal our top pick here are some honorable mentions this clearly demonstrates learning not just of one or two actions like the garden birds but a whole sequence of actions the observed octopuses gathering empty coconut shells walking across the seafloor with them and then assembling the two halves of the coconut into a shelter by linking legs the worker ants create a living raft supported by the surface tension of the water and observe the brilliance of what they have learned to cooperate hunting their prey with many acting as one pack the
pod leader emits a sound that cues all the whales to ascend with mouths open number one chimpanzee you probably guessed that our top pick was going to be this intelligent animal as the chimpanzee alongside the orangutan is most often considered the smartest ape and animal of all in this interaction we can see Kip and William or chasing around and you can see that it's a playful into action because William actually has a play face native to Africa chimps have even been known to outwit human beings and they may have better short-term memories than humans at
least according to a 2013 study but even when the PRI played a youmu against their best human students who were given regular practice sessions are you moose still be told humans chimps are also skilled problem solvers with an ability to observe and figure out certain situations and use tools like stones and sticks when searching for food that's no monkey business [Applause] do you agree with our list never send a monkey to do a bird's job what do you think is the most intelligent animal on earth Who am I kidding we are what we are and
we're rats for more informative top 10s published every day be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com [Applause] [Music]
