Surprisingly smart: 'It was something we were hoping to find, since studies have shown that they have a large brain and high cognitive ability,' says McGowenDolphins are born to be intelligent - and share many of the genes that make them brainy with us.
A new study of the genome of the bottlenose dolphin has shown that the aquatic mammals share many genes with human beings.
The finding could be key to understanding why dolphins have such big brains.
Dolphins can recognise themselves in mirrors and understand ideas such as 'zero' - an ability normally restricted to primates such as chimpanzees and humans.
Dolphin brains involve completely different wiring from primates, especially in the neocortex, which is central to higher functions such as reasoning and conscious thought. Dolphins are so distantly related to humans that it's been 95 million years since we had even a remotely common ancestor.
Thanks for all the fish: Bottlenose dolphins are born to be intelligent - and share many of the genes that make them brainy with usYet when it comes to intelligence, social behavior and communications, some researchers say dolphins come as close to humans as our ape and monkey cousins.
'We are interested in what makes a big brain from a molecular perspective,’ researcher Michael McGowen, of Wayne State University School of Medicine in Michigan said in an interview with Livescience.
‘We decided to look at genes in the dolphin genome to see if there are similarities in the genes that have changed on the dolphin lineage and those that have changed on the primate lineage.’
They found 228 gene sequences in dolphins had changed significantly relative to other mammals such as cows, dogs, horses and humans.
About one in 10 of those genes affects the nervous system - and could be key to understanding the creatures' mental powers.
'It was something we were hoping to find, since studies have shown that they have a large brain and high cognitive ability,' says McGowen.
‘They understand concepts like zero, abstract concepts. They do everything that chimpanzees do and bonobos can do,’ said Lori Marino, a neuroscientist at Emory University who specializes in dolphin research.
‘The fact is that they are so different from us and so much like us at the same time.’
Dolphin brains look nothing like human brains, Marino said. Yet, she says, ‘the more you learn about them, the more you realize that they do have the capacity and characteristics that we think of when we think of a person.’
These mammals recognize themselves in the mirror and have a sense of social identity.
They not only know who they are, but they also have a sense of who, where and what their groups are.
They interact and comprehend the health and feelings of other dolphins so fast it as if they are online with each other, Marino said.
source: dailymail
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