The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #138796 Message #3181422
Posted By: GUEST,999 from BBC News (online)
04-Jul-11 - 04:28 PM
Thread Name: BS: Created in the image of God
Subject: RE: BS: Created in the image of God
Scientists highlight fish 'intelligence'
Fish are socially intelligent creatures who do not deserve their reputation as the dim-wits of the animal kingdom, according to a group of leading scientists.
Scientists say fish do not deserve their "dim-witted" reputation
Rather than simply being instinct-driven, the group says fish are cunning, manipulative and even cultured.
The three experts from the universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews and Leeds said there had been huge changes in science's understanding of the psychological and mental abilities of fish in the last few years.
Writing in the journal Fish and Fisheries, biologists Calum Brown, Keven Laland and Jens Krause said fish were now seen as highly intelligent creatures.
They said: "Gone (or at least obsolete) is the image of fish as drudging and dim-witted pea-brains, driven largely by 'instinct',' with what little behavioural flexibility they possess being severely hampered by an infamous 'three-second memory'.
The article continues.