Scientists have made an unexpected discovery - dolphins and humans are probably distant relatives. Perhaps they managed to find confirmation of the myths and ancient legends about dolphins. Through extensive research, experts have found that blood dolphin a (including other marine mammals) and man is very similar in composition. This news stunned everyone. But that's not all. Scientist Christopher Moore (McGovern Institute for Brain Research) stated that the blood of a dolphin not only transports oxygen and nutrients throughout the body like in humans, but also affects the thinking process! In other words, blood actively regulates the information processing that nerve cells perform. If this theory is confirmed, then we can safely say that dolphins and humans think the same way.

In 1949, zoologists proved that all cetacean animals that live in the depths of the sea have a brain that is larger in absolute weight than that of humans. This discovery greatly surprised the American psychoanalyst John Lilly, who became famous for his work in psychiatry and neurophysiology. After such high-profile discoveries, he immersed himself in a more detailed study of dolphins for twelve years. After a lot of experimentation, the scientist expressed a rather amazing theory that dolphins are people of the sea. Perhaps, intelligent humanoids live near us. In addition, in 1967 he published the well-known book The Mind of a Dolphin. Intelligence beyond the human. John Lilly declared to the whole world that we have yet to part with the opinion that a reasonable person is the crown of creation.

Anthropologists also added colors to this hypothesis. They found that during the period of global cooling, the ancestors of people who lived off the coast of the Indian Ocean led a semi-aquatic lifestyle. They foraged for their food in shallow water. And most likely, over time, they moved deeper and deeper from the cold and icy land into the sea. Gradually, from a long swim under water, these people lost their hair, and the body gained “subcutaneous fat”. They have learned to control their breathing underwater. After all, they needed to dive for edible algae and shellfish.

A million years ago, the ancestors of today's dolphins did just that. But over time, they left the land and went forever into the depths of the sea. This is proved by excavations and the very structure of the front fins in modern dolphins. It turns out that under the flippers of all representatives of cetaceans, brushes are hidden, which are very similar to a brush human hand.


Even Plato and Herodotus in their writings suggested that after Atlantis disappeared, some of the inhabitants turned into "water people." These people have created their underwater state on the remnants of a continent that has sunk into the sea. In ancient Indian writings, a certain people of the Danavas is mentioned, who lived under water. In various medieval books, there are also references to reservoirs in which strange creatures lived. They had both a human appearance and at the same time very similar to the underwater inhabitants.

Already in ancient Greece, these marine predators were treated with great respect. But are they as smart as we think? Justin Gregg conducts an investigation.

As soon as the American neurophysiologist John Lilly (John Lilly) opened the skull of a dolphin, a convex pink mass was exposed. He immediately realized that he had made an important discovery. The brain of an animal was huge: even more than a human. It was 1955. After studying the brains of five euthanized bottlenose dolphins, Lilly concluded that these fish-like aquatic mammals must have intelligence. Possibly superior to human intelligence.

When Lilly made his discovery, the relationship between intelligence and brain size seemed simple: the larger the brain, the smarter the animal. We, with our huge brains stuffed into our swollen skulls, by this logic, naturally turned out to be the most intelligent species. Therefore, the dolphins must have been smart as well. But research since then has shown that the dolphin's "claim" to be the most intelligent (apart from humans) is not so well founded. Crows, octopuses, and even insects show intelligence comparable to that of a dolphin, even though they don't even have nearly as much gray matter.

So are dolphins as smart as we think?

CE test

Encephalization Coefficient (EC) is a measure of relative brain size, calculated as the ratio of actual brain size to the average predicted brain size for a mammal of a given size. According to some measurements, the largest EC (7) is in humans, since our brain is 7 times larger than expected. Dolphins are in second place, for example, in large-toothed dolphins, the EC is approximately 5.
However, when it comes to comparing EC with the intelligent behavior of animals, the results are mixed. Large ECs correlate with the ability to adapt to a new environment or change one's behavior, but not with the ability to use tools or imitate. The matter is further complicated by the growing criticism of the very principle of calculating the FE in recent years. Depending on the data fed into the model, humans may end up with normal brain-to-body ratios, while gorillas and orangutans have incredibly large bodies compared to standard brains.

Gray matter

Having a large brain - or a large EC - does not in itself guarantee that an animal will be intelligent. But not only the size of the brain intrigued Lilly. Inside the dolphin's skull, he found an outer layer of brain tissue that, much like the human brain, was twisted like crumpled paper stuffed into a thimble.
The outer layer of the mammalian brain, called the cerebral cortex, in humans is involved in complex cognitive processes, including our ability to speak as well as self-awareness. It turns out that a dolphin's cerebral cortex is larger than a human's. What could this mean?

In many species that have passed tests of self-awareness (such as the mirror test), a relatively large portion of the cerebral cortex is located in front. It is this frontal cortex that appears to be responsible for the ability of chimpanzees, gorillas, and elephants to recognize themselves in a mirror. Dolphins also successfully passed this test. But here's the catch: they don't have a frontal cortex. Their enlarged cerebral cortex is squeezed into the area on the sides of the skull. The front of the brain remains strangely sunken. And since magpies, which also recognize themselves in the mirror, have no cortex at all, we have to scratch our heads in an attempt to figure out which parts of the brain in dolphins and magpies are responsible for self-awareness. Perhaps dolphins, like magpies, don't use their cerebral cortex to recognize themselves in a mirror. What exactly the dolphin's cerebral cortex does and why it is so large remains a mystery.

Name that whistle

This is not the only mystery surrounding the dolphin's intelligence. For many years, the debate about the mismatch of dolphin brains with their behavior has been so fierce that Canadian marine mammal specialist Lance Barrett-Lennard (Lance Barrett-Lennard) was forced to declare: “If the brain of a dolphin was the size of a walnut, this would not affect the that their lives are complex and highly social.”

Lilly might take a stand against the walnut remark. But with the idea that dolphins are socially complex creatures, he would agree. While conducting rather unpleasant invasive experiments on the brains of living dolphins, he noticed that they often call each other (using whistles) and seek comfort from each other. He considered this evidence for the theory that dolphins are social animals and that their communication system can be as complex as human language.

After 15 years, there is evidence that Lilly was not very far from the truth. During experiments, when it comes to understanding the meaning of signs and their combinations in sentences, dolphins cope with tasks almost the same as great apes. It has not yet been possible to establish two-way communication with dolphins as well as with higher primates. But the ability of dolphins to understand signs in laboratory studies is amazing.

However, Lilly's suggestion that the dolphin's communication system is as complex as ours is probably not true. In fairness, it must be said that scientists generally understand practically nothing about how dolphins communicate. But they managed to find out that dolphins have a feature that is not inherent in the rest of the animal world (with the exception of humans). Among some species of dolphins, each member of the species has its own special whistle, which he uses throughout his life and which serves as his "name".

We know that dolphins can remember the whistles of their relatives and playmates, they even remember whistles that have not been heard for 20 years. Dolphins respond when they hear their own personal whistles from others, according to new research, suggesting that dolphins call each other by name from time to time.

Lilly, of course, couldn't know that. But he could very well have witnessed just such behavior during his experiments half a century ago.

How a dolphin learns

If dolphins try to attract the attention of their relatives by calling them by name, then they are to some extent aware that they are conscious. Unlike most great apes, dolphins seem to immediately understand human pointing gestures. This suggests that they are able to correlate mental states, such as looking or pointing, with the people making those pointing gestures. How an animal that does not have hands is able to understand the pointing gestures of a person is simply a mystery. And although there is no evidence that dolphins are fully capable of understanding the thoughts and beliefs of others (some call this a "model of consciousness"), they, wanting to draw people's attention to an object, point to it with their head.

Some awareness of their own thought processes (and the thought processes of other creatures) apparently allows dolphins to solve complex problems, as they did in the laboratory. In the wild, a female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin has been caught removing the skeleton of a cuttlefish to make it easier to eat. This is a long process that requires planning.

When hunting, no less ingenuity can manifest itself. Wild bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia use sea sponges to drive fish out of their hiding place, a skill that has been passed down from generation to generation. Many dolphin populations learn hunting techniques from their peers. Bottlenose dolphins in South Carolina (USA) gather at the shore exposed at low tide to trap fish, while killer whales in Antarctica form groups to create waves and wash seals off the ice.

Such "social learning" is an integral part of the theory of animal culture, defined as knowledge that is passed from animal to animal. This is probably the best explanation for how young killer whales learn the dialect of their family.
One hypothesis for why dolphins have such big brains may redeem Lilly's original ideas: it suggests that dolphins have a kind of social intelligence that makes it possible for them to solve problems, culture, and self-awareness. Many species of dolphins live in complex societies with intricate and ever-changing alliances, and the relationship between groups of males in Shark Bay is reminiscent of the plot of a soap opera. Living in a society riddled with political intrigue requires considerable mental ability, because you have to remember who owes you and who you can rely on. The leading theory is that dolphins developed such large brains because they needed extra "cognitive muscles" to remember all those complex social connections. This is the so-called “social brain” hypothesis.

brainy creatures

This may explain why other animals with complex social lives also have large brains (chimpanzees, ravens, and humans, for example). But do not completely write off the owners of a small brain with a small EC yet. Many of the complex behaviors we see in dolphins are also seen in species that do not belong to complex social groups. A border collie named Chaser knows more than 1,000 signs for objects, a "vocabulary" the size of which would make dolphins and great apes blush when tested under similar conditions. Octopuses use coconut shells to protect themselves from predators. Goats are able to follow human pointing gestures. Fish are able to acquire a range of skills through communication with each other, including defense against predators and foraging. And ants exhibit a behavior called "tandem running," which is probably the best example of non-human learning.

Lars Chittka, an insect behavior scientist, is a strong believer in the idea that small-brained insects are smarter than we think. He asks: “If these insects with such a small brain can do this, then who needs a big brain?”

The more we learn about neuroscience, the more we realize that the relationship between brain size and intelligence is tenuous at best. Dolphins no doubt exhibit a rich range of intellectual characteristics. But what exactly this overgrown nut in the dolphin skull does is now even more of a mystery than before.

Justin Gregg - dolphin communication researcher and author Are Dolphins Really Smart? (Are Dolphins Really Smart)

There is an opinion that dolphins have extraordinary mental abilities that distinguish and elevate them above the rest of the animal world. Some researchers note that they are possibly smarter than humans. These cetaceans have comprehension skills, the ability to show emotions and control behavior. They are one of the few representatives of the natural environment who have passed the test of recognizing themselves in the mirror.

Scientists' opinion

However, recently, against the backdrop of numerous studies, it has become an opinion that these are not the only intelligent representatives in the world of living beings. Justin Gregg, Ph.D., senior fellow at Dolphin Communication, agrees with him in his book Are Dolphins Really Smart?

He argues that their communication abilities are overrated, although whistles and clicks are a complex form of audio signals, but they do not contain the characteristic features of human language. Next, consider other creatures that also have high intelligence to determine which of them is the most intelligent.

Chimpanzee Features

Gregg points out that killer whales are distant relatives of monkeys. “A lot of what they do is very similar to what primates do, which is surprising given how different they are,” he says. But when it comes to human behavior and response to the world, which is one of the main ways in which individuals compare perceptions to each other, killer whales are not on par with chimpanzees.

A 2007 study found that approximately 98% of the DNA in chimpanzees and humans is the same. Observations and experiments show that chimpanzees are capable of empathy, altruism and self-awareness, where their intelligence is similar to belugas. But where they really excel is in cognitive function. Monkeys have deep memories and relatively advanced knowledge of tools. They have been known to use sticks to catch ants and termites as a kind of fishing rod.

Elephant perception

The size of an elephant's brain suggests that its perception must be quite high. Like killer whales, they are able to comfort and help others, and there has even been a recorded case where one of them passed the mirror test. But the elephant lags behind the cetacean in one important area - it does not have a long memory.

Researchers claim that beluga whales have the longest memory in the animal kingdom. It is reported that they can remember the whistles of their relatives up to 20 years. A 2011 elephant perception test revealed that, in alliance with chimpanzees and whales, they are among the most cognitively advanced in the world.

However, elephants do excel when it comes to perception. According to one 2013 study, they are able to decipher ethnicity, gender, and age in people by listening to acoustic signals from voices.

Smart raccoons

Don't think killer whales are smarter than those adorable little trash monsters. Can a white whale pick a lock? But amazing small animals can.

This fact is confirmed by a strange study conducted in 1907. During the experiment, raccoons broke complex locks in less than 10 attempts. Even after they have been replaced or reversed. More recently, these amazing wild animals have been found to have flawless memories and are able to memorize puzzle solutions for up to three years.

Mental abilities of an octopus

These inhabitants of the underwater world are able to communicate, remember those who give them food, they are curious, distinguish the shape and size of objects, and perform actions logically. It is noted that the octopus has the largest brain of all invertebrates, and three-fifths of its neurons are located in the tentacles, forming a control module.

They solve cognitive problems: find and remember the way out of complex labyrinths, open the lid of a jar to eat crabs. They even cooperate with predators to get their prey together. All this indicates their high level of development of perception and some advantages over killer whales. Moreover, an interesting fact is noted - the German aquarium octopus Otto threw stones at the glass and splashed water into the upper lamps. He tried to make a short circuit so that the bright light would not bother him.

Pigs are highly intelligent creatures

Scientists have found that pigs cope with the tasks assigned to them no worse than chimpanzees. The authors of the studies hope that people will soon stop considering them only as meat. It is noted that pigs have a long-term memory, are well oriented, and correctly perform tasks for movement. They understand simple symbolic language and do a lot of really complex primate-like things.

Pigs are highly intelligent creatures, able to recognize themselves in a mirror like killer whales. In addition, they are very sensitive, can empathize with other individuals, gain knowledge that will help them solve problems later. As mothers, they are very caring and love to play with their babies. Several studies have shown that even smarter than dogs and cats, pigs are able to solve problems faster than many primates. Finally, they understand abstract representations and even manipulate the joystick to move the cursor across the screen.

Understanding elementary things by parrots

"Parrots are surprisingly powerful in their symbolic manipulation," says Gregg. Like beluga whales, they are able to understand complex intellectual concepts that most people cannot master until kindergarten. These birds solve puzzles and also understand the paradigm of cause and effect. During the research, one parrot named Alex passed the same intelligence tests as killer whales and monkeys.

It is noted that in many areas he showed good results, and in some even better than other participants in the experiment. When shown various objects, he named 50. He distinguished different colors and remembered numbers up to eight. In addition, the bird recognized the concepts of "different" and "same". It is noted that African gray parrots can learn a large number of words and use them in the context of communication with people.

Metacognition in rats

Psychology and emotional perception of rats are similar to human ones, so they are often used for laboratory experiments. Like killer whales, rats also exhibit altruistic behavior, such as being known to free other rats from their cages during experiments.

They also have metacognition, or awareness of their own thinking, which is a mental ability only seen in humans and some primates. In fact, they were even better than some people at specific cognitive learning tasks. Rats are able to do calculations to get food out of a trap without getting caught, or process sensory cues to analyze situations and escape complex mazes.

The smartest orangutans

According to some experts, orangutans are the most intelligent primates. Compared to belugas, they are able to understand how to build objects and why it is necessary. For example, one 2012 study found that orangutans demonstrated a skillful technique in building safe and comfortable beds. And in 2018, these nerds amazed researchers with their skill at making fishhooks. Primates even used them better than human children in the same experiment!

Conclusion

In scientific circles, in recent years, there has been a noticeable shift in the study of the perception and development of our younger brothers. For many centuries, mankind knew little about their mind. The emergence of a new direction in science - cognitive ethology, dealing with the emotional and intellectual characteristics of living beings, revealed their complex and deep thinking.

Dolphins are the most intelligent creatures created by nature. For many centuries, their behavior has attracted and excited the imagination of people. Meeting with them can cause a storm of enthusiastic emotions. Myths and legends were written about their life. And the extraordinary abilities of these animals remain a mystery at the present time.

Into the depths of centuries

Dolphins appeared on Earth more than 70 million years ago. Their origin, which explains the ability, is shrouded in legends and secrets no less than the appearance of man. People have been studying how the dolphin brain works, their intelligence and habits for many centuries. However, these animals were able to study us much better. For a short period they lived on land, on which they left the reservoir, and then returned back to the water. To date, scientists have not been able to explain this phenomenon. However, there is an assumption that when people find with dolphins they will be able to tell us a lot about their lives. However, this is unlikely.

Weird facts about the dolphin brain

Scientists in many countries of the world are haunted by the brain of a dolphin. They try to understand how it works. These amazing animals, with social skills, trainable and understanding human behavior, are certainly different from other representatives of the fauna. Their brains have undergone unprecedented development over the past few tens of millions of years. One of the differences between dolphin and human brains is that animals have learned to turn off one half of the brain so that it can rest. These are the only representatives of the animal world, of course, except for people who are able to communicate in their own language, through the most complex combination of various sounds and clicks. Scientists have found that dolphins have the foundations of logical thinking, that is, the highest form of mind development. And this amazing fact has been found in mammals. These animals are able to solve the most complex riddles, find answers to difficult questions and adjust their behavior to the circumstances set by a person.

The brain of a dolphin is larger than the human brain, so the brain of an adult animal weighs 1 kg 700 g, and the human brain weighs 300 g less. The convolutions in a person are two times less than in a dolphin. Researchers have collected materials on the presence of these representatives not only of self-consciousness, but also of social consciousness. The number of nerve cells also exceeds their number in humans. Animals are capable of echolocation. An acoustic lens, which is located on the head, focuses sound waves (ultrasound), with the help of which the dolphin, as it were, feels the existing underwater objects and determines their shape. The next amazing ability is the ability to feel the magnetic poles. In the brain of dolphins, there are special magnetic crystals that help them navigate the water surface of the ocean.

The brain of a dolphin and a human: a comparison

Dolphin is, of course, the most intelligent and intelligent animal on the planet. Scientists have found that when air passes through the nasal passages, sound signals are formed in them. These amazing animals for communication use:

  • about sixty basic sound signals;
  • up to five levels of their various combinations;
  • the so-called vocabulary of about 14 thousand signals.

The average human vocabulary is the same amount. In everyday life, he manages 800-1000 different words. In the case of translating a dolphin's signal into a human one, it will most likely resemble a hieroglyph denoting a word and an action. The ability of animals to communicate is considered a sensation. The difference between the brain of a human and a dolphin lies in the number of convolutions, the latter has twice as many.

Dolphin DNA study

Australian scientists after comparing the DNA of humans and dolphins concluded that these mammals are our closest relatives. As a result, the legend was developed that they are descendants of people who lived in Atlantis. And after these highly civilized inhabitants went into the ocean, no one knows exactly what happened to them. According to legend, they turned into inhabitants of the deep sea and retained love for a person in memory of a past life. Adherents of this beautiful legend argue that since there is a similarity between the intellect, DNA structures and the human brain with a dolphin, then people have a common beginning with them.

Dolphin abilities

Ichthyologists, who study the phenomenal abilities of dolphins, claim that they take the second place in terms of the level of intelligence development after humans. But the great apes are only the fourth.

If we compare the brain of a human and a dolphin, then the weight of the brain in an adult animal is from 1.5 to 1.7 kg, which is certainly more than that of humans. And, for example, the ratio of body to brain size in chimpanzees is significantly lower than in dolphins. A complex chain of relationships and collective organization indicates the existence of a special civilization of these living beings.

Test results conducted by scientists

When comparing the brain weight of a human and a dolphin and their body mass, the ratio will be the same. During tests on the level of mental development, these creatures showed amazing results. It turned out that by only nineteen points, dolphins scored less points than humans. Scientists concluded that animals are able to understand human thinking and have good analytical skills.

One well-known neurophysiologist in scientific circles, who worked with dolphins for quite a long time, made the following conclusion - that it is these representatives of the animal world who will be the first to establish contact, and consciously, with human civilization. And the fact that dolphins have an individual highly developed language, excellent memory and mental abilities that allow them to pass on accumulated knowledge and experience from generation to generation will help dolphins in communication. Another assumption of scientists is that if these animals had developed limbs differently, they would be able to write, due to the similarity of their minds with the human.

Some Features

During a disaster that caught in the sea or ocean, dolphins save a person. Eyewitnesses tell how the animals drove away predatory sharks for several hours, not giving any chance to approach the person, and then helped them swim to the shore. It is this attitude that is typical for adults to their offspring. Perhaps they perceive a person in trouble as their cub. The superiority of these representatives of the animal world over other inhabitants lies in their monogamy. Unlike other animals that look for a mate only for mating and easily change partners, dolphins choose them for life. They live in large families, together with the elderly and children, taking care of them throughout their life span. Thus, the absence of polygamy, which is present in almost all inhabitants of the fauna, indicates their higher stage of development.

The subtle hearing of dolphins

The uniqueness lies in the fact that the ability to reproduce a special sound with the help of a sound wave helps to navigate in the expanses of water over long distances. Dolphins emit a so-called click, which, having stumbled upon an obstacle, returns to them in the form of a special impulse that propagates through the water at great speed.

The closer the subject is, the faster the echo will return. Developed intelligence allows them to estimate the distance to an obstacle with maximum accuracy. In addition, the dolphin transmits the information received over great distances to its fellows using special signals. Each animal has its own name, and by the characteristic intonations of the voice, they are able to distinguish all members of the pack.

Language development and onomatopoeia

With the help of a special language, animals can explain to their fellows what needs to be done to get food. For example, during training sessions in a dolphinarium, they share information about which pedal to press in order for a fish to fall out. The human and dolphin brains are capable of producing sounds. The ability to imitate them in the latter is manifested in the ability of animals to accurately copy and transmit various sounds: the sound of wheels, the singing of birds. The uniqueness lies in the fact that in the recording it is impossible to distinguish where the real sound is and where the imitation is. In addition, dolphins are able to copy human speech, though not with such accuracy.

Dolphins - teachers and researchers

They teach their relatives with interest the knowledge and skills they possess. Dolphins take in information out of curiosity about learning new things, not under duress. There are cases when an animal that lived in a dolphinarium for a long time helped trainers teach their fellows various tricks. Unlike other seabed dwellers, they strike a balance between curiosity and danger. During surveys of new territories, they put on the nose capable of protecting them from all sorts of troubles that will meet on the way.

Feelings and mind of an animal

It has been proven that the brain of a dolphin, like a human, is capable of expressing feelings. These animals can feel resentment, jealousy, love, and they will express these feelings quite easily. For example, if aggression or pain was applied to an animal during training, the dolphin will show indignation and will never work with such a person.

This just confirms that they have a long-term memory. Animals have a mind close to human. For example, in order to extract a fish from a rocky gap, they clamp a stick between their teeth and try to push the prey out with its help. The ability to use improvised means is reminiscent of the development of man when he first began to use tools.

  1. These animals have a well-developed intelligence.
  2. When comparing the brain of a dolphin and a human, it was found that the brain of the first, unlike the human, has more convolutions and is larger in size.
  3. Animals use both hemispheres in turn.
  4. The organs of vision are underdeveloped.
  5. Their unique hearing allows them to navigate superbly.
  6. The maximum speed that animals can develop is 50 km / h. However, it is available only to ordinary dolphins.
  7. In representatives of this genus, the regeneration of the dermis is much faster than in humans. They are not afraid of infections.
  8. The lungs take part in breathing. The organ by which dolphins grab air is called the blowhole.
  9. The body of the animal is able to produce a special substance, which is similar in mechanism of action to morphine. Therefore, they practically do not feel pain.
  10. With the help of taste buds, they are able to distinguish tastes, for example, bitter, sweet and others.
  11. Dolphins communicate with the help of sound signals, of which there are approximately 14,000 varieties.
  12. Scientists have experimentally proven that each newborn dolphin gets its own name and that they can recognize themselves in a mirror image.
  13. Animals are superbly trainable.
  14. To search for food, the most common bottlenose dolphins use a sea sponge, putting it on the sharpest part of the snout and thus examining the bottom in search of prey. The sponge serves as protection against sharp rocks or reefs.
  15. India has banned the keeping of dolphins in captivity.
  16. The inhabitants of Japan and Denmark hunt them and use the meat for food.
  17. In most countries, including Russia, these animals are kept in dolphinariums.

It is very difficult to list all the amazing abilities of dolphins, since every year people discover more and more new opportunities for these amazing inhabitants of nature.

website- For quite a long time, experts have studied the language of dolphins and have received truly amazing results. As you know, sound signals occur in the nasal canal of dolphins at the moment air passes through it.

It was possible to establish that animals use sixty basic signals and five levels of their combination. Dolphins are able to create a "dictionary" of 1012 words! It is unlikely that dolphins use so many "words", but the volume of their active "dictionary" is impressive - about 14 thousand signals. For comparison: the same number of words is the average human vocabulary. And in everyday life, people manage 800-1000 words.

Dolphin communication is expressed in sound impulses and ultrasound. Dolphins make a wide variety of sounds: whistling, chirping, buzzing, squeaking, squealing, smacking, clicking, grinding, clapping, roaring, screaming, creaking, etc. The most expressive is the whistle, the variety of species of which includes several dozen. Each of them means a certain phrase (alarm, pain, call, greeting, warning, etc.) American scientists came to the conclusion that each dolphin in the flock has its own name, and the individual responds to it when relatives turn to the dolphin. No other animal has been found to have this ability.

Dolphin Intelligence

The dolphin brain is similar in weight to the human brain. Size doesn't matter in this case. Swiss scientists who conducted research on the abilities of animals found that in terms of intelligence, dolphins rank second after humans. Elephants were third, and monkeys took only fourth place. Not inferior in weight to the brain of an adult, the brain of a dolphin, at the same time, has a more complex structure of cerebral convolutions.

Many scientists these days conduct various experiments with dolphins and come to unexpected conclusions.

In particular, the theory that dolphins, unlike other representatives of the animal world, use "their own language" - not only for communication at the level of survival instinct, but also for the accumulation and assimilation of significant amounts of information. The question is why they need it - if they do not have "intelligent life" in the human understanding. A lot of research is being done in this direction.

An important aspect is that dolphins “see” with their ears. By emitting ultrasound, they calculate the object, thus obtaining some kind of visual image. The hearing of these mammals is hundreds of times sharper than that of a human. He is able to hear the sounds of fellows for hundreds and sometimes thousands of kilometers.

Their dolphin ear sensitivity level is located in the range of 10 Hz - 196 kHz. Perhaps the low-frequency limit is even lower. No living creature on Earth has such a wide frequency range.

With the so-called acoustic sounding of space, dolphins generate about 20-40 signals per second (up to 500 in extreme situations). That is, every second there is information processing comparable to the power of the most complex computers developed by man (Boris. F. Sergeev “Live ocean locators”).

It is assumed that from this kaleidoscope of information, the surrounding space and all the objects in it are reproduced, which, in their information content, is not comparable with our usual visual perception.

It is worth considering that a person receives 90 percent of information through the processing of a visual signal. So dolphins get it due to auditory and echolocation. Moreover, at a level at which a person cannot even create technical devices yet.

The "language" of dolphins

The speech of dolphins - all sorts of “unreasonable” sounds in the human eye, is already now, again on the basis of scientific experiments, is considered in terms of complexity like any human language.

Russian scientists Markov and Ostrovskaya, studying the speech of dolphins, came to the conclusion that it surpasses the human in terms of complexity.

Modern languages ​​have the following structure: sound, syllable and word. of which speech is made. When analyzing the sounds made by dolphins, 6 levels of complexity were identified, which has a structure similar to ancient, forgotten languages. Such languages ​​are based on something like linguistic hieroglyphs. When behind one sound designation (sound, syllable) - in such languages, the equivalent of a semantic phrase in our understanding is laid down. In the case of dolphins, this is a definite whistle.

In the speech of dolphins, mathematical patterns were also found that are characteristic of written texts according to the hierarchy of information arrangement: phrase, paragraph, paragraph, chapter.

Learnability

What are the intellectual abilities of dolphins? First of all, it is worth noting the fast learning of marine life. Dolphins sometimes learn to follow commands even faster than dogs. It is enough for a dolphin to show the trick 2-3 times, and he will easily repeat it. In addition, dolphins also show creative abilities. So, the animal is not only able to complete the task of the trainer, but also to do some more tricks in the process. Surprisingly, this property of the dolphin brain: it never sleeps. The right and left hemispheres of the brain rest alternately. After all, a dolphin must always be on the alert: avoid predators and periodically rise to the surface for breathing.

Dolphins have truly amazing abilities. The famous American neurophysiologist John Lilly, one of the pioneers who studied brain physiology at the University of Pennsylvania, called dolphins a "parallel civilization".

John Lill came close to establishing vocal contact with these animals. Studying the tape recordings that recorded all the conversations and sounds in the dolphinarium, the researcher drew attention to the explosive and pulsating series of signals. It was like laughing! Moreover, in the tape recordings made in the absence of people, some words that belonged to the operators and uttered by them during the working day slipped in a very compressed form! However, the process of teaching dolphins the human language did not go further. Thinking about the reasons for this, Lilly came up with a stunning insight: they got bored with people!

Dolphin therapy

It is actively used in modern medicine, the following facts are confirmed by official studies.

The fact that the patient is in an altered state of consciousness during the session is confirmed by electroencephalographic data (measurements are usually taken before the session and immediately after it). The rhythms of the human brain slow down significantly, the dominant EEG frequency decreases, and the electrical activity of both hemispheres of the brain is synchronized. This state is typical for meditation, autogenic immersion, hypnotic trance, holotropic breathing. In addition, psychoimmunological studies have shown that during sessions of dolphin therapy, the production of endorphins increases significantly. Endorphins help to harmonize the nervous system and set it up for an active and positive worldview.