Intelligence in the Wild Kingdom

Throughout history, intelligence has often been considered a quality unique to humans, but that conventional wisdom has been shattered over the years as research continues to turn up examples of animals, birds and fish that can develop vocabularies, communicate and even roast marshmallows over a campfire.

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The belief that intelligence was human-specific was held by a list of influential thinkers, such as Rene Descartes, who argued that unlike people, animals were simply mindless creatures incapable of any complex thought. Even the scientific classification homosapien, which in Latin translates to "wise man," seems to highlight this distinction.