There is some brand new research on those New Caledonian Crows
that seem to be able to do all sorts of things we thought only
smart Humans could do (like making tools, understanding physics,
that sort of thing). I’ve written it up here: The Incredulous
New Caledonian Crows, on 10,000 Birds, where, as you know, I
write a monthly entry on bird evolutionary biology. It turns out
they can do something that I’m not so sure all humans are great
at. Other than flying.  Please go have a look!     1. #1 jane
September 19, 2012      I would be surprised if many intelligent
animals didn’t do the same thing; it just makes sense as a way
of interacting with the world. My cat will put up with or sleep
through almost any amount of familiar noise, but if there’s even
a small atypical noise (e.g., last night, an envelope sliding
off a pile of stuff while she was napping), she will hop up to
investigate it at once. In a potentially dangerous environment
it would not be rational behavior to ignore unexplained events,
but it