Sunday 29 October 2017

Dolphins have ‘human-like’ societies...but are held back by a lack of opposable thumbs, say scientists



 Sarah Knapton, science editor 
16 OCTOBER 2017 • 4:00PM

Whales and dolphins live in human-like societies and share similar brain evolution to primates and man, scientist have concluded.

A new study which looked at 90 species found a link between brain size and social and cultural traits in marine mammals.

It is the first time that scientists have considered whether ‘social brain hypothesis’ applies to whales and dolphins, as well as humans. The theory suggests that intelligence developed as a means of coping with large and complex social groups.

Just like humans, whales and dolphins live in tightly-knit social groups, cooperate with other species, talk to each other and even have regional dialects.


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