GodWearsAGrayHoodie Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 :lol: :lol: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6973994.ece Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons' Jonathan Leake Dolphins have been declared the world’s second most intelligent creatures after humans, with scientists suggesting they are so bright that they should be treated as “non-human persons”. Studies into dolphin behaviour have highlighted how similar their communications are to those of humans and that they are brighter than chimpanzees. These have been backed up by anatomical research showing that dolphin brains have many key features associated with high intelligence. The researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them for food or by accident when fishing. Some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die in this way each year. “Many dolphin brains are larger than our own and second in mass only to the human brain when corrected for body size,” said Lori Marino, a zoologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who has used magnetic resonance imaging scans to map the brains of dolphin species and compare them with those of primates. “The neuroanatomy suggests psychological continuity between humans and dolphins and has profound implications for the ethics of human-dolphin interactions,” she added. Dolphins have long been recognised as among the most intelligent of animals but many researchers had placed them below chimps, which some studies have found can reach the intelligence levels of three-year-old children. Recently, however, a series of behavioural studies has suggested that dolphins, especially species such as the bottlenose, could be the brighter of the two. The studies show how dolphins have distinct personalities, a strong sense of self and can think about the future. It has also become clear that they are “cultural” animals, meaning that new types of behaviour can quickly be picked up by one dolphin from another. In one study, Diana Reiss, professor of psychology at Hunter College, City University of New York, showed that bottlenose dolphins could recognise themselves in a mirror and use it to inspect various parts of their bodies, an ability that had been thought limited to humans and great apes. In another, she found that captive animals also had the ability to learn a rudimentary symbol-based language. Other research has shown dolphins can solve difficult problems, while those living in the wild co-operate in ways that imply complex social structures and a high level of emotional sophistication. In one recent case, a dolphin rescued from the wild was taught to tail-walk while recuperating for three weeks in a dolphinarium in Australia. After she was released, scientists were astonished to see the trick spreading among wild dolphins who had learnt it from the former captive. There are many similar examples, such as the way dolphins living off Western Australia learnt to hold sponges over their snouts to protect themselves when searching for spiny fish on the ocean floor. Such observations, along with others showing, for example, how dolphins could co-operate with military precision to round up shoals of fish to eat, have prompted questions about the brain structures that must underlie them. Size is only one factor. Researchers have found that brain size varies hugely from around 7oz for smaller cetacean species such as the Ganges River dolphin to more than 19lb for sperm whales, whose brains are the largest on the planet. Human brains, by contrast, range from 2lb-4lb, while a chimp’s brain is about 12oz. When it comes to intelligence, however, brain size is less important than its size relative to the body. What Marino and her colleagues found was that the cerebral cortex and neocortex of bottlenose dolphins were so large that “the anatomical ratios that assess cognitive capacity place it second only to the human brain”. They also found that the brain cortex of dolphins such as the bottlenose had the same convoluted folds that are strongly linked with human intelligence. Such folds increase the volume of the cortex and the ability of brain cells to interconnect with each other. “Despite evolving along a different neuroanatomical trajectory to humans, cetacean brains have several features that are correlated with complex intelligence,” Marino said. Marino and Reiss will present their findings at a conference in San Diego, California, next month, concluding that the new evidence about dolphin intelligence makes it morally repugnant to mistreat them. Thomas White, professor of ethics at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, who has written a series of academic studies suggesting dolphins should have rights, will speak at the same conference. “The scientific research . . . suggests that dolphins are ‘non-human persons’ who qualify for moral standing as individuals,” he said. Additional reporting: Helen Brooks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Jet Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Dolphins should be slaughtered by the Japanese for our amusement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 when the aliens come down to talk to the intelligent life, it will be the...... cows......or the whales ? now dolphins ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SenorGato Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'd bet some dolphins are smarter than alot of people. They've got to be one of the top 5 smartest species under 50 million years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiFtheOracle Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'd bet some dolphins are smarter than alot of people. They've got to be one of the top 5 smartest species under 50 million years old. My family dog is smarter than a lot of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharrow Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Does this means we need to get rid of them all before they take over the Earth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbro22 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 If this isn't a reach I odnt know what is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flgreen Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Does this means we need to get rid of them all before they take over the Earth? Who's going to pay for them on the new Health care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodWearsAGrayHoodie Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 If this isn't a reach I odnt know what is. Of course it is. Just having a bit of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SenorGato Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Who's going to pay for them on the new Health care Tax them! They live care free in these waters that we protect so well. If they don't pay then maybe a tuna boat brings in an special haul (well, more special). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serphnx Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Dolphins should be slaughtered by the Japanese for our amusement. It was the chickens man, not the dolphins! **** YOU CHICKEEN!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#27TheDominator Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 :lol: :lol: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6973994.ece Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons' Jonathan Leake Good. Let's prosecute. "Richard Connor and Rachel Smolker observed that male bottlenoses, in that population at least, form durable 'alliances', typically of 3 animals (one dolphin on its own cannot effectively coerce another dolphin), apparently for the specific purpose of forcing copulation on unwilling females, either by all the males or by the two most dominant ones amongst them. Certainly this behaviour could be described as 'gang rape' if it took place within human society, though we should as usual be wary of anthropomorphising." "Dr. Richard Connor, studying dolphins in Shark Bay in Western Australia, has documented cases of males kidnapping and holding females captive, sometimes for months at a time." In 1999, a Norwegian man accused a dolphin of attempted rape after he was reportedly molested while swimming. According to the newspaper Verdens Gang, "The dolphin's penis got caught between the man's swimming costume and his legs." A diving instructor who witnessed the attack claimed that the dolphin also made advances on him, but he was "wearing protection - a wetsuit." In June of 2002, tourists visiting Dorset, England, were warned to avoid contact with a "horny" dolphin named George, who has been harassing swimmers for months. Ric O'Barry, a marine mammal expert, admitted that, "This dolphin does get very sexually aggressive. He has already attempted to mate with some divers." In Robin Brown's jaw-dropping tome, "The Lure of the Dolphin" (Avon, 1979), he writes that dolphins "engage in love-play with almost every creature in sight - with mothers, brothers, fathers, daughters, cousins or aunts. There is even one record of a Bottlenose Dolphin masturbating with a herring." These are from Link but I clearly remember reading about homosexuality and gang rape in the dolphin community in Science Times over 10 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Bit Special Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 There is even one record of a Bottlenose Dolphin masturbating with a herring." pfft. who hasnt mastubated with a herring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Bit Special Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 The researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them for food or by accident when fishing. Some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die in this way each year. If they are so smart, why arent they avoiding the fishing nets? Why arent they forming an alliance and attacking us. Like Snorkie did in the Simpsons? http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/61945/detail/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New York Mick Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Intelligent and friendly on rye bread with some mayonaise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nycdan Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 pfft. who hasnt mastubated with a herring. I just laughed while on a business call. Not easy to cover up but I wasn't going to explain why in detail. Thanks for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doggin94it Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 pfft. who hasnt mastubated with a herring. Especially after a good kiddush, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroadwayJoe12 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 What did the dolphin say to the hot blond? Nothing, he just came on her chest and left. Teh dolfeen isn't there to talk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfilippone Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 As long as they are in our division, they are gonna get beat by the Jets. Let's sweep the dolphins in 2011!! :D/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetPotato Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 This thread has no porpoise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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