I watched a video of some dude saving a sloth from the middle of the road. Dude puts sloth in tree and sloth turns and looks — and ALMOST waves and smiles. So that tossed me right in the rabbit hole of finding out how smart a sloth really is.
My Google search results told me pretty quickly that there’s not 100% agreement on what animals are the smartest. New research says dogs are smarter than cats — and it seems that all agree on that. While one article said chimps are the smartest animal — another said elephants are smarter.
All the articles I read included dogs, pigs, cows, cats, rats, parrots, and octopuses (in addition to chimps and elephants). Other “experts” included whales, squirrels, horses, raccoons and owls in their research as having a high IQ. MY dogs weren’t included in any research data so it’s not valid anyway.
Dharma is so smart it took me awhile to figure out why she loves laying under the window with a curtain draped over her. She thinks she’s the wizard! (You know… Wizard of Oz and the “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”)
Back to the sloth… sadly, sloths are listed in top 10 “dumbest animals in the world” list. Right there with the goblin shark and the dumbest of all… the turkey.
TIL (Today I Learned): Alex, the African Grey Parrott was subject to a 30-year study that concluded he was as smart as a 5-year old.