Tipping the Scales

NEW SCIENTIST THIS week (Issue 2451) has a lot to say about how much we've underestimated the way the minds of animals work. Apparently it's all down to evolutionery snobbery. ( The long held prejudice which declares that since we're obviously more evolved than they are, they can't possibly think how we think.) Pick of the essays was Culum Brown's essay on the secret thoughts of fish.
"Fish are more intelligent than they appear. In many areas such as memory, their cognitive powers match or exceed those of 'higher' vertibrates, including non-human primates. Best of all, given the central place memory plays in intelligence and social structures, fish can not only recognise individuals but can also keep track of complex social relationships."



What next, I wonder? Civil Servants with initiative?