Impressive raven

[Darthwing Teorist]

This was posted in TNT, but here it is at Dmitri's suggestion:
http://www.gardianul.ro/files/swf/bending_trial.swf

[Darth Rock&Roll]

bet ya didn't know that not only do they use tools, they can talk. Ravens and Crows also have a language of their own.

If you can find it, there si a book titled pretty much that "The language of ravens and crows". Originally in sanskrit (Tibetan).

cool stuff brother raven is.

[Dmitri]

That's just mind-boggling to me. "Opposable thumb" my ass...

I bet there are some humans out there who would fail that test.
(And probably some other species, some that we never could have imagined to be capable of something like that, would pass.)

[cdobe]

Clever chap !

[Bhassler]

Pshaw. Clearly, that is not a bird. Where, pray tell, do the taiji classics talk about birds using tools, hmmmm? See? As I thought, no bird indeed...

[edededed]

Wow! Gotta respect all those crows that I see here, I guess...

[affa]

interestingly, the theoretical pendulum these days is swinging toward the idea that human speech (sound not meaning) is practically the same sort of computational mechanism as birdsong. they beat us to the punch on that one. recursive syntax coupled with "mind reading" (based on physical cues, not psychism) is apparently what makes humans so special. again, interestingly... some folks are starting to think that recursive syntax is an evolutionary outgrowth of "hand-to-eye-to-thrown-trajectory" tracking... which sort of fits in with the whole "tool making's not quite so special" thing. seems to be more about deploying the tools with foresight, rather than just making them.

[Muad'dib]

What is interesting is that birds are basically lineal descendants of dinosaurs, and dinosaurs had much larger brains than crows... Who knows, maybe Raptors had their own advanced civilization? Maybe, since dinosaurs are essentially birds and birds dinosaurs, that civilization died out of a massive bird/dinosaur flu outbreak...

There is also a great video from Tokyo of a Crow or group of crows that would steal coins from a temple's offering plate, and then fly over to a bird feed vending machine, put the coin in, and take the birdseed.

[affa]

What is interesting is that birds are basically lineal descendants of dinosaurs, and dinosaurs had much larger brains than crows... Who knows, maybe Raptors had their own advanced civilization?

not an ill-conceived notion at all...

[Darthwing Teorist]

What is interesting is that birds are basically lineal descendants of dinosaurs, and dinosaurs had much larger brains than crows... Who knows, maybe Raptors had their own advanced civilization? Maybe, since dinosaurs are essentially birds and birds dinosaurs, that civilization died out of a massive bird/dinosaur flu outbreak...

There is also a great video from Tokyo of a Crow or group of crows that would steal coins from a temple's offering plate, and then fly over to a bird feed vending machine, put the coin in, and take the birdseed.

Scientists, from what I know, agree that brain size alone does not indicate how intelligent a species is. They think that the ratio brain size/body mass is a better indicator: the larger this ratio, the more neurons are available and free from managing the body.

[affa]

i don't know... this cranium to body mass ratio looks pretty good...

[Craig]

i don't know... this cranium to body mass ratio looks pretty good...

is this the utah raptor?

[affa]

i'm not sure... but that makes sense if all the alien sightings out in arizona and nevada are the remnants of a lost dinosaur race gone underground out there

[shawnsegler]

Everything I ever needed to know about life I got from Land of the Lost.