A Michael Broad Blog
Left alone, nature operates natural selection, a process which leads to cleverer animals surviving more successfully. This led to the evolution of larger brained animals and ultimately to the dominance of humans over all animals. But for dogs selective breeding has interrupted this process with a research study deciding that dogs with smaller brains …
It is no surprise to me and perhaps others that both domestic dogs and cats have smaller brains than their wild cousins from whom they have descended: the grey wolf for dogs and the Eurasian wildcat for cats. The reason is obvious: domestication, which has removed the challenges for survival and the lesser need …
This test by Dr Diana Liao confirms yet again that the crow is one of nature’s smartest creatures. The crow can look at a number such as the numeral 4 and confirm to researchers that they recognise the number by making their typical vocalisation, the caw, four times. They were imperfect however which indicated …
The words in the title come from Lilla Magyari of Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, the lead author of a study which delved deeper into the intelligence of dogs and discovered that canine abilities that were once considered to be exceptional and only demonstrated by gifted animals are in fact much more commonplace because …
It’s actually incorrect to say that cats do not obey commands although in comparison to dogs they are less ready to do so. I think that’s a better way of putting it. And the reason is because dogs are descended from gray wolves and gray wolves are pack animals and pack animals look to …
STUDY RESULT PLUS COMMENT: Dorottya Ujfalussy from the Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary, has decided in her study that flat-faced dogs (and I’m going to include flat-faced cats) are more attractive to their owners because they are more helpless. And in being more helpless they are more like human toddlers who are themselves helpless …
Yes, is the answer to the question in the title and that assessment comes from scientific studies which have shown that cats and dogs can read humans through their body language and voice and from personal experience and anecdotal evidence. The video on this page is an example. A good one and a good …
SCIENTIFIC STUDY AND COMMMENT: The answer to the question in the title is YES according to a Japanese study concerning multi-cat homes. The Japanese researchers wanted to know whether domestic cats have the ability to link a name given to another cat in a multi-cat home with a specific cat. To put it another …
