Dolphins Are Among the Smartest in the Animal Kingdom — Here's Why

Dolphins and humans share many emotional and intellectual qualities. Their breathtaking capacity for intelligence and emotional expression has long been admired by humanity, sometimes leading to ethically questionable practices like swimming with captive dolphins.

Any time dolphins are spotted swimming in uncommon spaces, onlookers stare in awe. News that microplastics were found in dolphins sparked alarm about how the pollutants were making their way into oceans.

As beloved as dolphins are, there is much to say about the intellectual capacity of dolphins, which is why so much research on their brains is available. 

Let's dig into why dolphins are among the smartest animals we know.

According to an article in Science, dolphins are thought to be the second-most intelligent species on the planet, behind humans.

That said, a formal, standardized test to determine an intelligence quotient doesn't exist for dolphins in the way it does for humans.

That doesn't mean, however, that we cannot make scientific observations in other ways. From observations of dolphin behavior, we understand that dolphins mirror human intelligence in many significant ways, which is why animal behaviorists are so vitally important.

Per Reader's Digest, dolphins utilize unique sounds to signify their recognition of one another. In other words, they name one another through their whistles.

Per Science, the brain of the bottlenose dolphin is larger than the human brain. And from what Science describes as a "very complex neocortex," to the capacity for emotional and social intelligence, problem-solving, and the overall ability to learn, dolphins appear to surprise and impress behaviorists and researchers daily.

According to the England and Wales-based registered charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation, dolphins have always been intelligent, but it appears that over time, they have evolved to become even more sophisticated.

Like humans, dolphins exhibit pro-social behavior. For example, they have been observed leaping into the air in groups, and with no discernible alternative reasons, experts believe this is done for the social enjoyment aspect.

Furthermore, dolphins enjoy games and have been observed partaking in activities similar to how humans play chase, per the Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

Per The Science Times, dolphins have likewise developed nuanced systems of communication, recognize themselves in mirrors, feed together, and a host of other human-like activities.

No, dolphins are not as book smart as a 7-year-old human, but because intelligence is a multi-factored concept, dolphins surpass human intelligence in other ways.

It's common to want to make comparisons between animal and human intelligence, given that crows were once proclaimed to have the processing power to reason like that of a 7-year-old, per the Guardian.

A dolphin's limbic system and social intelligence, per ZME Science, surpasses that of a human's brain. Add it all up, and while a dolphin may not have the school smarts that a 7-year-old human has, their intelligence is mesmerizing in many other ways.