Having, literally, bird brains, pigeons are not generally considered to be the most intelligent of creatures.
But new research reveals that in a crucial respect they are more like humans than any other.
Scientists at Oxford University found that homing pigeons are the only known species in the world other than humans able to build and pass on wisdom across the generations.
While many animals teach basic skills to their young, such as learning to hunt, until now none had shown it was possible to improve the collective ability of their species in the way mankind becomes ever more advanced.
But the scientists found that in the case of homing pigeons, families of the bird were able to improve their efficiency navigating across large distances over time.
You can read the rest @
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/04/18/bird-brains-not-stupid-pigeons-show-human-like-ability-build/
An underlying question is "does evolution always make a species more survivable, or does it sometimes lead to their doom?"
We already know the answer to that one, so it's remarkable that we're building AI and robots that are going to kill us.
And that implies pigeons (who seem to have no interest in AI or robots) actually are smarter than we are.
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