Synopses & Reviews
How intelligent are dolphins? Is their communication system
really as complex as human language? And are they as friendly and peaceful as they are made out to be?
The Western world has had an enduring love affair with dolphins since the early 1960s, with fanciful claims of their 'healing powers' and 'super intelligence'. Myths and pseudoscience abound on the subject. Justin Gregg weighs up the claims made about dolphin intelligence and separates scientific fact from fiction. He puts our knowledge about dolphin behaviour and intelligence into perspective, with comparisons to scientific studies of other animals, especially the crow family and great apes. He gives fascinating accounts of the challenges of testing what an animal with flippers and no facial expressions might be animal behaviour, Gregg challenges many of the widespread beliefs about dolphins, while also inspiring the reader with the remarkable abilities common to many of the less glamorized animals around us - such as chickens.
About the Author
Justin Gregg,
Research Associate, Dolphin Communication ProjectJustin Gregg is a research associate with the Dolphin Communication Project, and Co-Editor of the academic journal Aquatic Mammals. He received his doctorate from Trinity College Dublin in 2008, having studied social cognition and the echolocation behavior of wild Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. With an undergraduate background in linguistics, Justin is particularly interested in the study of dolphin communication as it pertains to comparisons of human (natural) language and animal communication systems.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1. The Second Most Intelligent Creature on Earth
2. What Big Brains You Have
3. Cogito Ergo Delphinus Sum
4. The Proof of the Pudding is in the Behaving
5. Dolphinese
6. A Most Gentle Mammal
7. The Deconstructed Dolphin
Acknowledgements
1. The Second Most Intelligent Creature on Earth
2. What Big Brains You Have
3. Cogito Ergo Delphinus Sum
4. The Proof of the Pudding is in the Behaving
5. Dolphinese
6. A Most Gentle Mammal
7. The Deconstructed Dolphin
Notes