Dolphins appeared on Earth several tens of millions of years earlier than humans, and they are smarter than almost any creature on the planet.

Like other most intelligent animals, female dolphins stay with their children for many years, passing on their knowledge and experience to them. Much of the behavior of dolphins is passed down "through generations".

Dolphins can use tools, which, as we already know, is a sign of intelligence. So, the researchers observed a female dolphin who taught her dolphins to search for food by first putting a sea sponge on their nose so as not to get hurt and get burned by a stone fish that has poisonous spikes on its back.

Dolphins are very social animals. They are characterized by self-consciousness and division into separate individuals, who, moreover, think about the future. Research shows that the "society" of dolphins has a complex social structure and consists of individuals who cooperate with each other to solve complex problems, obtain food, and so on. In addition, dolphins pass on new behavioral traits and acquired skills to each other.

Dolphins have very well developed imitation behavior. They easily remember and repeat the actions of both their fellows and other individuals from the animal world.

Dolphins are one of the few animals that not only recognize themselves in a mirror, but can also use it to "examine" parts of their body. This ability was previously found only in humans, monkeys, elephants and pigs. The ratio between the size of the brain and body in a dolphin is second only to that of a human and is much larger than that of a chimpanzee. Dolphins have convolutions similar to those of the human brain, which also indicates the presence of intelligence.

Dolphins love an exploratory approach to everything, they quickly assess the situation and adjust their behavior to it, being well oriented in what is happening.

When preparing various attractions with dolphins, it was noticed that they are not only able to follow commands, but can also be creative in the process, and in addition to the necessary movements, invent, add their own tricks with objects (balls, hoops, etc.).

Dolphins remember sounds much better than pictures. Thanks to this, they distinguish each other well by whistling. The range of sounds in which a dolphin can communicate is very wide - from 3,000 Hz to 200,000 Hz. Each dolphin knows the voices of individuals from its flock and has its own personal "name". With the help of whistles of different lengths, tonality and melody, dolphins communicate with each other. So, one dolphin, without seeing the other, can “tell” which pedal to press in order to open the feeder and get the fish.

The ability of dolphins to onomatopoeia is widely known. They can imitate the chirping of birds and the creak of a rusty door. Dolphins can even repeat some words or laughter after a person.

A fact that not everyone knows: the Japanese still eat smart dolphins, killing them by the thousands.