Animals are more intelligent than we know.

Our understanding of animal intelligence is shaped by the scientific research studies that we subject animals to.

There is evidence that some animals are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.

A chimpanzee at Kyoto University showed its prowess in a number sequence memory test, beating college students and even the British memory champion at putting nine numbers in the order shown.

Another example of animals exceeding our expectations of their intelligence shows that how we test animals affects the outcome and our conclusions.

Elephants were thought to be unable to use tools, based on a test that gave the elephant a stick and dangled some food just out of reach.

In previous studies the elephant didn’t use the stick, so scientists concluded that elephants are unable to use tools.

However, when researchers gave an elephant at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. a box to stand on, the animal moved it under the tree and then stood on it to reach the fruit.

The elephant even sought out the box when it was further away from the tree.