Humans vs animals: Are we really more intelligent?

A file photo of pigs in a field in Scotland. American researchers have taught pigs how to play videogames. — Reuters

Pigs are able to play video games. Birds have innate GPS systems. Octopuses feel empathy. Are humans really so much more intelligent than animals?

Hamlet, Omelette, Ebony, and Ivory are four gamers in a category all their own. Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana, US taught the four pigs to manipulate a joystick with their snouts and demonstrated that they are able to associate the movement of their eyes with the cursor on the screen. The results of the study have just been published in Frontiers In Psychology.