Some amazing animals can count, use tools, communicate information and make strategic altruistic decisions (Image: Firefly Books)
SCIENTISTS who study animal intelligence walk a fine line: they must resist the temptation to anthropomorphise animals while analysing behaviour through the lens of common descent. In this coffee table compendium, primatologist Sally Boysen mostly hits the mark. She rightly focuses on the impressive abilities of our primate cousins, from their cultural transmission of tool use to their ability to count. We also learn how bees broadcast the locations of flowers through choreographed dance and how vampire bats share their blood meals…
