Elephants understand what it means when you point at stuff

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/list/elephants-understand-what-it-means-when-you-point-at-stuff/

?w=470&h=349
Freshly baked cheesecake that way!

If you subtly point somewhere, guess who sometimes gets confused and focuses on your elbow? Dogs and chimps. Who doesn’t get confused: 2-year-olds. Aaaaand, as new research shows, elephants. According to io9:

New research now shows African elephants can do something no other wild animal has been shown to do: They can understand human pointing gestures without any kind of training.

Evolutionary psychologists Richard Byrne and Anna Smet just published their findings in Current Biology, including the following highlights:


African elephants can use human pointing cues to find hidden food
Success is immediate, despite few prior learning opportunities
Pointing is followed even when human’s body position conflicts with point direction

***a bone of contention: my best, most recent understanding is that dogs do understand pointing -- but point taken that some creatures are more savvy about understanding us than we sometimes give them credit for.

[Shivering Jemmy]

1. Look at their very expressive pointing organ

They are built for gestural communication. Even more than we are.

[DireStrike]

2. They occasionally "get" mirrors as well -nt-

[PETRUS]

3. Cool article

Although I agree with you about dogs - mine understand pointing. And I once watched a documentary where the ability of dogs and wolves to understand that gesture was tested. Dogs got it, wolves didn't. Anyway...

[hunter]

4. The majority of dogs I've known understand pointing right away.

They quickly figure out that the pointing human posture is the equivalent of their own pointing posture.