Koalas are very cute and sleepy animals that can certainly draw a crowd at any zoo. They are also quite smart, according to a new study that has tracked the movements of the Australian animal in suburban Brisbane.
According to scientists, they are ranked as low on the intelligence scale, being placed alongside other slow moving animals such as the sloth. One of the main reasons that koala bears are considered not to be smart is because of the size of their brain.
#8 Dumbest Animals in the World: Koala
But most of that is because their brain levels are the equivalent of being high all the time. They have the smallest brains of any known mammal. These dumbest animals get a kick out of eucalyptus leaves.
Koalas have the smallest brain-to-body-size ratio of any mammal. It is 60% smaller than other marsupials. The brain is smooth, lacking the wrinkles that allow us to cram more intelligence into tiny spaces.
Fun Fact: Koalas, like many other primitive animals, have a smooth (or lissencephalic) brain, meaning that their brains have no folds! This is why koalas are often unable to perform complex behaviours.
Some animals, like koalas, sleep a lot — up to 22 hours a day. Cats sleep for about 15 hours a day.
Experiencing emotions is unique to living creatures. From uplifting joy to something as complex as grief, it is something we all feel. And yes, animals too can feel these emotions. Koala mothers readily adopt orphaned joeys, and there's even documented stories of animals protecting humans.
On at least some tasks, the most commonly studied marsupial, the American opossum, is one of the “smartest” species ever studied in the psychological laboratory.
Bottlenose Dolphins
For years, dolphins have been heralded as the smartest animals on Earth, second only to humans—though some would even contest that ranking. Aside from humans, dolphins have the greatest brain-to-body ratio among animal species, including primates.
Studies have shown that koalas become stressed even in close proximity to humans, so forcing them into stressful interactions where they are hugged and used as photo props is completely unacceptable from an animal welfare perspective.
Any cnidarians outside the Cubozoa. They have no brains and thus no measurable IQ either.
Chimpanzees
This research has firmly established that chimps are one of the most intelligent species on earth.
Koala. Koalas attack only when provoked or when they feel threatened. They become aggressive through human invasion and other potential threats to themselves or to their young. Koalas are a native of eastern Australia and share some traits with wombats, who are their closest relative.
Are koalas friendly? Despite their cute and cuddly-seeming exterior, koalas are wild animals that can become aggressive and injure you. Like all wild animals, they shouldn't be approached unless they're injured, sitting or lying on the ground for an extended period of time and in need of help.
Unsurprisingly, chimpanzees are one of the most intelligent animals on this planet—next to humans, of course. Similar to how humans inherit their intelligence from their mother, a chimpanzee's intelligence also greatly relies on their genes.
When human measures for intelligence are applied to other species, dolphins come in just behind humans in brainpower, according to new research. Dolphins demonstrate skills and awareness previously thought to be present only in humans.
Gilbert's potoroo or ngilkat (Potorous gilbertii) is Australia's most endangered marsupial, the rarest marsupial in the world, and one of the world's rarest critically endangered mammals, found in south-western Western Australia. It is a small nocturnal macropod that lives in small groups.
According to several behavioral measures, Coren says dogs' mental abilities are close to a human child age 2 to 2.5 years. The intelligence of various types of dogs does differ and the dog's breed determines some of these differences, Coren says.
The hyena's reputation as having the world's most vicious bite is a myth, says an international team of researchers. For its bodyweight, the title goes to Australia's Tasmanian devil, a marsupial that has a bite as strong as a dog three times its weight.
Koalas are the size of a small child and they like to hug. They'll cling to you as though you are a tree. Even a short koala hugging encounter will be an experience you'll never forget.
But scientists have now found out exactly why these creatures hug trees: to cool off. Scientists noticed that koalas always hug acacia trees even though they eat eucalyptus tree leaves. It turns out that the acacia trunks were up to 9 degrees cooler than the air around them.