Emerging Research on Animal Emotions Indicates They are Closer to Humans than Previously Thought
Jul 08, 2014 11:55 AM EDT
SummaryEmerging research seems to indicate that our previous perceptions about the emotional capacity of animals may have been largely innacurate, if not wrong. According to the New York Times, recent studies have demonstrated animals to be closer to humans than previously thought in terms of their ability to feel, in particular. For instance, crabs have been observed to feel and even remember pain, zebra finches enter REM sleep, dolphins and elephants can recognize their own image in a mirror and chimpanzees will aid each other without the expectation of anything in return.