UTC  This is because terms like intelligent and smart are essentially relational So if someone says Dick is smart and then it is shown that Tom and Harry can do the same things on the same tests as he can then Dicks smartness means less Of course you can be a good post modernist and assert that it is the inalienable right of every living thing to be considered smart from slime mould to humans just as it is now asserted that every collection of humans in history has the right to be called a civilization even if they were naked paleolothic stone age tribes who had yet to discover fire I think the original finding that pigeons and rats do well on these tests is quite plausible The much overrated intelligence of cetaceans and some other herd animals is the result of romanticism run wild and without scientific discrimination Dolphins CANT talk think in the abstract make future plans or do any of those things we associate with human intelligence Yes they ARE cute and intelligent for animals but they are not on our level     September