Earth is full of a wide variety of creatures. Animals are far more smart, crafty and innovative than we often give them credit for. They’ve adapted over millions of years into very efficient biological organisms. Here is a list of the Top 10 Most Intelligent Animals and the reasons why they are so special.

1. Ants

Being the smallest member of animal kingdom ants don’t have larger brain. The complex society and the communication system follow by the ants are very tricky and fascinating. For every human on Earth there are 1.5 million ants in 12000 species. Ants evolved in the era when the dinosaurs roaming on Earth.

Ants started farming 50 million years before humans. They cultivate fungus in leaves and then eat them. The trick is collectively known as fungus farming.

Ants formed well planned colonies that have thousands of miles in length, have different sections for farming, collecting foods and for gathering. Each ant colonies have a unique chemical identity through which they recognize the strangers.

Ants are traveled by following the pheromone chemical laid by the scout ant who in charge of finding the food. It is interesting to say that each ants will lay trails for the following ants. Some special species of ants will enslave other species to build their own mass colonies.

2. Elephants

There are three living species of elephants, the African Bush Elephant, African Forest Elephant, and the Asian Elephant.  All breeds are thought to inherit the same genetic genius.  In many cultures elephants are seen as a symbol of wisdom and are known for their incredible memories.

They create mental maps and are said to remember exact locations of watering and feeding holes they haven’t visited for years.  An elephant’s brain is the largest of any land animal.  Elephants have incredible hearing and they use both their ears and trunk to listen.  They communicate by bellows, roars, trumpet-like calls, and can even transmit sound over long distances using the ground.  These animals are one of few species that have displayed mirror self recognition and can identify themselves as independent.

This is considered a base test for empathy, altruism, and higher social interactions in a species.  Elephants have been noted performing a wide variety of behaviors.  Including actions associated with grief, making music, compassion, play, and advanced use of tools.  Elephants have an incredible sense for artistic achievement.  They can paint portraits that express themselves.

3. Octopus

These eight-armed invertebrates are pretty smart. They also have fairly large brains, and like humans, their brains are separated into folded lobes. Octopus’s use a specific part of their brain for visual recognition which is unusual for many animals. These cephalopods enjoy playing and problem solving, they will use tools, and they also try to avoid boredom if possible and exhibit a fairly impressive short term memory.

Scientists have seen these creatures solve puzzles and mazes. Most amazingly, we still don’t know that much about them. Scientific research is constantly discovering new things about these amazing sea nerds.

4. Pigeon

In Australia, pigeons have been sighted to take turns drinking and bathing in a water fountain. One sits on the handle, while the other drinks or bathes, and the third keeps watch. How cool is that! Pigeons also have a remarkable memory. They can recognise hundreds of images even after many years have passed.

They can recognise themselves in a mirror, be taught to perform a sequence of movements and differentiate between two objects. Some pigeons are selectively trained to enter pigeon racing competitions. Competing birds must complete a race of up to 1,500km. The bird that reaches home in the shortest time is the winner.

5. Chimpanzees 

There are two species of Chimpanzees, both of which are the closest living relatives to humans. Chimpanzees make tools and use them to acquire foods and for social displays; they have sophisticated hunting strategies requiring cooperation, influence and rank; they are status conscious, manipulative and capable of deception; they can learn to use symbols and understand aspects of human language including some relational syntax, concepts of number and numerical sequence; and they are capable of spontaneous planning for a future state or event.

6. Crows

Crows are wily things, even if they are fooled by stereotypically dressed straw men. Your typical, garden variety crow has been known to liberate a walnut from the picnic table, then fly the morsel out into traffic, drop it, wait for a passing car to crack the nut open, then swoop down and enjoy the results.

And that’s not even the cleverest a crow can get! The New Caldedonian Crow is especially intriguing given its ability to use crudely fashioned tools as it hunts for food, including knives created from cut leaves or grass. Yes, that’s right: a crow with a switchblade. Hitchcock never saw this coming.

7. Dolphins 

Several researchers rank dolphins at about the level of elephants in “intelligence”. They are known to engage in complex play behavior and have great communication skills. Dolphins have been recently observed using tools in a basic matter: when searching for food on the sea floor, many dolphins were seen tearing off pieces of sponge and wrapping them around their “bottle nose” to prevent abrasions

8. Rats

There’s a reason rats are bred for scientific study – and it’s not because most people consider them vermin. Rats are highly intelligent, especially considering the size of their brains. Rats have routinely outfoxed scientists in lab experiments. They’ve often discovered loopholes and solved problems that the experimenters themselves have never noticed.

Rats have not only survived in nearly every environment on earth – they’ve thrived because of their cunning and survival instincts. Rats also possess a feature common to humans called metacognition. They can detect dangerous things like bombs, and they express emotions.

9. Pigs

Pigs have an extremely active social life. Mom pigs have been known to sing to their young to calm them. Pigs eat together, sleep together, and even walk together for no reason other than they like each other’s company. Pigs can communicate with each other via an impressive series of different vocal noises. Pigs are smart enough to defecate away from their homes (assuming they have the space), to steal food from other animals and each other, not get lost – even when far from home, and have even been known to create new places for plants to grow on purpose.

Most importantly, pigs have exhibited the ability to learn from past mistakes and not make them again. They can be extremely sneaky when they want. Maybe now you will appreciate all that bacon you’re eating a bit more.

10. Sheep 

Sheep can recognize individual human faces, and remember them for years. In addition to long-term facial recognition of individuals, sheep can also differentiate emotional states through facial characteristics. If worked with patiently, sheep may learn their names.It has been reported that some sheep have apparently shown problem-solving abilities.