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CrowdScience: Can animals count?

Discussion & Talk

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10/09/2022 GMT

Can animals count?

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, Can animals count?

CrowdScience finds out whether there are some creatures that have a way with numbers.

Mathematics and our ability to describe the world in terms of number, shape and measurement may feel like a uniquely human ability. But is it really? Listener Mamadu from Sierra Leone wants to know: can animals count too? 
CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton goes on a hunt to uncover the numerical abilities of the animal kingdom. Can wild lions compare different numbers?  Can you teach bees to recognise and choose specific amounts? And if the answer is yes, how do they do it? Marnie tries to find out just how deep the numerical rabbit hole goes… and comes across a parrot named Alex who is perhaps the most impressive example of animal counting of them all.

Contributors:
Brian Butterworth - emeritus professor of cognitive neuropsychology at University College London
Mai Morimoto - researcher at Queen Mary University of London
Lars Chittka - professor of sensory and behavioural ecology at Queen Mary University of London
Irene Pepperberg - comparative psychologist, and research associate at Harvard University

Sounds:
Lions from Karen McComb, emeritus professor at University of Sussex
Túngara frogs from Michael Ryan, professor of zoology at University of Texa at Austin

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Florian Bohr

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