Ravens Are the Only Species Other Than Apes Who Can 'Point' and Share Objects Like Humans

[celticviking]

Ravens are the only animal other than apes who can 'point' and hold up objects in the same way as humans to attract attention, new research claims.
Scientists say that ravens use these gestures for the same reasons as humans do - to attract potential partners and strengthen bonds with pals.
Such behaviour has before only been seen in humans and occasionally in the great apes, our closest cousins in the natural world.
Even before they're able to talk, children use gestures such as pointing and holding up objects as a way of saying 'look here' or 'take this, with experts claiming this represents the very early stages of language development.
And now German and Austrian researchers have discovered wild ravens using their own similar movements, known as deictic gestures.
They observed the songbirds using their beaks to show and offer others objects such as moss, stones and twigs.
The team say this interaction was mainly between ravens of the opposite sex and helped them become closer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...ke-humans.html

[Herefugol]

Crows are known to be very intelligent birds, as narrated by David Attenborough in this interesting video:

[DonarVanHolland]

This again proves that our Ancestors knew nature very well, and were quite right to assign two ravens to Wotan!

[Dragonwind]

Naturally acquired or learnt from us?

[Karpaten Befreier]

Odin thought the apes were no good as pets for several reasons. Instead, he had a brilliant idea: Ravens!