The Relevance of Ecological Transitions to Intelligence in Marine Mammals
The Relevance of Ecological Transitions to Intelligence in Marine Mammals Gordon B. Bauer1,2, Peter F. Cook1,2 and Heidi E. Harley1,2,3 1Division of Social Sciences, New College of Florida, Sarasota, FL, United States 2Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL, United States 3The Seas, Epcot, Walt Disney World Resorts, Lake Buena Vista, FL, United States Macphails comparative approach to intelligence focused on associative processes, an orientation inconsistent with more multifaceted lay and scientific understandings of the term. His ultimate emphasis on associative processes indicated few differences in intelligence among vertebrates. We explore options more attuned to common definitions by considering intelligence in terms of richness of representations of the world, the interconnectivity of those representations, the ability to flexibly change those connections, and knowledge. We focus on marine mammals, represented by the amphibious pinnipeds and the aquatic cetaceans and sirenian...