Fish can recognize themselves in photos, further evidence they may be self-aware

Fish can recognize themselves in photos, further evidence they may be self-aware

Source: sciencenews

2/6/2023

Credit: marrio31/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Some fish can recognize their own faces in photos and mirrors, an ability usually attributed to humans and other animals considered particularly brainy, such as chimpanzees, scientists report. Finding the ability in fish suggests that self-awareness may be far more widespread among animals than scientists once thought.

“It is believed widely that the animals that have larger brains will be more intelligent than animals of the small brain,” such as fish, says animal sociologist Masanori Kohda of Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan. It may be time to rethink that assumption, Kohda says.