What Do You Think About That?

By Karey Burek

I remember a line from the Disney movie "Dumbo," where the lead female elephant claims that "Elephant's Never Forget!" I thought that was funny, because in reality, that is supposed to be true. However, recently a study has shown that sea lion's have the best memory of non-human animals.

A while back a female California sea lion learned a trick involving letters and numbers. To win a treat, the sea lion would have to recognize which was the same letter or number she'd seen on a variety of cards. Matching these items proved how impressive their memories are. However, what is even more amazing is that after 10 years of not doing the trick, she was still able to do it when presented with the situation again! Even though the symbols were different, this proved that the sea lion remembered the concept of the game. Scientists believed that this ability was developed in this species so they could remember certain kinds of prey that are only available seasonably, and also to protect themselves. Sea lions can distinguish between the calls of seal-hunting killer whales and fish-eating killer whales.

Ever wonder why you like cheese? Recently, a scientist studying mice mapped a mouse chromosome, which indicated that humans and mice share close to 97.5 percent of the same genes.

There is only one percent variance between humans and chimps!

How about that grip? I have heard and I am sure all of you have too, that water dwelling species that developed limbs over time did so to become land animals. New theories suggest that the limbs were actually developed to help them grasp their partners while mating. With a better, sturdier grip, males would be more likely to pass on their genes, allowing the species to thrive.