Hi all,

Sorry to be so long in getting back, thanks for the interesting feedback. I didn't mean to cause any confusion - learning ability has been shown in most animal classes; some seems more surprising to us because many do not associate learning with, for example, invertebrates. And, in general, as one commenter mentioned, all learning is based on innate instincts and natural behaviors. Complicated natural/instinctive behaviors do not, again as mentioned, indicate intelligence. There are insects that lead young to food, store food for later use, etc. but they are not "figuring this out" or "deciding to do it". As for amphibians, they are capable of learning to adjust to novel, situations. However, they also have some of the most complicated and bizarre parental care strategies known - again, not really an indicator of intelligence. Poison frogs are best known, but many others - Af bullfrogs dig channels to bring water to tadpoles, and attack even lions that investigate their broods, several caeciliens and one frog grow skin that s then fed to tadpoles, and so on.

Of curse, we humans are sometimes compared unfavorably to animals. A female friend once relayed this joke:

"What's the difference between a man and a rat"?

"If you put a rat in a maze and shock it every time it turns left, eventually it will turn right"

Best, Frank