Animals That Recognize Their Reflections

Gorilla

It was long believed that gorillas weren’t self aware because they mostly failed the test. But researchers thought there was another reason: in the wild, gorillas avoid eye contact. They only look into each other’s eyes to show aggression: “Hey, what do you want? Looking for trouble? Well, you found it!” But gorillas that grew up around humans were different. They could easily recognize themselves in the mirror. Gorillas are self-aware, they were just given the wrong test.

Gorilla - Photo: Joshua Minso/Shutterstock

• Table of Contents:
• 1. Introduction
• 2. All About the Mirror Test
• 3. Elephant
• 4. Dolphin
• 5. Chimpanzee
• 6. Magpie
• 7. Gorilla
• 8. Bonobo
• 9. Orangutan
• 10. Orca