Elephants can inherently understand pointing (without human training).

Among many other astounding capabilities, elephants inherently understand what pointing means. In fact, research suggests they’re among a few animals that understand the action without being trained by humans. A two-month study of 11 pachyderms in Zimbabwe used two buckets, one with fruit in it and one without, to determine whether elephants could understand which was which. A researcher standing between the two buckets used her arm to point toward the bucket of food, and the elephants successfully chose the bucket the researcher pointed toward 67% of the time.

Elephants are afraid of mice.

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Despite what countless cartoons would have you believe, elephants don’t fear mice — but they are afraid of bees.

The study was led by Richard Byrne, a professor at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who told The Guardian, “Elephant society may have selected for an ability to understand when others are trying to communicate with them, and they are thus able to work out what pointing is about when they see it.” 

Elephants have exceptionally high emotional intelligence, and communication is key to both their social bonds and survival, which may explain why they’re able to understand this gesture most animals are unable to grasp. Byrne has suggested whales and dolphins as other animals that could feasibly understand pointing, though there’s a major hurdle in finding out whether or not that theory holds water: They’re much more difficult to work with than elephants.

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