Study Shows: Fish Can Calculate
Published:17 Apr.2022 Source:University of Bonn
Cichlids and stingrays can perform simple addition and subtraction in the number range of one to five. This has been shown in a recent study by the University of Bonn, which has now been published in the journal Scientific Reports. It is not known what the animals need their mathematical abilities for.
Suppose there are some coins on the table in front of you. If the number is small, you can tell right away exactly how many there are. You don't even have to count them -- a single glance is enough. Cichlids and stingrays are astonishingly similar to us in this respect: they can detect small quantities precisely -- and presumably without counting. For example, they can be trained to reliably distinguish quantities of three from quantities of four.