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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Elephants 'understand human gesture' | Elephants 'understand human gesture' |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| African elephants have demonstrated what appears to be an instinctive understanding of human gestures, according to UK scientists. | African elephants have demonstrated what appears to be an instinctive understanding of human gestures, according to UK scientists. |
| In a series of tests, researcher Ann Smet, of the University of St Andrews, offered the animals a choice between two identical buckets, then pointed at the one containing a hidden treat. | In a series of tests, researcher Ann Smet, of the University of St Andrews, offered the animals a choice between two identical buckets, then pointed at the one containing a hidden treat. |
| From the first trial, the elephants chose the correct bucket. | From the first trial, the elephants chose the correct bucket. |
| The results are published in the journal Current Biology. | The results are published in the journal Current Biology. |
| The scientists worked with captive elephants at a lodge in Zimbabwe. | The scientists worked with captive elephants at a lodge in Zimbabwe. |
| Prof Richard Byrne, a co-author on the research, said the elephants had been rescued from culling operations and trained for riding. | Prof Richard Byrne, a co-author on the research, said the elephants had been rescued from culling operations and trained for riding. |
| "They specifically train the elephants to respond to vocal cues. They don't use any gestures at all," said Prof Byrne. | "They specifically train the elephants to respond to vocal cues. They don't use any gestures at all," said Prof Byrne. |
| "The idea is that the handler can walk behind the elephant and just tell it what to do with words." | "The idea is that the handler can walk behind the elephant and just tell it what to do with words." |
| Despite this, the animals seemed to grasp the meaning of pointing from the outset. This makes them the only non-human animals to understand the gesture without being trained to do so. | Despite this, the animals seemed to grasp the meaning of pointing from the outset. This makes them the only non-human animals to understand the gesture without being trained to do so. |
| In previous studies, Prof Byrne said, our closest primate cousins, the chimpanzees, proved to be "hopeless" at at similar task. | |
| Ms Smet added that she had been impressed by the animals' apparently innate understanding of the gesture. | Ms Smet added that she had been impressed by the animals' apparently innate understanding of the gesture. |
| "Of course we had hoped that the elephants would be able to learn to follow human pointing, or we wouldn't have done the experiment in the first place," she said. | "Of course we had hoped that the elephants would be able to learn to follow human pointing, or we wouldn't have done the experiment in the first place," she said. |
| "But it was really surprising that they didn't seem to have to learn anything. | "But it was really surprising that they didn't seem to have to learn anything. |
| "It seems that understanding pointing is an ability elephants just possess naturally and they are cognitively much more like us than has been realised." | "It seems that understanding pointing is an ability elephants just possess naturally and they are cognitively much more like us than has been realised." |
| Prof Byrne said studying elephants helped build a map of part of the evolutionary tree that is very distant from humans. | Prof Byrne said studying elephants helped build a map of part of the evolutionary tree that is very distant from humans. |
| "They're so unrelated to us," he told BBC News. "So if we find human-like abilities in an animal like an elephant, that hasn't shared a common ancestor with people for more than 100 million years , we can be pretty sure that it's evolved completely separately, by what's called convergent evolution." | "They're so unrelated to us," he told BBC News. "So if we find human-like abilities in an animal like an elephant, that hasn't shared a common ancestor with people for more than 100 million years , we can be pretty sure that it's evolved completely separately, by what's called convergent evolution." |
| The researchers said their findings might explain how elephants have successfully been tamed and have "historically had a close bond with humans, in spite of being potentially dangerous and unmanageable due to their great size". | The researchers said their findings might explain how elephants have successfully been tamed and have "historically had a close bond with humans, in spite of being potentially dangerous and unmanageable due to their great size". |
| But the scientists added the results could be a hint that the animals gesture to one another in the wild with their "highly controllable trunks". | But the scientists added the results could be a hint that the animals gesture to one another in the wild with their "highly controllable trunks". |
| Ms Smet told BBC News: "The next step [in our research] is to test whether when an elephant extends its trunk upwards and outwards - as they regularly do, such as when detecting a predator, this functions as a point." | Ms Smet told BBC News: "The next step [in our research] is to test whether when an elephant extends its trunk upwards and outwards - as they regularly do, such as when detecting a predator, this functions as a point." |