Otters: Cute, Playful, Geniuses? | Animal IQ

Otters are super cute little gymnastic socialites. Are they intelligent or just specialists?

Otters are some of the most beloved creatures in the water. They draw crowds for their puppy-like playfulness, their social intelligence, and their tendency to hold hands for safety. Humans just can’t get enough! But have you thought about the intellect underneath that slick, furry exterior? How smart are these Mustelidae? Can they solve puzzles (yep!) Do otters cooperate with each other? (sometimes!) Can otters understand the relationships they’ve built with other otters? What about with humans? Do they know themselves? We called Christy Sterling from Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium to find out!

On Animal IQ we dig into the research and talk to the experts to find out just how smart animals appear to be. We then use that knowledge to fill in our AIQ Rubric across five domains of intelligence: Social, Rational, Awareness, Ecological, and our own intelligence X-Factor. Every animal is clever, but their talents vary based on their evolution, biology, values, adaptations and environment. We hope y'all learn how each of our animals tick on Animal IQ!

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This program is produced in collaboration with PBS Nature! Follow them across the internet:

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You can also seek out our experts and hosts here:
:: Shedd Aquarium ::
:: Christy Sterling ::
:: Dr Natalia Borrego ::
:: Trace Dominguez ::

📚 READ MORE
Tummy rumbles? Otters juggle pebbles when hungry, study finds
Whether tossing pebbles between their paws or rolling stones on their chest and even into their mouth, otters are experts at rock juggling. Now researchers say the behaviour largely appears to be linked to a rumbling tummy.

Mitogenomes and relatedness do not predict frequency of tool-use by sea otters
Many ecological aspects of tool-use in sea otters are similar to those in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. Within an area, most tool-using dolphins share a single mitochondrial haplotype and are more related to each other than to the population as a whole. The lack of genetic association among tool-using sea otters compared with dolphins may result from the length of time each species has been using tools. Tool-use in dolphins appears to be a relatively recent innovation (less than 200 years) but sea otters have probably been using tools for many thousands or even millions of years.

Cooperative problem solving in giant otters
In the wild, some species of otters live in large semi-cooperative groups. A European research team tested the performance of two species of otters on a widely-used cooperative problem solving task. If two animals pulled both ends of the rope simultaneously, the board would move toward them, putting the treats within reach. When otters were given the ends of the rope at the same time, they were able to cooperate and pull the board towards them to obtain the reward. Even though they weren’t totally successful, their performance was about the same as several other relatively intelligent species, including African grey parrots and ravens.

Fun fact: Otters are related to badgers, muskrats, wolverines and skunks.

[flymypg]

My very first ocean SCUBA dive was to the Los Coronados islands, off the coast between San Diego and Tijuana. The sea otters showed up in force, about 2 otters for every 3 divers. The first thing they did was wriggle up next to our tanks, as if they were checking to be sure we had no metal otters strapped to our backs.

As we descended toward the ocean floor, the otters playfully followed us down. When we reached the bottom, their behavior changed. They started swimming around the sea anemones, then back to us. We finally got the clue they wanted us to use our dive knives to crack open the anemones for them. Evidently, they had seen newbie divers before, and decided to teach us more about the sport.

Before we knew it we reached our time limit and had to start the ascent to the first decompression stop. The otters did not follow us up: They seemed too busy scrambling for the last bits of sea anemone.

[dotter]

Otters are wonderful. You grouped so many different species together, though. I'd have had separate episodes for sea and river otters, maybe one just for giants.

[mmmmmmolly]

Otterly cute!
Would love to see rabbits, turtles, meerkats, crocodiles next

[AmitPatel-vpev]

I would like to see an IQ video on opossums.

[johnkennedy]

I would love to see a video on Hyenas.

[kevincronk]

This is probably the most obvious suggestion ever, but I'd love to see episodes for all of the non-human primates eventually, especially chimps and bonobos as they are our closest living relatives

[tleilaxu]

7:02 First round draft pick right there. And Lillard has to give up his jersey, as it's only appropriate for the otter to have number "0".

[rainydaylady]

What if it's not that they can't do something, but that they think it's pointless. 😆 Lol

[AniFam]

It’s great to hear that this intelligence issue was investigated professionally~ Awesome~
Otters’ abilities to check what are around them and use the available resources to solve problems are fabulous~💞👍
Thank you for sharing this episode!
🤗AniFam〽️

[Garbimba]

I just gotta say: I love PBS, all of it. I think you all do a fantastic job. From PBS Space Time to PBS Terra to
Above The Noise, I just can't get enough of PBS. I am totally a PBS nerd and got a t-shirt to prove it! :D

Love what you all are doing. Thank you!

[ETBrenner]

Recommendation for next smart (and cute!) animal - beavers! C'mon, Nature's Engineers! (There's even a beaver on the MIT school ring - because engineers - they call the ring the Brass Rat <3 )

[jilldevitophd]

Reptiles please! Maybe a wood turtle?

[iantinley]

I was going for a run a while back and two otters popped out of the bushes about 10 feet in front of me. The first thing on my mind was how big and muscular they were. They looked more intimidating than cute.

[kathanshah]

I was going to watch otter video but it would be otterly ridiculous
to miss such a video

[Burthark]

I'd love to see crows featured in an episode

[miriam-english]

Otters are certainly one of the cutest animals on the planet... and endearingly smart too.
Can I suggest looking at the elephantfish or elephant nose fish (Mormyridae)? It has a very large brain and I have read that they are intelligent and easy to train. They live in muddy waters in Africa and use pulses of electricity to sense their environment and to communicate. Their large brain apparently lets them decode that sense, so that they can see all around them simultaneously. People often have small elephantfish species, just a few inches long, in their home aquariums, but the largest species reach up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft). It would be really interesting to know if they are as intelligent as they are rumored to be.
We normally think of high intelligence as being restricted to mammals and birds. It would be nice to broaden that to include fish.
Thanks for a great series!

[PotteryLife]

Another great video. Please get Dr. Borrego a proper microphone.

[danielmullens]

Can you guys post more I love your videos

[suscon]

Love the video - do you happen to have similar videos on Magpies or African Grey Parrots?

[muhmalikali]

They are super cute and smart animal. I wonder what other animals you will discuss.