Another reason to believe pigeons are smart.
In the early 1970's (Tyver and Allison, 1972, A Polygraphic and Behavioral Study of Sleep in the Pigeon. Experimental Neurology, 35, 138-153), evidence was found to show that pigeons, like humans and other mammals, have 'paradoxical sleep' (read: "REM sleep") cycles. Pigeon sleep is apparently similar in nature to guinea pig sleep - pigeons are light sleepers, and easily roused (a common trait amongst prey animals).
So, what do pigeons dream? What do guinea pigs dream, for that matter? I don't know - but it seems to me that if you dream you have a mental life of some sort. Which has something to do with being smart. Don't you think?
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