What Animal Has the Highest IQ Besides Humans? Top 10 Ranked
What animal has the highest IQ besides humans? Most scientists would point to chimpanzees (with their close cousins, bonobos), followed by other great apes, dolphins, elephants and crows. But no animal has a real IQ number, because IQ tests are built for humans. The rankings come from tests of self-recognition, tool use and problem solving.
Humans also aren't "smart" in one single way, and the same goes for you. If you've ever wondered which kind of reasoning is your weakest, IQ Tester spells it out: Find my weak spots.
Can animals even have an IQ?
Not really. An IQ score compares a person's answers with a big group of other people, using questions in words, numbers and pictures. A dolphin can't read a number series. A crow can't do a verbal analogy.
So when you see a "highest animal IQ number" (like "dolphin IQ 80" or "chimp IQ 90"), that's an analogy someone invented, not a score from a test. Any animal IQ list is really a ranking of how animals do on a range of thinking tasks.
That's actually more interesting, because it shows intelligence isn't one thing.
How scientists measure animal intelligence
Researchers use tasks that don't need language. The big ones:
The mirror test (self-recognition)
Psychologist Gordon Gallup ran the classic version with chimpanzees in 1970. A mark is put on an animal's body where it can only see it in a mirror. If the animal uses the mirror to check or touch the mark, that suggests it recognizes itself.
Animals reported to pass in published studies include great apes, bottlenose dolphins, at least one Asian elephant and Eurasian magpies. Plenty of smart animals "fail" too, often because they rely on smell or just don't care about mirrors, which is a good reminder that every test has blind spots.
Tool use and tool making
Using a stick to fish for termites is impressive. Making a tool, like bending a wire into a hook, is next level.
Causal reasoning
Does the animal understand why something happens? For example, that dropping stones into water raises the level so food floats up.
Memory, communication and social smarts
Remembering food locations, learning symbols or words, cooperating and even deceiving others all count.
The top 10 smartest animals, ranked
This ranking of the most intelligent animals weighs all four areas above. Scientists would argue about the order (they do), but most would agree on the lineup.
| Rank | Animal | Standout skill |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chimpanzee | Tool use, memory, culture |
| 2 | Bonobo | Social smarts, symbol learning |
| 3 | Orangutan | Planning, tool making |
| 4 | Bottlenose dolphin | Self-recognition, "name" whistles |
| 5 | Elephant | Memory, empathy-like behavior |
| 6 | Crows and ravens | Tool making, causal reasoning |
| 7 | African grey parrot | Word labels, categories |
| 8 | Octopus | Escaping, puzzle solving |
| 9 | Pig | Learning tasks, social learning |
| 10 | Dog | Reading humans |
1. Chimpanzees: the animal with the closest intelligence to humans
Chimps share roughly 98-99% of our DNA, use sticks and stones as tools, and pass their techniques on in groups, which some researchers call culture. They're the usual answer to "what animal has the closest intelligence to humans."
2. Bonobos
Bonobos are chimps' calmer, more social cousins. A bonobo named Kanzi became famous for communicating with researchers using a keyboard of symbols called lexigrams.
3. Orangutans
Patient, strategic and good at tool making. They're also known for escape attempts in zoos, which is basically a real-life logic puzzle.
4. Dolphins
Big brains, self-recognition in the mirror test and signature whistles that work a bit like names. More in our breakdown of dolphin IQ compared to humans.
5. Elephants
Famous for long memories and for behavior around their dead that looks a lot like mourning.
6. Crows and ravens
The smartest birds. New Caledonian crows make hooked tools, and crows can recognize individual human faces. See the average IQ of a crow for the full story.
7. African grey parrots
The best-known example is Alex, studied for decades by Irene Pepperberg, who could label objects, colors and shapes.
8. Octopuses
An invertebrate on this list! Octopuses open jars, escape tanks and solve puzzles, with a brain built completely differently from ours.
9. Pigs
Pigs learn fast, and in one study pigs learned to move a joystick to hit targets on a screen. They're often called smarter than dogs, but that depends on the task.
10. Dogs
Dogs aren't the best problem solvers here, but they are elite at reading human gestures. Check out dog IQ in human terms.
Chimps vs dolphins vs crows: head-to-head
- Tool use: Chimps and crows win. Dolphins have no hands, though some carry sponges to protect their snouts while foraging.
- Self-recognition: Chimps and dolphins pass the mirror test; most crows haven't been shown to (magpies, a related bird, have).
- Communication: Dolphins have signature whistles; chimps have calls and gestures; crows have complex calls.
- Brain size: Dolphins win on size. Crows win on "how much they do with a tiny brain."
Verdict: chimps edge it overall, but crows are the most impressive per gram of brain.
Animals that beat humans at specific tasks
Here's the plot twist: is there an animal that is smarter than humans? Overall, no. But at specific tasks, absolutely.
- Chimp memory: A young chimp named Ayumu, at Kyoto University, famously outperformed human adults on a fast number-memory task on a touchscreen.
- Bird memory: Clark's nutcrackers hide thousands of seeds and find a large share of them months later.
- Bee navigation: Honeybees use their "waggle dance" to share directions to food.
- Dog noses: Obviously. Not reasoning, but still humbling.
This is the key lesson: intelligence is a bundle of skills. Being amazing at one doesn't mean you're amazing at all.
What this says about your own IQ
Humans are the same. You might have Ayumu-level memory for song lyrics and struggle with mental math. Your friend might spot patterns instantly but zone out during long reading.
The hard part is seeing your own bundle clearly. Most people just guess, and usually guess wrong, because the stuff we avoid is exactly what we don't notice we're bad at.
IQ Tester is basically a mini "animal cognition lab" for humans: 20 untimed questions across number series, verbal analogies, logic and patterns. The result shows which categories are strongest, and the guides spot weak areas like memory, speed or mental math and give you a short daily drill. Find my weak spots
Find out which animal-level skills you're missing
Knowing what animal has the highest IQ besides humans is a flex in the group chat. Knowing your own strengths is more useful. In the next minute you can start IQ Tester's 20-question test, pause anytime without losing answers, and see your free score band plus three of your four category strengths.
FAQ
What animal has the highest IQ in the world?
Besides humans, chimpanzees and bonobos are usually ranked the smartest, followed by orangutans, dolphins, elephants and crows. No animal has a true IQ score, since IQ tests are designed for humans.
What animal has the closest intelligence to humans?
Chimpanzees. They share roughly 98-99% of our DNA, make and use tools, recognize themselves in mirrors and pass skills through their groups.
Is there an animal that is smarter than humans?
Not overall. But some animals beat humans at narrow tasks, like the chimp Ayumu on a quick number-memory game or birds that remember thousands of hiding spots.
What is the highest animal IQ number ever recorded?
There isn't a real one. Numbers you see online, like "dolphin IQ 80," are analogies or guesses, not results from a test that works across species.
What is the smartest bird?
Crows and ravens are usually ranked top, with New Caledonian crows famous for making tools. African grey parrots are also standouts for learning word labels.