Dolphins can mimic movement even while blindfolded, using similar problem solving skills to humans.
When a dolphin named Tanner had his sense of sight taken away by a blindfold, he figured out another way to know what was going on around him, the Associated Press via the Washington Post reported.
The dolphin quickly switched to echolocation when they were deprived of sight, emitting sounds to figure out what the trainers were doing.
"We've all heard the expression "monkey see, monkey do" - but actually, that's a myth. Imitation is very rare in the animal kingdom. Chimpanzees can imitate sometimes, but - apart from humans - the animal that is the best at imitation is the dolphin," the Dolphin Research Center reported on their website.
During the study Tanner was asked to imitate what his trainer was doing. The tricks would be done while the dolphin was wearing soft latex eyecups, as well as when he could see.
Tanner was only given tricks he already knew, Including: "bobbing up and down, blowing bubbles underwater, swimming like a shark with the tail - or feet - moving side to side and floating on top of the water," according to the AP.
The researchers found Tanner was equally as accurate with his imitations both with and without the blindfold, the AP reported.
"He outsmarted us," Dr. Kelly Jaakkola, research director of the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys told the AP.
Jakkola believes the decision to use echolocation in place of sight was "problem solving" on the clever dolphin's part.
Janet Mann, a professor of biology and psychology at Georgetown University did not think the findings were out of the ordinary.
"Of course they would use their echolocation to get more information. Dolphins have to solve problems all the time in the wild," she said.
This type of problem solving is fairly characteristic in humans, and the evolutionary differences between dolphins and people are vast.
The study "has the potential to give us clues into why imitation ever evolved at all," Jaakala told the AP.
