Is your cat or dog conscious? What about fish? Or honeybees? How would you even know? Paula Droege, a philosopher at Pennsylvania State University, regularly wrestles with how to investigate these ...

In 2022, researchers at the Bee Sensory and Behavioral Ecology Lab at Queen Mary University of London observed bumblebees doing something remarkable: The diminutive, fuzzy creatures were engaging in ...

The origins of consciousness date back about 540 million years ago, when animal bodies became more complex. Feelings like ...

Bees play by rolling wooden balls — apparently for fun. The cleaner wrasse fish appears to recognize its own visage in an underwater mirror. Octopuses seem to react to anesthetic drugs and will avoid ...

Animal consciousness should not be thought of as a light switch, which can be on or off, philosophers say. They advocate a different approach. There are reasons to assume that not only humans but also ...

Humans have had relationships with their pets for thousands of years, talking to them, coddling them, and imbuing them with human attributes. But are these animals “thinking,” and do nonhuman animals ...

In the past, many scientists believed that only mammals and birds could feel or think in complex ways. Reptiles, fish, and insects were seen as simple creatures that reacted purely on instinct. But ...

While we may enjoy the company of companion animals or a fleeting encounter with wildlife, many people believe humans have a superior consciousness of the world we live in. Every now and then, though, ...

Carl Safina, 64, an ecologist at Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York, and a MacArthur ‘‘genius’’ grant winner, has written nine books about the human connection to the animal world. Coming ...

There is good reason to believe fish, amphibians, molluscs and insects are sentient, according to a new declaration signed by three dozen scientists. The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness ...