A dazzling journey into the minds of animals - and what they can tell us about our own brains

Why do dogs say hello, but never goodbye?
What makes baby penguins think the first animal they see is their mother?
Why are bonobos impulsive while chimpanzees show restraint?
And what does all this tell us about how humans think?

In The Thinking Animal, Nichola Raihani explores one of science's most enduring questions: How did evolution build minds? Drawing on the latest discoveries in psychology, neuroscience, and animal behavior, Raihani reveals how intelligence has evolved across the animal kingdom, and how the human mind became so distinctive.

From elephants keeping vigil over their dead, to ants counting their steps, and chickadees remembering where they stored thousands of seeds, Raihani shows that evolution has produced many different forms of intelligence. Along the way, she overturns some of our most enduring myths about the mind, changing how we think about intelligence—and the minds of other animals. The result is a new understanding of intelligence, evolution and what makes us human.

By illuminating both the continuities and crucial differences between human and animal minds, The Thinking Animal offers an compelling new perspective on the evolutionary origins of the human mind.