Posted: Oct 30, 2014 1:42 am
Rachel Bronwyn wrote:I don't know for certain whether any other species understands that they will cease to exist at some point. I can't see why most highly intelligent mammals would know death is a thing, having experienced it around them. Whether they know an individual who has died is no longer exists, I don't know.
I don't think the vast majority of animals sit around fearing impending death. Most don't posess the intelligence to understand it.
There's fairly good indication that at least elephants have a good concept of the death of individuals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5RiHTSXK2A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAs-5D6OdGk
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... their+dead
Elephant brain is upwards of 3x the weight of ours.