Dec. 19, 2019
Last updated Nov. 4, 2021
Back in 2019 and early 2020, the Sofa Cushion Challenge (ScC) hosted the “Smart Tortoise Series." But science is constantly making new discoveries. In October of 2021, Taiwan News reported on a new study suggesting that turtles can count... in a way. You can watch that report here. It was clear that the ScC Tweet about this discovery belonged on this page and so, on November 4, 2021, the title was changed from "The Smart Tortoise Series" to "The Smart Turtle & Tortoise Series." For over a decade, now, a good deal of evidence has been quietly building to the effect that turtle and tortoise minds are much sharper than was once believed. Since the point to having this page was always to highlight these stories, I will attempt to add new links to this page any time new facts come to light. — CH
Social media postings appear below in chronological order.
Intro | Mazes | Touch Screens | Problem Solving | 10-Year Memory | Counting | Conclusion
Why were #tortoises thought stupid? Original tests were in cold labs. Reptiles draw energy from external heat sources. So those tested in cold labs are sluggish & unresponsive. See this article about tortoises solving mazes in warm labs. https://t.co/ELXdu9J2NT
— Sofa Cushion Challenge (@SofaCushionChal) December 26, 2019
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