Birds plan ahead, study shows

Clever scrub jays can plan on saving tasty treats for the future and do it in a way that shows they are truly planning ahead, British researchers reported Wednesday.

Okay, it's from about a week ago but it's new to me. I love reports like this which undermine the standard anthropocentric mindset that only humans are members of the moral community because a species has to be rational to have moral standing and most believe that only humans are rational. According to this report, it has been proven that scrub jays plan ahead for the future and store food through two experiments involving two rooms and different kinds of food.

"Knowledge of and planning for the future is a complex skill that is considered by many to be uniquely human," Nicola Clayton and colleagues at the University of Cambridge wrote.

I was raised believing that there is more to animals than base instincts (most people that are pet owners tend to think this way, I think) and I think it's hugely conceited of us humans to think that we don't have a moral obligation to the other inhabitants of this planet because popular thought deems them as irrational beings. Even if my higher opinion of the mental capabilities of animals is wrong, to me it certainly doesn't justify any ill treatment or destruction of habitats. I think it's nice to find reports that show animals capable of higher thought, even if experiments like this will not change the thinking of many people, it brightens up my day.