Abstract

Featuring a new discovery in animal cognitive and brain sciences, in this book a Japanese fish researcher turns the common sense of Western animal cognitive research upside down, firmly built on such Christian and Western philosophical beliefs as only humans have a heart, the most intelligent among animals are humans, and the closer to humans, the more intelligent animals are.
Mr. Masanori Kohda, its author, proved in an experiment that fish can recognize themselves in a mirror—i.e., they are self-aware. Published in PLOS Biology and PNAS, his team’s paper caused a heated reaction with pros and cons globally. This book presents to readers the entirety of the experiments that led to the proven new discovery, in a style imbued with a sense of realism and excitement.

Author’s Information

A Professor at the Laboratory of Animal Sociology of the Graduate School of Science’s Department of Biology, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan, Masanori Kohda is a Doctor of Science. He has extensively engaged in field studies of fish sociology and cognitive abilities at Lake Tanganyika in Africa, coral reefs around the world, and elsewhere, as well as an immense amount of laboratory work. He is also the coauthor of books including Kakusu Shinri O Kagaku Suru (Scientific Exploration of Desire to Hide; Kitaohji Shobo Co., Ltd.) and Gyorui Seitaigaku No Kiso (Ecology of Fish 101; Kouseisha Kouseikaku Co., Ltd.).