Dolphins may seek selves in mirror images
By Bruce Bower
In Greek mythology, the lad Narcissus wasted away because he couldn’t bear to stop staring at his reflection in a pool of water. Although people have a stranglehold on such narcissistic pursuits, dolphins recognize their own reflections much as folks do, according to a new study.
The findings, published in the May 8 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, support a theory that the neural capacity for at least a basic type of self-awareness evolved separately in dolphins and humans.