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Life

Are animals conscious? We’re finally realising that many species are

Science is at last confirming what many people have long suspected - that mammals, birds and perhaps some invertebrates have elements of consciousness

By Penny Sarchet

18 July 2024

Doflein's octopus (Latin Enteroctopus dofleini) with tentacles and suckers on the background of the seabed. Marine life, exotic fish, subtropics.; Shutterstock ID 2278086727; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Octopuses like Doflein’s octopus may experience a degree of consciousness

Victor1153/Shutterstock

The following is an extract from our nature newsletter Wild Wild Life. Sign up to receive it for free in your inbox every month.

In recent decades, experiments have begun to catch up with what people who work closely with animals have always known – that animals have an inner life, and consciousness isn’t uniquely human.

Consciousness is a concept that is fiendishly difficult to define. There have been many attempts: is it awareness, or awareness of that awareness, or self-awareness instead? But a useful working definition might be…

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