Zebrafish larvae may possess some primitive counting ability just days after hatching.
Several animals, including honeybees and salamanders, have been shown to have some form of numerical skill. For example, lab experiments suggest rhesus monkeys may be able to count up to six.
Numerical ability has also been seen in very young humans, with one study showing that number sense in 6-month-old babies is linked to better scores in maths tests three years later.
Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato at the …