--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Although elephants are far more distantly…" description: "\"Although elephants are far more distantly related to us than the great apes, they seem to have evolved similar social and cognitive capacities.\" — Fran..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/frans-de-waal-2997_animal_although-elephants-are-far-more-distantl_2070928.png" --- # Although elephants are far more distantly related to us… ![“Although elephants are far more distantly related to us than the great apes, they seem to have evolved similar social and cognitive capacities.” quote by Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/frans-de-waal-2997_animal_although-elephants-are-far-more-distantl_2070928.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/frans-de-waal-2997_animal_although-elephants-are-far-more-distantl_2070928.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/frans-de-waal-2997_animal_although-elephants-are-far-more-distantl_2070928.png) > “Although elephants are far more distantly related to us than the great apes, they seem to have evolved similar social and cognitive capacities.” [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Elephants, though distant relatives, have developed social and cognitive abilities similar to great apes. **In simple terms:** Elephants think and act like apes. Key Takeaway Recognize intelligence across species. Themes animal cognition social behavior evolution Mood respectful curious Type scientific observational When to use this quote - zoo education - conservation advocacy - comparative research Key Concepts Empathy convergent evolution Questions to Reflect On - How do we protect intelligent animals? - What can we learn from their societies? A Different Perspective Elephants differ in many ways beyond cognition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Elephants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephants/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) ## Related quotes > [These magnificent species of Africa - elephants, rhino, lions, leopards, cheetah, the great apes (Africa has four of the world's five great apes) -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-bergin/these-magnificent-species-of-africa-elephants-rhino-lions-leopards/) [Patrick Bergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-bergin/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [“Treat each other like human beings? 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Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Although elephants are far more distantly related to us than the great apes, they seem to have evolved similar social and cognitive capacities.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frans de Waal" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/although-elephants-are-far-more-distantly-related-to-us-than-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/although-elephants-are-far-more-distantly-related-to-us-than-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/frans-de-waal-2997_animal_although-elephants-are-far-more-distantl_2070928.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/frans-de-waal-2997_animal_although-elephants-are-far-more-distantl_2070928.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/frans-de-waal-2997_animal_although-elephants-are-far-more-distantl_2070928.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Although elephants are far more distantly related to us than the great apes, they seem to have evolved…” — Frans de Waal", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Frans de Waal", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Although elephants are far more distantly...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/although-elephants-are-far-more-distantly-related-to-us-than-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/although-elephants-are-far-more-distantly-related-to-us-than-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```