Babies at Yale University's Infant Cognition Center

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Two Monkeys Were Paid Unequally..

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Animals With a Moral Compass

elephants

Elephants have some of the most elaborate group rituals of any animals. When a beloved member of an elephant troop dies, those left behind will mourn the lost individual by "burying" the body with leaves and grass, and keeping vigil over the body for a week. And just as humans visit the gravesites of their lost loved ones, elephants visit the bones of dead elephants for years to come.

Compassionate Rodents

Those seemingly filthy creatures scampering in the sludge of subway stations or trashcans, rats have empathy for each other. In a famous 1958 experiment, hungry rats that were only fed if they pulled a lever to shock their littermates refused to do so, suggesting that the rodents have a sense of empathy and compassion for their fellows. Another study published in 2006 in the journal Science found that mice would grimace when their compatriots were in pain — but only if they knew the mouse personally.Peggy Mason, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago and lead author of the new study, says that the research shows that our empathy and impulse to help others are common across other mammals.

Morals, what are they exactly? and are we born with morals? or is it something we aquire? So, started my research.
One more question I had was, Is there a difference between morality and ethics?

Researched to find out that the word “morality” comes from moralis, a Latin word that Cicero coined as a translation of the Greek word ethikos, which is the origin of the term “ethics.” Thus “morality” is to “ethics” as caliente is to “hot.”

It’s true that many, perhaps most, people make a distinction between morality and ethics, but the problem is that no two people seem to agree about what that distinction is. Test this claim by asking five people you know, “Do you believe there is a difference between ethics and morality? If so, what is that difference?” You would get responses like these:

•  Ethics has to do with social standards; morality is about personal beliefs.
•  Ethics comes from secular institutions, whereas morality is a religious phenomenon.
•  Ethical judgments are absolute and objective; moral judgments are relative and subjective.

Conclution: Not only do folks differ about what the distinction between the concepts is. They also differ about how to define each one. Even those who believe there is no difference between ethics and morality may differ over how to define them.

Morals in Animals: Monkeys Also Don't Like Mean People:

Researchers from the University of Stirling in Scotland tested capuchin monkeys behavior by having them observe a pair of actors open a jar, and then offer the monkeys some food. When the actors helped each other open the jar, the monkeys would accept food from either of them But when one of the actors refused to help the other open the jar, the monkeys turned down food that was offered to them by the selfish person. Capuchin monkeys are very social and cooperative with each other. More recently some of them have been trained as aides for paraplegic humans.

dolphins

Dolphins routinely show love for species not their own. Several dolphins have practiced random acts of kindness by rescuing swimmers from hammerhead sharks. A few generous dolphins have even guided stranded whales back to sea. But the *cetaceans* save most of their goodwill for others in their pod. 

WHAT ARE CETACEANS?  

THE CETACEA ARE ONE OF THE MOST DISTINCTIVE AND HIGHLY SPECIALIZED ORDERS OF MAMMALS. THEY INCLUDE THE LARGEST ANIMAL THAT HAS EVER LIVED, THE BLUE WHALE. THE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND COMMUNICATIVE DOLPHINS. THE TUSKED NARWHALS AND BLIND RIVER DOLPHINS AND SINGING HUMPBACK WHALES NEARLY EIGHTY LIVING SPECIES IN ALL. ALTHOUGH HUNTING AND OTHER HUMAN ACTIVITIES HAVE ENDANGERED MOST CETACEAN SPECIES, THE OUTLOOK FOR MANY IS IMPROVING.