Dolphins are able to recognize their own reflection at seven months old, revealing a level of self-awareness we humans don't possess until months later. That's the conclusion of a paper published in PLOS ONE earlier this week. Dolphins: 1. Humans: 0. Mirror self-recognition might sound trivial but it's a common marker of intelligence and self-awareness. Dolphins and humans are not alone in the animal kingdom in being able to recognize their mirror image – elephants, magpies, and chimpanzees do too. To determine when exactly dolphins develop the capacity to "see" their reflection, Diana Reiss, a psychologist at Hunter College involved in the original research, and Rachel Morrison, then a graduate student, studied the behavior of two juvenile dolphins – Bayley and Foster – over a period of three years. First, the researchers watched to see if and when the dolphins showed signs of self-directed behavior in front of a mirror, which had been installed in their tank at the National Aquarium