Curiosity contributor Diana Bocco dug into the topic of animal morality and discovered some surprising facts.

Harvard psychologist Marc Hauser believes our sense of right and wrong is genetic, rather than taught, and that this sense, which has developed over millions of years of evolution, is based on the principle of cause and consequence [source: Ross].

Before we can accept that animals have a sense of right and wrong, we need to accept that they have some form of intelligence and can understand intention and consequences. Because it's difficult to measure the motivation behind animal actions, experts are focusing on species that are considered highly intelligent, like chimpanzees. In studies, scientists have found that chimpanzees and other primates can make a distinction between "accidental" and "deliberate" actions [source: Ross]. This could mean some animals are able to understand the meaning behind some actions (accidentally bumping into another animal versus attacking the other animal on purpose), which could explain why their reactions to these things are different.

Hauser is not the only one who believes morals are part of our genetic makeup. Professor Marc Bekoff, from the University of Colorado, says chimpanzees have a sense of justice (they set wrongs straight within their own communities) and dolphins have shown empathy by rescuing swimmers in distress [source: Daily Mail]. He believes a basic sense of morality is innate to all mammals but stronger in species that live in tight-knit groups. Bekoff's research on canids (especially wolves and coyotes) has shown that some animals have a sense of fairness and can become distressed if they perceive they're being treated unfairly by others, be it humans or members of their own packs [source: Wolchover].

Perhaps a more telling sign of whether animals know right from wrong is found in looking to "less advanced species." Both rats and mice are known for making choices that benefit others. For example, rats have been known to refuse food when accepting it means that another rat will receive an electric shock. And bats often share blood with other bats in their colony when there's not enough to go around [source: Gray].

Many scientists, however, are not convinced these traits are proof that animals have a sense of morality. Part of the debate is that it's hard to measure what "good" and "bad" are, since not all species have the same interpretation. Still, it seems fair to assume that animals share some sort of moral compass with us humans and that good/bad is not just an anthropological concept.