Without being able to get into the heads of animals, it’s hard to say for sure. But instances of pig painters, whale crooners and bird sculptors certainly make it seem plausible.
And I think it boils down to this. Art is different for every viewer, and I would argue that most of what we humans achieved, we did so because we wanted to procreate, and making beautiful things helped us convince the ladies. I think what we now understand is art resulted from this. So a bird singing a beautiful song or a fish arranging pebbles on the sea floor might be the same precursor of art than what our ancestors scratched into a stone some million years ago.
And I think it boils down to this. Art is different for every viewer, and I would argue that most of what we humans achieved, we did so because we wanted to procreate, and making beautiful things helped us convince the ladies. I think what we now understand is art resulted from this. So a bird singing a beautiful song or a fish arranging pebbles on the sea floor might be the same precursor of art than what our ancestors scratched into a stone some million years ago.