It is not unusual for one animal to follow another to a food source, but the back-and-forth way this happens for Temnothorax ants led some researchers to call the behavior the first formal teaching ever seen in animals.

The teacher leads its student on a "tandem run," showing it a new route--but the follower gets to determine the speed. It looks around to learn the new terrain, and only when it's ready to move on will it tap the hind legs or abdomen of the guide.

The teacher would reach food four times faster if it left the student behind, but ants have learned the same lesson that all human teachers know: Teaching requires great patience.