probably not rare, but the combination of having opposable thumbs and being able to collaborate is unique. crows, dolphins and magpies are intelligent, so are apes, dogs, cats, and even insects. the question is if we're smart enough to recognize that intelligence. we perceive animals as more intelligent if we can can find a way to interact with them. measuring intelligence is in itself a non-intelligent thing to do
Koalas have two opposable thumbs, in a parallel universe just imagine how the civilization would be build by them. They would need to be much more social and have a bunch more time over than just sitting there digesting food. We freed so much of our time and metabolic needs just by cooking meals - it's insane. What I'm getting at, there's so many factors that we never even consider.
We perceive animals as intelligent if they’re good at interacting in complex ways with their environment to get what they want, in novel situations.
Like if you were to trap a human in an alien maze with some food in it and a viable way to get it, the human would improvise rather than starve, demonstrating intelligence.
One could argue stoically accepting fate and not playing the alien’s game is also intelligent (like in Star Trek).
