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An international team of evolutionary biologists and paleontologists have reconstructed the evolution of the bird’s brain, using a large dataset on the brain volume of dinosaurs, extinct birds such as flightless Archeopteryx and Razorbill, and modern types. In their study, the scientists said in the article in the journal Current Biology.
Although the evolution of the animals studied for quite some time, there are still many “white spots”. The authors of the new study decided to find out what changes occurred to the birds’ brains during their evolution from dinosaurs to recent species. For this, the researchers used computed tomography data from hundreds of birds and dinosaurs, which they combined with a large existing database of measurements of the brain of modern birds. This allowed the authors to create an endocrine model of the brain based on the shape of the cranial cavity. Then they looked at allometry – how brain size correlates with body size.
“There is no clear limit between advanced brain dinosaurs and primitive birds,” says study co-author Dr. Amy Balanoff of Johns Hopkins University. “These birds, like EMUs and pigeons, have brains the same size as predatory dinosaurs, and some species, like MoA, are even less than expected.”
Previous work showed that the two groups of truly exceptional brain size birds have evolved relatively recently: they are parrots and corvids. These groups of birds are really good cognitive skills. For example, they can use various things for their own purposes and have developed a language and can memorize human faces. A new study has shown that parrots and corvids had a very high rate of brain evolution, which could have helped them achieve such a large brain size relative to the entire body.
“A higher average rate of evolution of brain and body size can be seen in some groups of birds,” says co-author Dr. Adam Smith of the Bob Campbell Museum of Geology at Clemson University. But corvids really confused us: they are ahead of all other birds. Our results show that the expression “you have a brain like a bird” can even be seen as a compliment. ”
