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Re: Dinosaur "intellegence"


Jordan,
I'd be very hesistant trying to extrapolate intelligence from body size. Even if you could get people to agree on how to define smart or intelligent.
Which is more intelligent, a rabbit or a small monkey of similar size? I think most people would choose the monkey, which has more adaptable "software", while the rabbit is more hard-wired, dependent more on instinct, speed and especially on high fecundity.
I would think various dinosaur groups were no different. Some were probably more hardwired, depending more on speed and/or fecundity (or sometimes big size), whereas others had more complex "software" in their brains like monkeys and carnivores (investing more heavily in fewer young). Same goes for elephants, although being so big probably means they don't need to be as quick-witted as their smaller ancestors.
So at the risk of being simplistic, I would look for parental care and lower fecundity as signs of intelligence, more so than body size. There would still be exceptions, but probably fewer exceptions than "Dr. Paleontology's" size hypothesis, and you can tell him I said so (if you wish).
---Ken Kinman
******************************************************** 
From: "Jordan Mallon" <j_mallon@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: j_mallon@hotmail.com
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Dinosaur "intellegence"
Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2001 12:31:08 -0400

Hello all,

I've been posting recently at a dinosaur-related message board, and the
topic of dinosaur intellence has come up as of late. As one person, who
goes by the name "Dr. Paleontology", posted, "As for the Sinornithosaurus,
yes it was small and the belief is generaly that the smaller the dinosaur is
the more intelligent (with possible exceptions)."

Out of curiosity, do we actually have any evidence to back this up?  The
smaller the dinosaur, the "smarter" it might have been?  (What is "smart",
anyway?)  I understand that not a whole lot can be said on dinosaur
intellence, since we can't truly measure their IQ or what have you.  And I
also now understand that calculations relating to EQ don't really tell us
much.
Just curious as to the validity of this statement...

-Jordan Mallon

http://www.geocities.com/paleoportfolio/


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