Re: Are birds really smarter than non-avian dinosaurs?

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Brandon Pilcher writes: 

> I have noticed a very widespread belief, shared both by laypeople and dino experts, that contemporary birds possess greater intelligence than non-avian dinosaurs ever did, due to greater encephalization. Is this really probable? I cannot imagine why natural selection would favor greater intelligence in birds but not in their non-avian kin. My suspicion is that the higher levels of encephalization observed in most birds have more to do with coordinating and controlling flight than overall intelligence; I feel convinced of this because the very birds that don't fly are the ones that dinosaur brains are most commonly likened to.

Keep a few things in mind: 

1) Not all birds are 'intelligent' (however you define the term). Crows and 
parrots can exhibit seemingly intelligent behaviour, however your average 
sparrow is still as dumb as an ox (in all probability, dumber). In a contest 
of wills between a Tro-odon and a sparrow, I'd be betting on the non-avian. 

2) Birds have had an extra 65 million years to develop greater 
'intelligence' in at least a few lineages. Then again, a similar thing has 
happened to mammals over the same time span. 

3) Following on from point 2, since mammals have developed more 
sophisticated neural-based behaviour since the Cretaceous, some birds may 
have had to do so as well simply to compete. 


___________________________________________________________________ 

Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              http://geo_cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             http://heretichides.soffiles.com
___________________________________________________________________