In Diano Marrone’s, “Why Birds
are Smart,”
looks into the cognitive abilities of birds. The reason that birds have the
cognitive capabilities that are comparable to great apes is because they have
four features that are proposed to be required for complex cognition. These
features include
a large number of pallial neurons, a prefrontal cortex-like area, a dense
dopaminergic innervation of association areas, and dynamic neurophysiological fundamentals
for working memory. It is also determined that these features have
evolved convergently, which suggests they are critical for enabling complex cognition.
In
Andrei Ionescu’s, “Bird Brains: Fossil Reveals Roots of Avian Intelligence”,
Ionescu talks about how the discovery of a bird fossil, Navaorinis hestiae,
reveals information about the brain development of modern birds. Based on
looking at the skull of the fossil, and comparing it to modern birds, as well
as archaeopteryx, scientists are able to understand evolution of bird brains.
Scientists took note that Navaorinis had a cerebrum that was larger than
archaeopteryx, which implies higher cognitive abilities. Yet, the cerebellum
was less developed. This hinted that the ability to fly wasn’t something that was
advanced. Researchers were able to determine this due to advanced micro-CT
scanning, which digitally reconstructed the fossil. Ultimately, it was a
significant find for evolution because finding the fossil had bridged the gap
between modern birds and archaeopteryx, and gave insights as to how the brains
of modern birds developed
Both
of these pieces highlight the advanced cognitive abilities of birds, despite
their small brain sizes compared to other mammals. Both articles go to explain
how birds achieve complex cognition with non-cortical brains. The research article
goes more into depth on relying on specific neural features to explain complex
cognition, while the article relies more on fossils and skull structures to
explain complex cognition. Both of these pieces mention convergent evolution,
in which birds have developed advanced cognitive abilities independently of
mammals, this would imply that similar cognitive functions can arise through
different evolutionary pathways. Lastly, they both emphasize the importance of
understanding the neural mechanisms that make up cognition in birds. This could
potentially lead to studying/interpreting brain functions in other species as
well, including human beings.
Sources:
-
Marrone,
D. (n.d.). Bird brains: Fossil reveals roots of Avian Intelligence.
Earth.com.
https://www.earth.com/news/bird-brains-fossil-reveals-roots-of-avian-intelligence/
-
Why birds are smart: Trends in Cognitive
Sciences. (n.d.).
https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(23)00281-4
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