The researchers used the new technique to estimate the number of neurons in a particular part of the brain, called the pallium, in 111 bird species. Pallium in birds is equivalent to the human cerebral cortex, which is involved in memory, learning, reasoning and problem solving, among other things. When these estimates of the number of neurons in the pallium were combined with information on more than 4,000 innovations in bird foraging, the team found that the species with the most neurons in the pallium was also the most resourceful.
“The time chicks spend in the nest while their brains develop may also play a critical role in the evolution of intelligence,” says McGill University professor Louis Lefebvre. “The larger crow and parrot species known for their intelligence stay in the burrow longer, giving the brain more time to grow and accumulate pallial neurons.”
Source: Ferra
