Scientists from the USA are investigating the history of the ratios of birds’ brains to their bodies in order to understand the evolution of birds. The results of the research published in Current Biology show that flying dinosaurs and birds living in the Cretaceous period carry brains similar in size to their bodies. Researchers say that after the extinction of dinosaurs, birds quickly developed larger brains. Daniel Ksepha, the science curator of the Bruce Museum in Connecticut, USA, and the lead author of the published study, said that some bird species continue to carry the brain size ratios of their large-bodied ancestors, while small-bodied birds develop proportionally large brains. 3D model of skull cavities of dinosaurs and birds was removed Paleontologists involved in the research conducted computer scans to extract the 3D model of the cavities of hundreds of birds and dinosaur skulls. These scans allowed researchers to estimate the brain size of older species. Scientists modeling the brain sizes of ancient species combined these models with measurements of the current brain sizes of modern bird species. After joining, how the brain sizes of different dinosaur and bird species were scaled with their body size were analyzed. Amy Balanoff of Johns Hopkins University, one of the co-authors of the research, said there was no clear line of separation between the brains of dinosaurs and brains of primitive birds. Balanoff explained that birds such as Emu and non-flying bird species living in Australia have brain / body ratios of theropod dinosaurs. The brain of crows and parrots has grown While birds generally have brains similar to the brain / body ratios of dinosaurs, some birds have become larger brains after the extinction of dinosaurs. Parrots and crows (bird class including ravens and crows) have undergone an evolutionary process in which their brains will grow following the extinction of dinosaurs. Jeroen Smaers from Stony Brook University said that crows are the dominant species of the bird world. Smaers explained that crows evolve proportionally by increasing both their body and brain size at the same time as in the ancestors of humans. Another study shows that crows can adapt to life in cities by developing larger minds and gaining cognitive abilities.
