Study reveals that urban birds have bigger brains
April 28th, 2011 - 7:31 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattSeville, April 28 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A new study published in the journal Biology Letters says birds that live in urban areas have relatively larger brain-body ratio than their counterparts in rural areas.
The research was conducted by scientists from the Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala, Sweden and the Donana Biological Station, Seville, Spain. In all about 82 species of the animals were selected from 22 families. The primary aim of the researchers was to determine why some birds do so well in the urban areas while the same thing cannot be said of others.
The study was limited to 12 cities in Switzerland and France. The researchers wanted to determine whether the birds have some flexibility that helps them to adapt to city life. The researchers preferred to call the bird that thrive in the city “urban adapters” and they found that almost all of them have relatively higher brain size compared to their body. Though some birds like the barn swallows live in the city with small brain size, the researchers say those birds are not true “urban adapters.”
Previous studies have shown that birds with bigger brain size adapt to behavioral changes.
- 'Food hunt makes brains of urban birds larger' - Apr 28, 2011
- Birds living in cities have larger brains - Apr 28, 2011
- Migratory birds have smaller brains - Apr 30, 2010
- Humans helped vulture population flourish in Canary Islands - Dec 13, 2010
- Your longevity depends on your brain size! - Jul 16, 2010
- Unique genetic adaptation helped our brain grow - Apr 13, 2012
- Mammals with larger brain sizes live longer: Study - Jul 16, 2010
- Sparrows twittering louder to be heard - Apr 03, 2012
- Brains of birds have a dinosaur source: Study - Apr 13, 2011
- Bigger brains make dogs friendlier than cats - Nov 23, 2010
- Chernobyl birds 'have 5 percent smaller brains' - Feb 06, 2011
- Mole-rats' secret can help brain survive in oxygen scarcity - Feb 27, 2012
- Small patches of woods in urban areas valuable for migrating birds - May 19, 2010
- As far as evolution goes 'bigger really is better', says study - Mar 08, 2011
- Poor brain connectivity behind many faces of depression - Feb 28, 2012
Tags: aim, animals, barn swallows, behavioral changes, biological station, birds, brain size, brains, cities in switzerland, counterparts, evolutionary biology centre, flexibility, journal biology, rural areas, scientists, seville spain, study reveals that, uppsala sweden, urban areas