Migratory behavior affects the size of brains in birds
Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 20:51
in Biology & Nature
Researchers at Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF, a Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona-affiliated centre) shed new light on the evolution of brain size in birds. Scientists have known for some time that migratory birds have smaller brains than their resident relatives. Now a new study looks into the reasons and concludes that the act of migrating leads to a reduced brain size. Authors point to the fact that the causes could be due to a need to reduce energetic, metabolic and cognitive costs. To reach these conclusions, scientists reconstructed the evolutionary history of one of the most numerous orders of birds, the passeriformes, a group which includes swallows, tits and crows.