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Brains, Innovations and Evolution in Birds and Primates
Open accessAbstract
Several comparative research programs have focused on the cognitive, life history and ecological traits that account for variation in brain size. We review one of these programs, a program that uses the reported frequency of behavioral innovation as an operational measure of cognition. In both birds and primates, innovation rate is positively correlated with the relative size of association areas in the brain, the hyperstriatum ventrale and neostriatum in birds and the isocortex and striatum in primates. Innovation rate is also positively correlated with the taxonomic distribution of tool use, as well as interspecific differences in learning. Some features of cognition have thus evolved in a remarkably similar way in primates and at least six phyletically-independent avian lineages. In birds, innovation rate is associated with the ability of species to deal with seasonal changes in the environment and to establish themselves in new regions, and it also appears to be related to the rate at which lineages diversify. Innovation rate provides a useful tool to quantify inter-taxon differences in cognition and to test classic hypotheses regarding the evolution of the brain.
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“Among birds, those that are larger-brained (corvids, parrots and owls) are also considered the most intelligent (Lefebvre et al., 2004).”
From The human brain in numbers: a linearly scaled-up primate brain (2009) · cites this paper as Lefebvre et al., 2004
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“In contrast, the encephalization hypothesis argues that an increase in brain volume relative to body size was of primary importance (108, 110, 111, 123).”
From The evolution of self-control. (2014) · cites this paper as [110]
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Self-citation(2006) · doi:10.1007/s10071-006-0033-8 · Cited by 202
“One of the cognitive tools that are especially adaptive to solving the most important environmental problems in nature is causal reasoning (Visalberghi and Tomasello 1998; Lefebvre 2000; Lefebvre et al 2004; Emery and Clayton 2004; Hunt et al. 2006; Weir and Kacelnik 2006).”
BackgroundSHULTZ, S., & DUNBAR, R. I. M. (2010) · Biological Journal of the Linnean Society · doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01427.x · Cited by 151
Establishment success of invasive ring‐necked and monk parakeets in Europe
Strubbe, D., & Matthysen, E. (2009) · Journal of Biogeography · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02177.x · Cited by 148
“This behavioural flexibility may include traits such as the ability to adjust behaviour in response to novel conditions or the use of novel resources such as food offered by humans (Lefebvre et al., 2004; Sol, 2007).”
Backgroundvan Horik, J. O., & Madden, J. R. (2016) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.02.006 · Cited by 149
Comparative psychometrics: establishing what differs is central to understanding what evolves
Völter, C. J., Tinklenberg, B., Call, J., & Seed, A. M. (2018) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2017.0283 · Cited by 152
“Although brain size is a crude index of cognitive ability [6], it does correlate with observational records of behaviour, such as tool use, social learning and innovation, in both mammals and birds [7, 8].”
BackgroundHeritability and the evolution of cognitive traits: Table 1
Croston, R., Branch, C. L., Kozlovsky, D. Y., Dukas, R., & Витальевич, П. В. (2015) · Behavioral Ecology · doi:10.1093/beheco/arv088 · Cited by 148
“Many of these studies use a comparative phylogenetic approach to associate brain size with traits such as innovation (Reader and Laland 2002; Lefebvre et al. 2004; Reader et al. 2011), social learning (Reader et al.”
BackgroundMethodRepeated innovation in great apes
Manrique, H. M., Völter, C. J., & Call, J. (2012) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.10.026 · Cited by 142
“Innovation rates have also been positively correlated with the volume of associative brain areas (isocortex and striatum in primates, hyperstriatum ventrale and neostriatum in birds; Lefebvre et al. 2004).”
BackgroundThe evolution of general intelligence
Burkart, J. M., Schubiger, M. N., & van Schaik, C. P. (2017) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x16000959 · Cited by 265
Innovative problem solving in birds: a key role of motor diversity
Griffin, A. S., Diquelou, M. C., & Perea, M. (2014) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.04.009 · Cited by 138
The coevolution of innovation and technical intelligence in primates
Navarrete, A. F., Reader, S. M., Street, S. E., Whalen, A., & Laland, K. N. (2016) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0186 · Cited by 139
Self-citationBrains matter, bodies maybe not: the case for examining neuron numbers irrespective of body size
Herculano‐Houzel, S. (2011) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.05976.x · Cited by 137
The life-history basis of behavioural innovations
Sol, D., Sayol, F., Ducatez, S., & Lefebvre, L. (2016) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0187 · Cited by 138
Self-citationLearning capabilities enhanced in harsh environments: a common garden approach
Roth, T. C., LaDage, L. D., & Витальевич, П. В. (2010) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.0630 · Cited by 136
Bergman, T. J., & Kitchen, D. M. (2008) · Animal Cognition · doi:10.1007/s10071-008-0171-2 · Cited by 133
“Recent literature reXects a growing interest in the relationship between behavioral Xexibility and cognitive processes (Reader and Laland 2003; Lefebvre et al. 2004; Roth and Dicke 2005; Sol et al. 2005).”
BackgroundRattenborg, N. C., Martı́nez-González, D., & Lesku, J. A. (2008) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.08.010 · Cited by 136
“For instance, the nidopallium is unusually large in corvids (ravens, crows, and jays), birds with cognitive abilities (e.g., causal reasoning, flexibility, imagination, and prospection) comparable to those exhibited by primates (Emery and Clayton, 2004; Lefebvre et al., 2004).”
ResultCreativity, brain, and art: biological and neurological considerations
Zaidel, D. W. (2014) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00389 · Cited by 140
“Meta-analytic studies in animals have found that deviations from typical behavior that enhance survival are associated with larger brains (Lefebvre et al., 2004), although the brain’s size and its relationship to larger social groups is a possibility, too, and a source of debate (Byrne and Bates,…”
BackgroundInfluentialCognitive ecology: ecological factors, life‐styles, and cognition
Mettke‐Hofmann, C. (2014) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Cognitive Science · doi:10.1002/wcs.1289 · Cited by 130
The social and cultural roots of whale and dolphin brains
Fox, K. C. R., Muthukrishna, M., & Shultz, S. (2017) · Nature Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0336-y · Cited by 136
“…across species to develop an index for behaviours such as innovation, new behaviours and socially complex behaviours has been used to relate behavioural differences to brain size in both birds 17–21 and primates 22–25 , but such an exploration has not yet been attempted for the cetaceans.”
Large‐brained mammals live longer
González‐Lagos, C., Sol, D., & Reader, S. M. (2010) · Journal of Evolutionary Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.01976.x · Cited by 121
“…growing number of studies have found support for an association between brain size and different measures of behavioural flexibility, such as innovation, tool use, tactical deception and learning (reviewed in Lefebvre et al., 2004; Dunbar & Shultz, 2007a; Deaner et al., 2007; Lefebvre & Sol, 2008).”
BackgroundSelf-citationAnimal and human innovation: novel problems and novel solutions
Reader, S. M., Morand‐Ferron, J., & Flynn, E. (2016) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0182 · Cited by 128
Self-citationChapter 2 Social Foraging and the Study of Exploitative Behavior
Giraldeau, L., & Dubois, F. (2008) · Advances in the study of behavior · doi:10.1016/s0065-3454(08)00002-8 · Cited by 125
Innovation in wild Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii)
van Noordwijk, M. A., van Schaik, C. P., & Wich, S. A. (2006) · Behaviour · doi:10.1163/156853906778017944 · Cited by 124
How humans evolved large brains: Comparative evidence
Isler, K., & van Schaik, C. P. (2014) · Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews · doi:10.1002/evan.21403 · Cited by 126
Schuck‐Paim, C., Alonso, W. J., & Ottoni, E. B. (2008) · Brain Behavior and Evolution · doi:10.1159/000119710 · Cited by 121
“…Size Variation in Parrots Brain Behav Evol 2008;71:200–215 201 body size) and its parts is positively associated with various measures of behavioral complexity [Biegler et al., 2001; Reader and Laland, 2002; Byrne and Corp, 2004; Lefebvre et al., 2004; Shultz and Dunbar, 2006].”
BackgroundInfluential‘Captivity bias’ in animal tool use and its implications for the evolution of hominin technology
Haslam, M. (2013) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0421 · Cited by 118
“Importantly, for discussions of cognitive abilities, this species also presents an unprecedented small brain size for a Late Pleistocene hominin, although while brain size has been shown to correlate with innovative and tool-use behaviours in primates and birds [74], its effect on such behaviour is disputed [75,76].”
BackgroundCultural Evolutionary Perspectives on Creativity and Human Innovation
Fogarty, L., Creanza, N., & Feldman, M. W. (2015) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2015.10.004 · Cited by 128
“, [101] and references therein), fish [102], and mammal [103] species.”
BackgroundShultz, S., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2010) · Journal of Comparative Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0018894 · Cited by 116
Metadata
- Authors
- Lefebvre, L., Reader, S. M., & Sol, D.
- Affiliations
- McGill University (CA)
- Venue
- Brain, Behavior and Evolution
- Publisher
- S. Karger AG
- Published
- 2004
- Volume
- 63
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 233-246
- ISSN
- 0006-8977 (ISSN-L)
- 1421-9743
- OpenAlex
- W2112831044
- Cited by
- 666
- References
- 132
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 57 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 57 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 43
- FWCI
- 3.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Brain Behavior and Evolution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
- Keywords
- behavioral innovation, brain size, cognition, birds, primates, hyperstriatum ventrale, neostriatum, neocortex, striatum, tool use, learning, seasonal adaptation, range expansion, diversification rates, brain evolution, comparative cognition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Birds, Brain, Biological Evolution, Primates
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