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Re: Big-brained birds evolve faster



Quoting Dora Smith <villandra@austin.rr.com>:

> Parrots are bright and old.   What do you mean?

To quote Horton: I meant what I said (and I said what I meant).

I'm simply suggesting that where the correlation between diverse bird lineages 
(ie. 'fast evolving' 
groups) and brain size is concerned, that brain size might be the result 
instead of the cause. Some 
lineages might not 'evolve fast' (whatever that means) because of their big 
brains, but rather more 
diverse lineages may be more likely to spawn larger-brained species. You don't 
necessarily need 
to be smart to be successful (ask any shark or croc - or bacterium for that 
matter).

I am of course making a correlation between lineage diversity and rate of 
evolution, which is an 
assumption on my part. Then again, this is all pure conjecture to begin with.


> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Dann Pigdon" <dannj@alphalink.com.au>
> To: "Dinosaur Mailing List" <dinosaur@usc.edu>
> Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 3:11 AM
> Subject: Re: Big-brained birds evolve faster
> 
> 
> > ... or perhaps bird lineages that evolve faster are more likely to
> > develop bigger brains? 
> > 
> > Larger brain sizes may be a function of more diverse lineages, where
> > there is a greater likelihood of one or more species developing larger
> > brains.


-- 
___________________________________________________________________

Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              http://geo_cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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