Re: Dinosaur intelligence

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

 

What do the scientists mean when they say that one animal species is more intelligent than another?

Every time something different :-> . There is simply no (agreed) definition of intelligence.

The brain mass compared to the body mass seems to be important in those theories.

Not really. The relatively biggest brain (that also needs the largest percentage of oxygen) of all animals can be found in an African freshwater fish ("elephant-nose fish") that has so far not shown any particular intelligent behaviour.

Does a mouse have a larger brain compared to its body mass than an elephant?

Strictly speaking, yes, the brain makes up 10 % of the mouse's weight, but 0.1 % of that of the elephant. But this ratio is itself dependent on body mass, and if you take this into consideration, both mice and elephants are very precisely on the regression line ( ~ average) for mammals (some mouse species are higher, though, more like humans and dolphins).

And if so, is the mouse more intelligent than the elephant?

I don't think so

Does this have relevance for dinosaurs as well?

intensively discussed in the already mentioned thread in May

Did nerve signals travel with the same speed in dinosaurs as in mammals or birds?

Definitely. We can't possibly test that, but nerve signals have the same speed in all living vertebrates, so there's no reason extinct ones should have been different.