Three Interesting Findings: Birds and Bees Edition
No, not THAT kind of birds and bees...
Intelligence is adaptive in birds. Birds with bigger brains survive better in nature, are less likely to get shot, and are less likely to get killed in traffic. Here’s a figure showing the (negative) correlation between brain size and mortality - the fact, in other words, that larger brains mean lower mortality.
And it isn’t just birds…
According to a recent paper in Biology Letters, urban bees with bigger brains are better at adapting to urban environments. As the paper’s authors, Jose Lanuza and colleagues, note: “species with larger brains have enhanced behavioural plasticity, enabling them to confront and adapt to novel challenges.” Here’s the abstract, followed by a graph showing the key findings:
Even more surprising (to me), bees seem to understand the concept of zero. (!)
Bonus Bee Content: The video below seems to show a pair of bees collaborating to open a Fanta bottle…
TBC, I think it’s unlikely that the bees have really figured out how to unscrew bottle caps. But who knows? There’s evidence (see below) that bees can manipulate objects with a goal in mind – and can learn to do so by watching each other. So perhaps bees are smarter than we think!
