Really big brains can evolve only if constraints on energy intake are lifted
As a species we're so brain-proud it doesn't occur to most of us to ask whether a big brain has disadvantages as well as cognitive benefits.
As a species we're so brain-proud it doesn't occur to most of us to ask whether a big brain has disadvantages as well as cognitive benefits.
Evolution
Dec 21, 2016
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The evolution of big-brained mammals may be due to maternal investment, rather than metabolism, according to a new study by scientists at UCL (University College London) and the University of Cambridge.
Evolution
Sep 7, 2010
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0
Take a wild, common forest-dwelling mouse-like rodent, known as a vole, and subject it to 13 rounds of selection for increased aerobic exercise metabolism, and what do you get? A mighty "mouse" with a 48 percent higher peak ...
Evolution
Mar 5, 2015
0
7
Genomic research led by the University of California at Berkeley has looked to uncover the origins and history of desert adaptation in foxes. In a paper, "North African fox genomes show signatures of repeated introgression ...
We do it every day but barely give it a thought: chewing our food. But the "simple" process of masticating food may have played a crucial role in the evolution of our jaws, facial muscles and teeth.
Evolution
Aug 17, 2022
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42
Sauropods, the largest land animals in Earth's history, are still mightily puzzling the scientists. These plant-eating dinosaurs with their long necks and small heads could reach a height of 10 meters or more and dominated ...
Archaeology
Jan 14, 2014
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0
A commonly used term to describe nutritional needs and energy expenditure in humans – basal metabolic rate – could also be used to give insight into brain size of ocean fish, according to new research by Dr Teresa Iglesias ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 24, 2015
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10
Animals often differ in their behavioural response to risky situations such as exposure to predators. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology now found in a long-term study on different populations of great ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 30, 2014
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