The More We Learn About Crow Brains, the More Humanlike Their Intelligence Seems

We ’ ve long known that crows display extraordinary intelligence. These birds — along with ravens, jays and others in the corvid family — have inspired myths, legends and fables for centuries. But the more scientists unravel about their brain structure and behaviors, the more crows seem to resemble humans. noteworthy leaps in corvid research have captivated John Marzluff, ornithologist at the University of Washington, for decades. He ’ s the guy on campus sporting a “ Crowvid-19 ” face mask, with birds perched on the letters like powerlines. Beneath the mask, Marzluff is packing 40 years of corvid research in his own brain. He ‘s explored the exceeding size and serve of crow brains, their retentive animation spans ( up to 30 years ) and social life style. The combination of these factors draws some outstanding similarities to humans. “ big brain, farseeing life and sociality, those are in truth linked features, ” Marzluff says. “ You put those together, and it should sound pretty companion. ”

perceptual Consciousness

To top that off, just death fall other researchers determined that crows seem to exhibit a grade of consciousness alone attributed to humans and very few of our mammal relatives, such as primates. This work, along with many late neurological studies, is redefining bird brains as we have known them.

The breakthrough sketch published in Science revealed that crows show signs of perceptual awareness and an ability to have immanent experiences unique to their individual minds. This means the birds keep new information, or memories, in the presence of their brains for extended periods, and use it in reasoning and navigating fresh situations they encounter. The discovery piggybacks on new cognition about the forebrain in crows, which has proven to be exceptionally large — another trait they share with humans. This region, known as the nidopallium, or NCL, close resembles the prefrontal cerebral cortex in humans. For people and crows alike, the forebrain deals with higher cognitive tasks, including the deduction of data, intellectual decision-making, problem-solving and executive function. Taken in concert, these findings help explain dynamic problem-solving and tool use in crows that humans have observed for years .

Toolmaking

The New Caledonian crow has recently gained popularity for not alone creature consumption, but its ability to manufacture compound tools out of assorted materials. In a 2018 study published in Nature, researchers watched a crow compound a many as four elements to entree food, something they had previously only seen in humans. These innovative birds have been known to make probes, hooks and sharp spears that they use to skewer insects in intemperate to reach places. They besides strip down decoration fronds then that the independent stem forms a J-shape that can grab food. In research lab, they ‘ve successfully bent wire to snatch baskets with food inside. And in some instances, they store these tools to use them again in the future if the opportunity arises, Marzluff says. “ They understand the concept of hooking and pulling and spearing and what tools are needed to do that, ” he says. These reasoning skills appear to be significantly more promote than more crude joyride manipulation, such as using rocks to break open shells and other food — which researchers have observed in some early animals.

“ There are incidental uses of tools, ” Marzluff says. “ It ’ s not quite the same as having to take a unlike material and make it into something. Rocks, however, are beneficial for pounding always. ”

facial Recognition and Grudges

Some of Marzluff ’ mho work specializes in crows ’ ability to recognize human faces. His studies have shown how they pander to people who help them, such as caretakers responsible for feeding. And they have proven they can remember the faces of those who threatened them in a individual negative event for multiple years subsequently. What ’ s more, people who have threatened crows might face harassment and scolding not merely from the specific bird they harmed, but other members of its group. Birds have besides been known to pass these perceived grudges or contempt to offspring and future generations. Marzluff has been putting this world to the test every year for 15 years with a specific group of birds. Each class, researchers approach the crows with a mask they wore when they captured some of the birds many years ago. And for 14 consecutive years, many have reacted by scolding and harassing — behavior they do not display toward other people. Marzluff plans to put this to the test again, for the 15th year, adjacent month. “ They respond still to that boldness when I wear it about, ” he says. “ We captured seven birds wearing this mask, and it ’ s not uncommon to have 30 birds harass you now, none of which were the seven we captured. ”

Will to Thrive

Crows besides demonstrate unique adaptability in the natural and urban universe. This sets them apart from many struggling animals and species that have gone extinct under the threat of human expansion. For exercise, crows are found in all corners of the Earth, barring Antarctica. They are besides supreme scavengers who have adopted an incredibly divers diet : “ They will eat anything, from emetic to steaks, ” Marzluff says. “ They will hunt things, and eat fruits and vegetables and all sorts of things. ” In his opinion, when you add all this cognition together, the creatures demand a certain humility in humans. “ The features of our life that we think are therefore alone and thus high and mighty above all other forms of life, very aren ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate, ” he says. “ The more we see other animals do the sorts of things we thought only we could do, the better we ’ re able to see ourselves. ”

source : https://unianimal.com
Category : Birds