NOT A CHIMP

Are we humans simply remodelled apes? Chimps with a tweak? Is the difference between our genomes so minuscule it justifies the argument that our cognition and behaviour must also differ from chimps by barely a whisker? If “chimps are us” should we grant them human rights? Or is this one of the biggest fallacies in the study of evolution? NOT A CHIMP argues that these similarities have been grossly over-exaggerated - we should keep chimps at arm’s length. Are humans cognitively unique after all?

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/06/07/1517131113.abstract.html?etoc
Never call someone a "bird brain" again! This report has been a long time coming and shows that many bird species cram an unbelievable number of neurons into the forebrain of brains no bigger than a nut. There are more neurons in the forebrain of a bird with a brain the size of a walnut than a macaque with a brain the size of a lemon.