Ravens as smart as chimps, despite smaller brain: study

A new study out of Sweden has found that, despite their smaller brains, ravens are just as smart as chimpanzees.

One method of measuring intelligence is to observe whether animals can choose rational behaviour over animal impulses, called inhibitory control.

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A large-scale study by Duke University on this type of behaviour was done in 2014 on 36 different species of animals, with most being primates or apes. The researchers placed food in a transparent tube that had openings on either side. The animals were to get the food using either of the openings rather than go to it directly. The result of the study found that apes performed best and seemed to suggest that brain size mattered.

The researchers out of Lund University in Sweden applied the same test to birds. They first trained the birds using an opaque tube and then transitioned to the transparent one. In the test, the ravens chose to get to the food by the side openings every time. Crows and jackdaws did so almost every time.

“There is still so much we need to understand and learn about the relationship between intelligence and brain size, as well as the structure of a bird’s brain, but this study clearly shows that bird brains are not simply birdbrains after all,” said Can Kabadayi, one of the researchers.

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