Brain size and intelligence not linked?

[Skeptisk]

If you look at the evolution of humans our ancestors had smaller brains. It is said that our intelligence increased as our brains got bigger. That seems logical…but it doesn’t seem to work with other animals very well. If you are looking for the most intelligent animals other than humans then brain size doesn’t seem to be very important. As an example corvids like crows are very intelligent yet their brains are tiny. Similarly look at dogs. The brain of a Great Dane is much bigger than a Border Collie but the latter is known for its intelligence.

So why is it that a mouse and a cow seem to be on the same level of intelligence yet the latter’s brain is so much bigger? Also…why is it so much bigger if it does the same job?

[jdw100]

Brain size and brain structure are two different measurements.

[Skeptisk]

jdw100 said:

Brain size and brain structure are two different measurements.

That is the point of my post. If bran structure is more important than size, why did we evolve bigger brains rather than just better connected? The brain requires a lot of energy.

[ChocolateFrog]

Next you'll be telling me penis size and vehicle size are not linked.

[PositronicRay]

AiUI, a lot of brain is taken up with nerve endings and body control rather than thinking about stuff.

[AceRockatansky]

PositronicRay said:

AiUI, a lot of brain is taken up with nerve endings and body control rather than thinking about stuff.

Schlong size is linked with brain size.

[98elise]

Skeptisk said:

jdw100 said:

Brain size and brain structure are two different measurements.

That is the point of my post. If bran structure is more important than size, why did we evolve bigger brains rather than just better connected? The brain requires a lot of energy.

Size will be part of it. Our brain size has the disadvantage of our offspring needing years of dependency, so evolution would have gone with a smaller brain if it could.

Evolution isn't perfect though.

[Scarletpimpofnel]

98elise said:

Size will be part of it. Our brain size has the disadvantage of our offspring needing years of dependency, so evolution would have gone with a smaller brain if it could.

Evolution isn't perfect though.

I read that "some" birds brains (if not all?) evolved to be super compact for a given level of intelligence, so have a very high "processing capability : volume" ratio than say mammals who might have similar intelligence but much bigger brains. This is thought to be to keep bird's weight down for obvious reasons.

It might be that birds simply couldn't function as flying creatures if they had big heavy brains to pack in all the processing power they need, whereas with humans, evolution doesn't give a stuff about females screaming a bit/lot when giving birth to a big head. Evolution sees no need to change the latter.