People think that humans are only affecting the climate of this world, but this is no longer true. Biologist Emilie Snell-Rood has been study mammal skulls from ten different species. During her research she discovered that some species are developing bigger brains because of the human disruption in their environment. The urban-dwelling white-footed mice and meadow voles have brains that are six percent bigger than their rural counterparts. She has also found an increase in the brain size of shrews and bats that were found in the rural parts of Minnesota.
There is not an absolute certainty that a bigger brain makes the being smarter, but some studies have seen a correlation between brain size and ability to learn. Snell-Rood believes that the brain growth is how animals adapted to the challenges of finding food and shelter in a human filled world.
NOS themes:
Science is based on evidence: the brain size to animals has been increasing
Science it subject to debate and tentative: There is a debate over whether or not a bigger brain make a being smarter.
Original Article:
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-08/human-activity-driving-animals-develop-bigger-brains?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=4&con=human-urban-activity-makes-animals-develop-bigger-brains
Very interesting article. I think it would be really interesting to see a follow-up experiment similar to the one mentioned at the end of the article. There is one thing about the article that bothers me, however: the author says "that some species are developing bigger brains in response to human disruption to their environment." While that may be the case, how can we be sure that the two are directly related? I don't believe that human disruption is the sole cause. It would make for an interesting study, though.
ReplyDeleteGreat article and very thought provoking! I was also questioning a statement in the article about how the animals have developed bigger brains. Studies by scientists have shown that bigger brain does not necessarily mean smarter, but bigger regions in the brain can lead to different areas of intelligence. For example, Einstein, who had a normal sized brain, had some regions larger than the average, like the part of the brain known as the inferior parietal region, which affects mathematical thought. Now a great follow up experiment would be to see which areas of the animals' brains were larger and develop a conclusion to how the humans have impacted that certain region. I think that would be really cool!
ReplyDeleteAs Ben said, bigger brains do not necessarily equate to increased intelligence. This article (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-brain-size-matter/) argues that it is the organization of the brain, rather than the size of it, that impacts intelligence. Dolphins and other cetaceans have brains nearly the same size as humans (some are larger), but they don't have quite the intelligence of humans. This is because their brains, while large, are relatively simple and composed mainly of fat cells used as supporting tissue.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very interesting article. I looked up this topic and found an article that is some what similar. It shows that animals who live with humans are generally smarter than animals that live in the wild. This relates because it shows that humans really do have an impact on animals. The way we interact with them in a home versus the way the animal would interact with other animals in the wild, greatly changes the mind of an animal. I think this study is important because animals are such an important part of the human life and to the earth so the more people know about them, the better. Here is my article: http://news.discovery.com/animals/rodents-becoming-smarter-thanks-to-us.htm
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredibly interesting article. It's so interesting how the mice in the urban environment had larger brains than the ones in rural areas. It definitely shows how much human disruption can affect an animal's intelligence, or at least their brain size. I would like to research about if the type of animal has a difference in how large the brain gets between urban and rural places. I think this is important so we can know more about animals around us. Also, you explained everything very well, and the graph/chart helped as well.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a crucial step in our further understanding of Darwin's Theory of Evolution. We can see, in this article, serious evidence of evolution. The rats in the Urban areas are clearly not just growing a bigger brain because they feel like it. The gene was passed down from their parents to grow a bigger brain to adapt to the ever-moving city life.
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