Scientists have found birds that become stupid for the sake of having many children
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Scientists from the University of Western Australia have found birds that get dumber the more children they have. The study was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The researchers tested the cognitive abilities of 38 wild piebald thrush thrushes. These are birds similar to sparrows, they live in South Africa and Asia. During the experiment, scientists found out how well birds can remember associations, adapt to changes and control their behavior for the sake of reward.
After examining the data on the reproduction of birds for 10 years, ornithologists found that less intelligent birds give birth to more chicks per year. With age, fertility increased, and the cognitive abilities of females decreased. At the same time, males did not show such changes.
The results of the experiment show that intelligence requires a lot of energy. In animals, the resources were spent on reproduction.
Also, ornithologists have not found evidence for the assumption that living in large groups increases the intelligence of an individual.
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