Researchers find animals with bigger brains less prone to extinction
(Phys.org) -- Biological scientist Eric Abelson of Stanford University has been studying the link between survivability of a species over time and brain size relative to body mass, and has found that as a general rule, it appears that small mammals that have relatively large brains tend to be more likely to survive over long periods of time than those with smaller brains. He has presented his findings to a recent meeting of conservation scientists. Meanwhile, in an unrelated study, Joshua J. Amiel, Reid Tingley and Richard Shine of the University of Sydney, have found that amphibians, birds and reptiles with larger brains relative to body size released into a new environment tend to fare better than do those with smaller brains. They have had their paper on the topic published in the journal PLoS One.