Posted on 11/28/2010 4:58:06 PM PST by Nachum
Over millions of years dogs have developed bigger brains than cats because highly social species of mammals need more brain power than solitary animals, according to a study by Oxford University. For the first time researchers have attempted to chart the evolutionary history of the brain across different groups of mammals over 60 million years. They have discovered that there are huge variations in how the brains of different groups of mammals have evolved over that time.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Dogs have bigger brains than cats for the same reason that elephants have bigger brains than humans.
And all this time I thought dogs have bigger brains because they are usually... bigger... animals.
Hmm, what ? I don’t get the joke.
That's what I was thinking. It's sort of like hiring extra accountants to handle taxes. In the long run, it doesn't really contribute to survival.
My coffee table is definitely dumber. Every time I run into it trying to slip in without waking the wife...Dang! STUPID coffee table...
Hee hee....silly kitties
Did you read the article ? They’re talking about “size of their brains relative to body size”.
Heh, our current male Corgi was "socialized" by our (now deceased) Siamese mix. The cat kept trying to teach the dog to hunt birds and mice and was disgusted that he couldn't seem to "get it". The dog "did" learn to purr, though (and I am NOT kidding about that).
Before they met us, dogs, or rather wolves hunted in packs. They not only had to keep track of their prey, but of each other, and use group tactics to bring down larger animals. Cats are solitary hunters, and only have to track and ambush small prey.
The kitteh responds to you doggeh !!!!
A writeup of this story that I saw earlier only claimed that dogs’ brains were evolving more rapidly than cats’, not that they had surpassed them in relative brain size or intelligence. This source seems to say that cats have relatively larger brains, but that smaller mammals tend to generally. (E.g., we know that elephants are very intelligent, but they’ve got relatively puny brains.)
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Int3.html
I sure do. They probably needed a microscope to see the cat brains.
Our dogs had cat like body movement and behavior.. we used to laugh at how they used their paws and rubbed against us like cats.. meanwhile the cat went in the garbage and ate the old pizza
Dogs rule and cats drool!!!!
Weinie
Cats are infinitely preferable to dogs. Unlike dogs they’re not into smelling assholes. Dogs would rather sniff an asshole than eat. A dog will also respond to a bunch of moronic commands. Cats refuse to respond to such silliness. I ought to know. I called for my cat, he gave me a brief look, then commenced to lick his asshole (but at least, he doesn’t lick or sniff others)! Go figure.
Well, maybe. I think my Lab only has two brain cells though. And when they both kick in you gotta look out!
I have no doubt he has a bigger heart though...
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