Despite their size, birds live exceptionally long lives. What's their secret? A recent study suggests an unexpected relationship between the bird's inherent intelligence and life expectancy.
Direct Relationship Between Intelligence and Life Expectancy Seen in Parrots
A recently conducted study led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior reported that the exceptional lifespans of parrots and their remarkable cognitive abilities are traits that should be reinforced or even cause one another. Despite their size, these birds live surprisingly long lives in some species rivaling even those of humans. On the other hand, their small statures would point to shorter lifespans of only a few years. The longer-than-expected life expectancy in parrots has now been directly related to their higher-than-expected cognitive skills, as the latter helps these birds make better use of their environments and negotiate threats.
The study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, titled "Coevolution of relative brain size and life expectancy in parrots," worked with 133,818 parrots across 244 species. The database, constructed with the help of Species360, which draws animal records from aquaria and zoos, allowed researchers to establish the first-ever reliable estimates of the average life spans of more than half of all known parrot species. The step showed an incredible diversity in the parrot's life expectancy depending on the species. Some species, such as the fig parrot, lived roughly 1-2 years. While others, such as the sulfur-crested cockatoo or the scarlet macaw, lived 25-30 years. Some lived a maximum of 80 years, which is surprisingly astonishing for such small birds.
Studying the Relationship of Cognitive Abilities and Life Spans in Parrots
Simeon Smeele, a doctoral student at the MPI and lead author of the study, says that the problem was sourcing quality data. Wherein the comparative life-history of the birds required a large sample size that provided certainty since many processes are at play which creates variation in the data. He adds that the values are spectacular considering that human males weigh roughly 100 times more, reports ZME Science.
Next, the team used large-scale comparative analysis algorithms to process the dataset properly and determine each species' cognitive abilities and their influence on longevity. The team worked under two hypotheses: first, having larger, more capable brains allowed the parrots to handle unexpected challenges better, reducing mortality and attaining longer lifespans; second, larger brains take more time and energy to develop, thus requiring more parental investment, which slows down the pace of the birds' overall development. As a consequence, the birds have more time to learn behaviors passed from parents that help improve the birds' life expectancy.
Data suggests that the parrots with relatively larger brains than their body sizes were better at solving problems in the wild that could have otherwise killed the birds, which enabled them to live longer lives. On the other hand, factors such as greeted developmental costs and diet did not impact the average life spans of the birds.
In the future, the team hopes to investigate the influences of culturally and sociality learned skills that contribute to the parrot's long lifespans.
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