Intelligence, Crows and Evolution Storytelling

It appears that scientists may be giving up the notion that cranial capacity is a measure of intelligence that has been around a long time. For instance, in "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had his brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes use this belief:

"For example, how did you deduce that this man was intellectual?"

For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. “It is a question of cubic capacity,” said he; “a man with so large a brain must have something in it.”

That evolutionary assumption has been disproved.

Now they're studying the intelligence of birds, a field that had been dismissed because of the same assumptions. (How about quantum mechanics used in their navigation?) It turns out that crows, ravens and the like are much more intelligent than had been previously suspected.

morgueFile/jpkwitter

What began as a nice narrative about the studies of crows, their learning skills, testing and so forth turned into more baseless evolutionary propaganda. While people plug into their worldviews to interpret data, explaining the evolution of intelligence through speculation, storytelling and assuming there is only one possibility is not "scientific data". But people still believe this stuff and tell others about how evolution works, even through there is not a shred of observable evidence in this part of the narrative.

A different perspective is very helpful — especially about something as amorphous as "intelligence".

Do smart crows reveal an alternate evolutionary path to intelligence?

Crows and their cousins like ravens take the prize for intelligent avian behavior. They are more often thought of today as “feathered primates” than “bird brains.” Neurobiological research shows that birds’ brains are wired differently from primates’. Evolutionary researchers therefore believe that intelligence evolved along different routes in birds and mammals.

Crow Cognition

Corvids (jays, jackdaws, crows, and ravens) exhibit cognitive abilities that seem to rival those of primates. Their behavior is flexible enough to make appropriate arrangements for their future needs. Corvids often adjust their behavior according to the behavior of other birds of their own species. Jays recall numerous hiding places for their stashes and change hiding places to avert theft. Crows are also known for their excellent memory, remembering for years people who annoy them. Some birds, like primates, can improvise tools to get at a goodie they desire. And like other songbirds (and most pet dogs), these birds exhibit auditory learning skills.

You can read the rest at "Crow Intelligence Said to Evolve Differently from Humans". It's a just caws.