Whenever birds are an outlier I ask myself “is it because birds fly?” Bird cells (especially bird mitochondria) are intensely optimized for power output because flying demands a high power-to-weight ratio. I think bird cells’ individually high power output produces brains that can perform more (or better) calculations per unit volume/mass.
Whenever birds are an outlier I ask myself “is it because birds fly?” Bird cells (especially bird mitochondria) are intensely optimized for power output because flying demands a high power-to-weight ratio. I think bird cells’ individually high power output produces brains that can perform more (or better) calculations per unit volume/mass.