Monday 28 December 2015

evolution - Have creatures ever evolved to become less intelligent?


Inspired by https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/58533/is-intelligence-the-natural-product-of-evolution , I'm wondering if creatures have ever become less intelligent as a result of natural selection and evolution.


It seems plausible, because the brain can use a lot of energy, and I've heard of other aspects of an animal atrophying because they're not useful any more, such as vision in the Mexican blind cavefish.



One possible candidate I can think of is the koala: it's described as having a low brain to body mass ratio, doesn't have a great need for intelligence, and may have a need to minimise energy usage.


I'm mainly interested in cases of natural selection, as opposed to artificial breeding - I wouldn't be surprised if we selected animals to be less intelligent.




No comments:

Post a Comment

evolution - Are there any multicellular forms of life which exist without consuming other forms of life in some manner?

The title is the question. If additional specificity is needed I will add clarification here. Are there any multicellular forms of life whic...