Social aspects of the animal turned out to bring the benefits of good. Based on the latest research from scientists, social nature makes developing brain size becomes larger.A recent study of more than 500 species of mammals, revealed that the animals that live in social groups have larger brain size than the animals that live alone.
This explains why the dog brain size larger than the size of a solitary cat brain. Evolutionary biologists long assumed that each species has a brain size roughly equal to the portion size relative to its body.
However, according to researchers from Oxford, Dr Susanne Shultz and Professor Robin Dunbar, in fact, brain size can not be inferred simply like that. Furthermore, the social aspect was also a correlation of brain size.
For example, the primate brain size is continuously growing. So also with horses, dolphins, camels and dogs. The animals are animals that usually live in groups.
Meanwhile, brain size solitary animals like cats until rhino, believed to grow even more slowly when compared with the social animal.
"Cooperation and coordination required in a group of beings, will be very challenging so that some mammals have a larger brain size to be able to cope with the needs of a social life," said Dr. Shultz to the site io9 science.
"Interesting to see that animals which have had contact with humans, like cats, still has a brain smaller than a dog or a horse, because of their lack of social activity," said Professor Dunbar.
