Amazing stuff!
Note apparently three different articles were published concurrently about this subject.
"Although bird brains look very different from mammalian ones, some bird species are remarkably intelligent—even rivaling the advanced cognitive abilities of great apes. Now, the authors of three new Science studies report that birds and mammals took distinct evolutionary pathways to complex brains.
In both birds and mammals, a part of the brain called the pallium plays a key role in memory, learning, and thinking.
In mammals, he pallium includes the neocortex, the layered sheet of cells on the surface of the brain.
In birds, it’s structured quite differently.
Scientists found that, while birds and mammals may have evolved brain circuits with similar functions, these circuits don’t form the same way during embryonic development, and the neurons responsible for sensory processing are formed using different sets of genes. ..."
From the perspective abstract:
"During the arms race for survival on Earth, highly intelligent biological systems have emerged only a few times.
Among vertebrates, mammals and birds can solve complex problems, use tools, and engage in elaborate social behaviors. These sophisticated tasks involve the pallium, the brain region most implicated in cognition, which includes the neocortex in mammals.
However, it is unclear whether complex brains evolved multiples times through similar or different mechanisms. ... provide evidence for the convergent development and evolution of neurons and their connections in the bird and mammalian pallia, highlighting the need for multiple perspectives in brain comparative studies."
Constrained roads to complex brains "Neural development and brain circuit evolution converged in birds and mammals"
Evolutionary convergence of sensory circuits in the pallium of amniotes (no public access)
Enhancer-driven cell type comparison reveals similarities between the mammalian and bird pallium (no public access)
Developmental origins and evolution of pallial cell types and structures in birds (no public access)
Evolutionary history of pallial development in amniotes.
Correspondences between avian and mammalian telencephalic regulatory codes hint at ancestral conservation.
Cellular development and evolution of the chicken pallium.
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