Pterasaurs: Bird brain? Brain dead?

[DeathbySmite]

Okay... I'm VERY new to this, and to forums in general. I'm actually more or less computer illiterate, and partially REGULAR illiterate. Before I dig my own grave farther, I'll pitch the question: I've been studying pterosaurs recently, and only after much searching have I found a fairly complete reference with ANY real mention of pterasaur brains. Though I'm not done with the pterasaur skull chapter, what I have read so far indicates that braincasts of at least PTERADACTYLOID pterosaurs were similar to birds in that the cerebral hemisphere was fairly large. Are there any experts or newbies like me who can put their two cents in on their opinion on pterosaur brainpower? I'd really like to hear the latest word on this. Also, I know that brain to bodysize ratios are important in guessing if an animal is intelligent. Is size just a factor? Or is weight as well? Anything anyone knows or guesses is extremely appreciated.

[insane_alien]

well seeing as we have never seen a live pterosaurus i'm going to say that we can only estimate its "brainpower". I would imagine it would be similar to most modern predatory avians such as hawks, eagles and falcons. just a guess though and i'm no expert.

[AzurePhoenix]

I doubt they'd be be quite that high, considering their relative nearness to more primitive reptilian ancestry, and mostly due to the fact that as far as we can tell, they were most similar in habits to seabirds, and in my eyes at least, would likely show a similar brainpower; certainly less than that of a hunting bird of prey.

[PhDP]

Although general neural organization resembles birds, pterosaurs had smaller brains relative to body mass than do birds. This difference probably has more to do with phylogeny than flight, in that birds evolved from nonavian theropods that had already established trends for greater encephalization

 

in; Witmer, L.M., Chatterjee, S., Franzosa, J. and Rowe, R. 2003. Neuroanatomy of flying reptiles and implications for flight, posture and behaviour. Nature:425, 950-953.

 

You should try to get this article it's very interesting.

 

About "brain to body ratio"; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_to_body_mass_ratio

[PhDP]

In fact I just found the article free on the internet here

[DeathbySmite]

Arg... thanks guys- I found your input VERY helpfull. I loved the point about seabirds. It is true that the pterodactyloid pterosaurs with the largest brains had lifestyles remenisent of modern seabirds- they were highly social and were thought to congregate in VERY large groups like puffins, penguins, gulls, etc. However, one point that I think MIGHT redeam them is that despite their brain ratios not being EXTREMELY impressive, maybe their brain WEIGHT to body weight ratios were. Having extremely light frames and hollow bones, even lighter then bird bones, maybe these frail creatures could've has less requirements in terms of upkeep (regions of the brain needed for breathing, thermal regulation, involuntary stuff, etc) and therefore could've expanded cognitive areas. Maybe I'm just a hopeless pterosaur romantic. Why do I wish they were so smart? It's not like I could buy one at petland and teach it tricks... Anyway, there wasn't one comment up there that DIDN'T intrigue me. Thanks.