XPost: alt.animals.ethics.vegetarian, alt.animals.dog, rec.pets.dogs.behavior   
      
   On 30 Sep 2005 14:42:20 -0700, moonspeak@hotmail.com wrote:   
      
   >dh@. wrote:   
   >> On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 02:01:02 GMT, Barry Blust    
   wrote:   
   >   
   >> >Mook (my mini-doxie) is smart as a whip... yet he is unaware of his   
   >> >intelligence.   
   >>   
   >>     Intelligence in regards to brain size is still something interesting   
   >> to me because I don't understand it. If all cells are the same size   
   >> in different animals regardless of the size of the animal, then a   
   >> dog the size of a Great Dane is likely to have an incredible number   
   >> more brain cells than a small dog that's about the size of the bigger   
   >> dog's brain. So why is it with a brain *that* much bigger, the bigger   
   >> dog isn't necessarily significantly smarter?   
   >   
   >What is being discussed now is the possibility of measuring   
   >intelligence by brain mass to body mass ratio.   
      
       That isn't what *was* being discussed though, unless intelligence   
   by brain mass to body mass ratio is significantly different in small dogs   
   than it is in large ones.   
      
   >For example, the human   
   >brain is much larger and has a higher mass than the brain of an animal   
   >of equal mass to our own. This idea is being considered because whales,   
   >for example, have brains much much larger than our own, but they are   
   >not considered as intelligent as human. However, they need the larger   
   >brain to maintain their larger body.   
      
       Explain.   
      
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