Parrots have long lifespans and are famous for their cognitive abilities. A study led by researchers at Max Planck has shown that one of these traits may have been caused by the other. The scarlet macaw and sulfur-crested cockatoo have long average lifespans of up to 30 years, which are usually seen only in large birds. Large relative brain size is a possible cause of these long lifespans. Increased cognitive ability may have helped parrots to navigate threats in their environment and to enjoy longer lives, according to a study that is the first to show a link between brain size and lifespan in parrots.
Despite the fact that parrots are well known for their long lives and complex cognitive, with lifespans and brain size on par with primate, it is not known if the two trait have influenced each other.
The lead author on the study says that the problem has been getting good quality data. It is possible to understand what has driven parrot longevity by comparing living parrots.
Scientists from the MPI-AB and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EvA) collaborated with Species360 to get an adequate sample size. They collected data from over 130,000 individual parrots. The team was able to get the first reliable estimates of average life span of 217 parrot species, representing over half of all known species.
The fig parrot has an average life expectancy of two years, while the scarlet macaw has an average of 30 years. The sulfur-crested cockatoo from Australia is one of the longest-lived species.
It is extremely rare in birds of this size to live an average of 30 years. If you consider that a human male weights about 100 times more, these values are amazing.
The team used a large-scale comparative analysis to determine whether or not parrots had any influence on their longevity. They looked at two hypotheses, one of which was that having relatively larger brains enable longer lifespans. Birds that are smarter can solve problems better in the wild. Second, that larger brains need longer lifespans. They collected data on brain size, body weight, and developmental variables for each species.
They combined the data and ran models to explain the data. Increased brain size has enabled parrots to live longer. The findings suggest that parrots with large brains were able to solve problems in the wild that could otherwise kill them, and this intelligence enabled them to live longer lives.
The idea that larger brains make species more flexible and allow them to live longer is supported by this.
The scientists were surprised that factors such as diet or the time taken to develop larger brains did not lead to longer average lifespans.
In the future, the team will look at whether sociality and cultural learning in parrots contributed to long lifespans. Large-brained birds might spend more time learning techniques that have been around for a long time. This increased learning period could possibly explain the longer life spans, as it takes more time but also makes the forager more adaptive.
The vast body of socially learned skills makes us special. We are excited to see if long-lived parrots have a childhood in which they have to learn to find and open nuts to avoid upsetting the dominant male. We would like to understand which evolutionary drivers create a species with a life history similar to our ancestors.
More information: Simeon Q. Smeele et al, Coevolution of relative brain size and life expectancy in parrots, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2397 Citation: Unraveling the mystery of parrot longevity (2022, March 29) retrieved 29 March 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-unraveling-mystery-parrot-longevity.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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