Bird Brains Outsmarting Us? Evolution Has a Plot Twist

We built AI to mimic human brains but it turns out birds did it first, and without a neocortex or Silicon Valley budget.

Vertebrate intelligence didn’t evolve once, it emerged twice, independently, in birds and mammals. New studies using single-cell RNA sequencing reveal that bird brains, despite lacking a neocortex, develop complex cognition through distinct pathways.

Chickens, mice, and even geckos all show similar neural circuitry built from different cell types. That means evolution found multiple blueprints for intelligence, not one master design.

This isn’t just a biological curiosity, it forces us to rethink how we design AI, and maybe even who we consider intelligent.

• Bird and mammal brains share structure, not origin
• Convergent evolution explains independent neural paths
• Octopuses may hold even stranger secrets

The blueprint for intelligence is more diverse than we imagined—so why do our systems still mirror just one model? If intelligence has no singular form, should our definition of ‘smart’ evolve with it, and can AI think like a crow?

Read the full article on Quanta Magazine.

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