There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
05-26-2014, 07:42 AM( This post was last modified: 05-26-2014, 08:05 AM by peter )
HOW TO RESPOND TO A POST
1 - READ THE POST AND DO IT AGAIN
The lead post says " ... The team investigated the relation between the skull size ... of a large sample of tigers, lions, leopards and jaguars and the volume inside the cats' respective craniums ... ". The researchers had not expected that tigers have a much bigger relative brain size " ... than do the other three species ... ". They were surprised to find that " ... tiny female Balinese tiger skulls have cranial volumes as large as those of huge male southern African male lion skulls ... ".
What is so surprising about the large cranial volume of the tiger?
" ... It has sometimes been assumed that social species, such as lions, should have larger brains than solitary species, such as tigers, because of the need to handle a more complex social life within groups or prides. However, despite a few studies suggesting a relationship between big brains and sociality in mammals, evidence for the link is far from clear ... ".
Meaning there is no direct link between relative brain size and social behaviour in mammals after all. At least, not in big cats.
So what now?
" ... The next step for the researchers is to try to answer whether such a difference can be explained by intrageneric variation or merely by chance. If not by chance, then it raises the question why the tiger evolved a relatively bigger brain ... after the tiger's ancestor split from the common ancestor to the other three species ... ".
2 - MAKE A SUMMARY OF THE LEAD POST
The lead post says researchers were surprised to find that tigers, compared to the other three species of Panthera (lion, jaguar and leopard) have a relatively larger cranial volume.
Why were they surprised? They were surprised because some studies suggested that social mammals, like lions, need a larger brain than solitary mammals, like tigers, in order to handle a more complex social life. Not true, so it seems.
Researchers want to know if the difference in cranial volume is a result of intrageneric variation or a result of chance. Meaning they don't understand the relationship between brain volume and social behaviour in big cats.
3 - CAPTURE THE CORE IN ONE SENTENCE, START A DEBATE AND USE ARGUMENTS ONLY
The core is solitary tigers have relatively bigger brains than other big cats, including the social lion. The question is why.
Start a debate by discussing an idea. When you debate, concentrate on ideas only. The reason is they can accepted or rejected. Everything else can't. Knowledge is about ideas.
4 - JINEN
After AVA was destroyed, I started a new forum with Sanjay. We's partners and want to create a good forum. Good is good members, good info and good debates.
We only just started and had no debates so far. In order to debate, you need to be able to read and deduct first. After that, you need a good opponent, good ideas, good arguments and interaction. Very difficult at the best of times. If you fail in one department, problems are real close.
You decided to skip reading, deducting and thinking and went for the 16-inchers right away. The result is you killed a possible debate and insulted both Sanjay and Guate for no reason at all. Moron.
You got one day to repair the damage. If not, it's a one-way back to hacking school in Transsylvania.
