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How would one infer intelligence from the fossil record?
by moralestapia 2y ago
How would one infer intelligence from the fossil record?
- programd 2y agoBehavior can be inferred from the fossil record. There's quite a lot of literature on this. For example inferring nesting behavior of dinosaurs from fossilized nests and where you find them. Or tool use in early hominids. You need to define what constitutes intelligent behavior and we certainly have some of this from studies of human evolution - e.g. tool use, emergence of art, burial practices, that kind of thing.
- moralestapia 2y agoHow would one infer an octopus' intelligence from the fossil record? Also, could you give a more substantial answer than >Behavior can be inferred from the fossil record. ... that's literally the question rephrased as a statement, lol. A concrete example would be appreciated.
- adolph 2y agoOne would not directly. Given measures of intelligence of evaluable existing life, work backwards to find last common ancestors given evolutionary theory from the available fossil record. This leaves a lot to be desired, in my mind. Examples: * Soft tissue organisms may not be well enough preserved to be studied. * Can't evaluate intelligence in evolutionary dead-ends that no longer exist. * Limited evolution theory may miss mechanisms of how intelligence comes about, like maybe from something akin to a shared toxoplasmosis infection among different species rather than each getting there through a random walk.