It is no surprise to me and perhaps others that both domestic dogs and cats have smaller brains than their wild cousins from whom they have descended: the grey wolf for dogs and the Eurasian wildcat for cats. The reason is obvious: domestication, which has removed the challenges for survival and the lesser need for brain power over tens of thousands of years for the dog and around 10,000 years for the cat.
It is why, incidentally, the F1 wild cat hybrids such as the F1 Savannah are smarter than the extreme-bred Persian for instance. The former is as sharp as a tack compared to the relatively dull Persian.
Although there are differences among the dog breeds. And some wild dog species have smaller brains than wild wolves which muddies the picture a little. But the general trend is there for all to see and it is logical.
A study confirmed it. It is published in Biological Letters. Genetic evidence tells us that domestic dogs split from their wolf ancestors between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago. We are unsure if people set out to domestic the wolf or if – like cats – the wolf scavenged human foods and became habituated to human presence which kick started a mutually beneficial relationship.
Kaya Burgess writing in The Times says that “Over the intervening millennia, domesticated dogs have gone on to develop ‘dramatically reduced’ brain size compared with their ancestors, their grey wolf cousins.”
Some dog breeds have larger brains relative to body size. For instance, researchers at the Centre of Ecological Research in Hungary and Stockholm University, Sweden, found that the Basenji, a small hunting dog from Africa and the Chinese Shar Pei have the largest brains relative to body size. At the other end of the scale, the Greenland sled dog and the Chow Chow have the smallest brains.
Kaya ends by saying that in general the overall size of domesticated dogs’ brains ‘did not stand out’ compared to wild species. That would appear to be an across-the-board assessment because among the wild dog species there is a variation as is the case with domestic dogs as mentioned.
The essential point is that domestication has made domestic dogs a little ‘thicker’ to use a slang term than their wild cousins because they can get away with it. But there will be differences between individual dogs I’d suggest and as mentioned between breeds and different wild dog species.
RELATED: Do dogs have bigger brains than cats?
Do domestic dogs on average have bigger brains than domestic cats relative to body size?
Yes, on average, domestic dogs have larger brains relative to body size compared to domestic cats. This difference is often attributed to the evolutionary pressures faced by their wild ancestors. Wolves, the ancestors of dogs, lived in complex social groups and required more cognitive abilities for hunting, problem-solving, and cooperation. Cats, on the other hand, were more solitary hunters and relied on stealth and agility. It’s important to note that brain size isn’t the sole determinant of intelligence.
