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Originally Posted by MagiMaster
I'm working on the factors some and I was wondering whether anyone else thinks that the IQ of the species has anything to do with how much they need to eat. I can seem a number of arguments in both directions (from more efficient hunting to more energy spent on brainpower), so maybe it just balances out. Either way, it would be a small effect and may not worth bothering with.
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I've heard convincing arguments that brain power is correlated with calorie budget. Basically, brains are energy intensive organs that cost fuel whether they are used or not. Creatures with a large energy budget can afford to spend some of that on a big brain with lots of processing power. As the metabolism gets lower, the same brain costs a correspondingly larger amount, and is a correspondingly larger drain on the animal's available resources. This is borne out by trends seen in animals. Mammals and birds tend to be smarter than reptiles. The smartest reptiles - monitors and crocodillians - also have the highest aerobic metabolism among reptiles. Reptiles in general tend to have more complex behaviors and learn faster than amphibians (which have a corespondingly lower metabolism), and snakes (which have a low metabolism) seem fairly stupid compared to more active lizards. Many of the warm blooded "fish" (such as the lamnid sharks) are noted as having sophisticated behavior that would correlate with higher intelligence than expected for typical fish.
Luke