All Creatures Great and Smart. ” Research reveals animals’ brains to
be bioengineering marvels

Nearly every important recent brain
discovery comes from the study of simpler
nervous systems in animals. But it seems
those animal brain circuits aren’t so simple
after all.

Roaches, for example, listen with their
knees.

Snakes can remember what they see.

And homing pigeons, with a brain the size
of a pecan, can sniff their way home with
such efficiency that scientists hope to copy
it in futuristic route- finding devices.

These creatures were among dozens of
species represented at the recent annual
meeting of the Society for Neuroscience,
an international research showcase that
reflected growing appreciation of the
bioengineering marvels in nature.

San Francisco Chronicle