摘要：
    英国科学家9月14日发表的一项最新研究结果显示，脑部的大小对于鸟类来说可能是一件关系到其生死存亡的大事。
    Brain size matters if you are a bird, according to a new study published on Wednesday.

    英国科学家9月14日发表的一项最新研究结果显示，脑部的大小对于鸟类来说可能是一件关系到其生死存亡的大事。因为科学家发现，脑部相对较大的鸟类往往能更好地适应生活环境的变化，从而维系其种群的生存与发展。

    据路透社9月14日报道，来自英国皇家鸟类保护协会、利物浦大学及伯明翰大学的科学家们经过研究发现，相对来说脑部大一些的鸟类更能适应环境，因此它们也就过得更好一些。

    科学家们表示，灰鹌鹑和黍?等一些相对于它们身体头部较小的鸟类，其种群数量都在急剧减少。同时，蓝山雀和喜鹊等一些相对来说头部较大的鸟类的遭遇就要好得多。对此，此项研究的负责人、利物浦大学的苏珊娜·舒尔兹表示，“大一些的脑部能够让鸟类更好地解决遇到的困难，并且在生活环境发生变化时，让它们的行为与之相适应”，“而那些脑部相对来说较小的鸟类，其种群数量呈下降趋势则是由于它们一直固守着原来的生活习惯，不能很好地适应环境变化所致”。

    报道说，这一研究结果被发表在英国皇家鸟类保护协会最新一期的学报上。

    （国际在线独家资讯 王高山）

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    Brain size matters if you are a bird, according to a new study published on Wednesday.

    Birds with bigger brains adapted better to the environment and therefore did better, according to scientists from The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Liverpool University and Birmingham University.

    The study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, found that populations of birds like gray partridges and corn buntings -- all with relatively small brains relative to their size -- had dropped sharply.

    At the same time those with relatively larger brain sizes like blue tits and magpies had fared far better.

    "Large brains may help birds solve problems and adapt their behavior as their environments change," said lead author and former RSPB scientist Suzanne Shultz from Liverpool University.

    "But birds with small brains for their size seem to be declining because they are stuck in their ways," she added.

    Not only is the bird environment changing due to human activities like farming, but scientists say the whole world's climate is warming due to the release of so-called greenhouse gases from power stations and car exhausts.