Bigger brains may make better problem-solving carnivores

Benson-Amram, Dantzer, Stricker, Swanson, & Holekamp's (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113, 25321-25376, 2016) recent demonstration that larger-brained carnivores were more successful in a single problem-solving task, relative to smaller-brained carnivores, irrespective of social complexity, poses a challenge to proponents of the social intelligence hypothesis (Humphrey, 1976) and provides some support for the idea that larger relative brain sizes have evolved to support greater problem-solving abilities. However, an important question, neglected by the authors, is the extent to which foraging ecology, rather than social environment, more accurately predicts problem solving, and whether this relationship would be observed in noncarnivore, noncaptive animals across a range of tasks.