If we open the brain-to-body-weight contest to all animals, not just vertebrates, then ants win spectacularly. On average, the human brain is 2.5 percent of our body weight, yet for some ant species, their brains are closer to 15 percent of their body weight. Thinking this through, we’re forced to conclude that visiting space aliens who prioritize brains might first try to chat with the ants, then the birds, then perhaps the whales, the elephants, the dolphins. Then the mice. And then maybe—just maybe—the humans. Embarrassing.
