Quote Originally Posted by Mendel's Balls View Post
I have no idea which snake is the most intelligent. Keep in mind it would depend on how you define intelligence. Also consider we have trouble quantifying and operationalizing intelligence for humans.



The only organisms that are "unevolved" are those that are extinct. That's not a word you'll ever hear in scientific circles. Maybe "primitive", but keep in mind that "primitive" doesn't mean lack of evolutionary adaptations. "Primitive" just means that it split or branched off earlier. A lot of scientists use "primitive"--I guess for lack of a better term?

Dr. Bryan Fry, a venom researcher, explains:

"One thing to keep in mind is that the constricting snakes are not the most 'primitive'. They are actually quite derived in their own right. The powerful constriction is a secondary form of prey capture and the heat-seeking pits have been independently acquired twice within this clade (one time in the pythons, one time in the boas). Venom is therefore a secondary loss within this group."
The word you're looking for is "plesiomorphic" (a comparative word meaning evolved earlier), which is a more scientifically correct term for "primitive." The word primitive can imply less intelligent or "more caveman-like" in human thinking, which is generally not accurate. For example, a lamprey is one of the most plesiomorphic chordates, yet it has been gearing towards its exact niche for many, MANY more years than humans have. So could one say that a lamprey is the more "perfected" animal?

This is why looking at when something evolved - such as colubrids evolving later than boids - is not an accurate judge of how "intelligent" an animal is. Animals evolve to fill certain niches, not because they're "getting smarter." Colubrids evolved because faster snakes could compete with the boids for food, thus filling a niche.