Sentient Crows?

A post over at my Alternate Sentients thread got me thinking: what possibility is there that the New Caledonian Crow or the European Magpie, the two crow species which most demonstrate intelligence, could evolve into sapient, advanced tool-using animals with a quantifiable culture? (besides just sharing how to use tools like IOTL)
 
They must grow larger, for once to support a larger brain, though avian brains are said to be somewhat better per unit weight.

Perhaps island gigantism would do, but it'd still need a strong evolutionary pressure favoring (only!) intelligence for a very long time, which is unlikely. They also lack both arms and hands, and they're exceedingly unlikely to re-develop them.

IN fact, our own species were probably on the brink of extinction several times as we lived in a dangerous savannah-niche lacking the strength and agility to compete with our hairier cousins while also lacking the speed and endurance of typical Savannah animals. Simple evolutionary pressure at that point dictated that our only path were to further develop our tool usage, if we gained muscle (strength and speed) we would lose stamina, if we gained stamina, we'd lose strength.

This is going to be tricky.
 
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What pressure DOES select for intelligence? Or was it simply an accident?

From what I know, a despecialized species without any specific advantages is what's needed. Intelligence is an accident, sort of, in that it's just one of many ways for a despecialized species to go.
 
Not meaning to double-post, but I just had an idea. What if the crows in New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands first developed island gigantism and lost the ability to fly after centuries of isolation: then, a new predator is introduced into the environment (not humanity, they're too efficient). This forces the New Caledonian crows to evolve for intelligence AND flight (again): a millenium or so down the road and the crows have learned to use tools, causing a positive feedback loop that allows the crows to get smarter and smarter, eventually resulting in crow civilization on New Caledonia and the Loyalty ISlands: this crows, however, are much larger than IOTL and can fly short distances. Would the crow civilizations then colonize more islands? Would they develop agriculture on their own or would they adopt it from the Polynesians? Speaking of the Polynesians, what would happen when the twain meet?
 

mowque

Banned
What pressure DOES select for intelligence? Or was it simply an accident?

I've heard more then one evolutionist compare it to a drunk wandering down an alley with a wall on one side and a gutter. He is moving aimlessly but he is bound to fall in the gutter sooner or later. (The gutter is intelligence in this case).
 
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