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Life span has nothing to do with that. Life span is all about economies of scale of the organism. The larger the organism the more efficient it is. The heart rate is slower etc. There are exceptions in animal kingdom, of course. For detailed scientific overview on this specific topic, I highly recommend this book: The Scale by Geoffrey West

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I wasn't suggesting that the longer lifespan was a result of higher cognitive functions but rather the opposite. Living longer enables individuals to travel further and face a greater variety of situations which require more sophisticated methods of analysis and transmission to be transmitted to others in the herd / offspring.

You are right

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