A telescoping of time correlates with size. Small animals’ reflexes must be quicker in order to control much smaller limbs and respond to rapid locomotor feedback. Further, decision making must be streamlined in small species because their high metabolic rates and minimal energy reserves offer few choices in food-searching activities, defending against predators, or mating behaviors. And, perhaps most important, a short lifetime offers little time for learning from experience. As a result, being short-lived puts a premium on the effectiveness of preprogrammed behavior patterns that require little in the way of environmental fine-tuning. Large animals, in comparison, can get by with rather slower reflexes, can afford to vary their mating and food-searching behaviors in an effort to better optimize their behaviors, and may have a considerable opportunity to learn by observation and trial and error. Being longer-lived puts a greater premium on learning and memory, and less on automatic preprogrammed behaviors. In addition, living a long time or having the capacity to travel for long distances is more likely to expose an animal to significant changes in the environment.
* limb: (사람･동물의) 수족 ** locomotor: 운동 기관의 *** metabolic: 신진대사의