I’m trying to track down a short story that I read long ago and far away, and since I can’t remember the title or author, I turn to you. I’m sure that asking for help with this ID will lead to public humiliation, because I have a feeling it might be a well-known Asimov story that was perhaps published in Analog, and you’ll all just chime right in with the title, but since my feeble brain can’t remember or find it, I thought I’d bring it up here.

The story, as I recall it, is almost a scientific paper about how certain worms, able to navigate a maze, are ground up to feed other smart worms, which then are even better able to navigate the maze. The scientist keeps repeating the process, winnowing out the dummies, and the worms get smarter and smarter from feasting on only the smartest worms. The scientist is thrilled by the discovery that this is possible, and so writes a paper on how certain animals can assume traits from ingesting others.

The scientist then gets on a plane with other top scientists, heading off to present his findings at a scientific conference, and his flight crashes in a part of Africa where cannibalism was purported to be practiced. The implication in the final few paragraphs of the story, based on rumblings the author is hearing coming out of Africa, is that a group of cannibals have become super-geniuses, and are about to change the world.

I seem to recall reading this in an SF fiction magazine of the ’60s or early ’70s.

Any idea as to the title or author of this story?

And please try not to slap me around too hard when you pop up to tell me how famous it is, and how I should have known!