Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes
Abstract Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) have some of the largest and most complex brains in the animal kingdom. When and why this trait evolved remains controversial, with proposed drivers ranging from echolocation to foraging complexity and high-level sociality. This uncertainty partially reflects...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blab054 https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article-pdf/133/4/990/49178948/blab054.pdf |
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/biolinnean/blab054 2024-02-11T10:02:23+01:00 Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes Mccurry, Matthew R Marx, Felix G Evans, Alistair R Park, Travis Pyenson, Nicholas D Kohno, Naoki Castiglione, Silvia Fitzgerald, Erich M G Australian Research Council 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blab054 https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article-pdf/133/4/990/49178948/blab054.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights Biological Journal of the Linnean Society volume 133, issue 4, page 990-998 ISSN 0024-4066 1095-8312 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2021 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blab054 2024-01-12T10:14:27Z Abstract Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) have some of the largest and most complex brains in the animal kingdom. When and why this trait evolved remains controversial, with proposed drivers ranging from echolocation to foraging complexity and high-level sociality. This uncertainty partially reflects a lack of data on extinct baleen whales (mysticetes), which has obscured deep-time patterns of brain size evolution in non-echolocating cetaceans. Building on new measurements from mysticete fossils, we show that the evolution of large brains preceded that of echolocation, and subsequently followed a complex trajectory involving several independent increases (e.g. in rorquals and oceanic dolphins) and decreases (e.g. in right whales and ‘river dolphins’). Echolocating whales show a greater tendency towards large brain size, thus reaffirming cognitive demands associated with sound processing as a plausible driver of cetacean encephalization. Nevertheless, our results suggest that other factors such as sociality were also important. Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whales Oxford University Press Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |
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Oxford University Press |
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croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
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Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Mccurry, Matthew R Marx, Felix G Evans, Alistair R Park, Travis Pyenson, Nicholas D Kohno, Naoki Castiglione, Silvia Fitzgerald, Erich M G Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes |
topic_facet |
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Abstract Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) have some of the largest and most complex brains in the animal kingdom. When and why this trait evolved remains controversial, with proposed drivers ranging from echolocation to foraging complexity and high-level sociality. This uncertainty partially reflects a lack of data on extinct baleen whales (mysticetes), which has obscured deep-time patterns of brain size evolution in non-echolocating cetaceans. Building on new measurements from mysticete fossils, we show that the evolution of large brains preceded that of echolocation, and subsequently followed a complex trajectory involving several independent increases (e.g. in rorquals and oceanic dolphins) and decreases (e.g. in right whales and ‘river dolphins’). Echolocating whales show a greater tendency towards large brain size, thus reaffirming cognitive demands associated with sound processing as a plausible driver of cetacean encephalization. Nevertheless, our results suggest that other factors such as sociality were also important. |
author2 |
Australian Research Council |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mccurry, Matthew R Marx, Felix G Evans, Alistair R Park, Travis Pyenson, Nicholas D Kohno, Naoki Castiglione, Silvia Fitzgerald, Erich M G |
author_facet |
Mccurry, Matthew R Marx, Felix G Evans, Alistair R Park, Travis Pyenson, Nicholas D Kohno, Naoki Castiglione, Silvia Fitzgerald, Erich M G |
author_sort |
Mccurry, Matthew R |
title |
Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes |
title_short |
Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes |
title_full |
Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes |
title_fullStr |
Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes |
title_sort |
brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blab054 https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article-pdf/133/4/990/49178948/blab054.pdf |
genre |
baleen whales |
genre_facet |
baleen whales |
op_source |
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society volume 133, issue 4, page 990-998 ISSN 0024-4066 1095-8312 |
op_rights |
https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blab054 |
container_title |
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |
_version_ |
1790598314535682048 |